Last Thursday I came home and was so exhausted I went to bed at 5:30. It was not as bad on Friday, I made it till 9 pm. All weekend all I wanted to do was sleep. I got up Saturday at 7 am and by 10 was back in bed taking a nap. I slept till about 3 and then was back in bed at 7 pm. It was pretty much the same on Sunday. I had the worst gas all weekend Jen threatened to throw me out. No BMs just gas.

Monday morning as I ws getting out of the shower I fainted. Jen helped me to bed. I slept all day. Tuesday I made it to work, just felt a little weak. About 7:45 I went to the bathroom, and had my first BM since Wed. It was the blackest, tariest stool. I went home, showered and waited till 9 when I could start calling the doctors. I had just had blood work done on Friday so I wanted to check and see what was up. Well my Doc was on vacation so I had to wait for the doc on call to call me back. He called about 5:30, said my nutrition levels were ok, and my blood count was good, but asked what was wrong. I told him about the black tarry stool, fainting, and being so tired, he asked about what meds I was taking and determined that none of them would cause black tarry stools. He told me to go to the ER. I didn't want to go, but I made the mistake of telling Jen what he said. She wouldn't let me stay home. She packed an overnight bag for me and off we went.

In the ER they drew blood and we waited for the results. Normal Hemoglobin should be between 12-17, mine was 4.7. So I received 2 pints of blood and one bag of saline. They inserted a ng tube and even as Jen and I tried to explain to the nurse that I had GB and my plumbing was different, she said yeah, yeah, I understand. First she missed the turn into my throat, and blood went everywhere. The pain was blinding. She tried the other side and made it into my pouch and tried to keep going. I could feel it digging in. They finished the test, no blood or debris. That was the last time I saw her. If I ever meet her on the street, she better look out, that can of "Fat Chick Whoop Ass" is ready to go!!!

The stool test can back positive for blood. Next came the endoscopy, I have an ulcer on my stoma, they cauterized it to stop the bleeding. I have to say this is the first time having an endoscopy that I was completely knocked out (I've had 4). Sure made it easier. Then we waited to see if my hemoglobin came up, it didn't. 2 more pints of blood and they scheduled me for a colonoscopy. Turns out I had a 4 mm bleeding ulcer on my large intestine. They cauterized it also. This procedure was easier then I thought, I was out completely! Then back to my room for 2 more pints of blood and rest. Thursday morning blood tests came back with my hemoglobin reading of 7.9. This is a good sign. It's coming up. Doc said I could go home if I felt up to it. I did. I would rather be in my own home then in the hospital. I have strict orders to call the doc if I fainted or start to feel like I will. I'm staying home all weekend and will see about going back to work on Monday. My boss worked some kind of magic and got me another 3 weeks of sick leave, so staying home won't be a problem. He even said I could work from home if I needed to. He's a hero too!

So far I feel ok, a little weak, but that's to be expected. It's weird, I never had any pain from the ulcer and no problem keeping anything down. My appetite was good and I drank lots of water.

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