Emergency Room

This is a bit TMI-ish so feel free to skip!  I want a record for myself.

I have spent the last few days in hospital. Friday I had a very painful abdominal pain which gradually moved down to my lower abdomen. Except that I wasn’t throwing up, the symptoms were very like the ischemic bowel problems I had about a year and a half ago. If you have read what I wrote that long ago, you may remember that there was lots of blood which was very frightening. I thought it over and told Jake to call 911 because although we hadn’t got to the blood yet, I was convinced it was going to happen and even if it didn’t, I will be 80 on my next birthday and for babies and older folk, this kind of thing can be very serious. So, off I went to the emergency room. Jake followed in his truck. On the way, I kept feeling as if I was going to throw up but the EMTs gave me something that calmed that down.

Anyway, to make a long wait in the emergency room a lot shorter, I had a CT scan and the bottom line seemed to be there was some obstruction. The consensus of opinion was that it might be some scarring left from abdominal surgery in 2000 or it night be that this part of the GI tract was just twisted since organs in the body do move a bit. The doctors decided to keep me in for observation and if there was no improvement, then surgery would be considered. And, of course, no food. My only meal on Friday was some tomato soup in the morning. This brought us to Saturday which was also a day of liquids only. Well, actually, jello and chicken broth  neither of which I ever want to see again!

Again, to shorten all this, slowly it became clear that whatever was causing the block, it was now slowly unblocking. I spent a lot of time in the bathroom and went through a lot of adult diapers! Also I forgot to mention that I was dehydrated AND had a urinary tract infection. It had apparently just started because there were no symptoms I was aware of. The first saline bag was set to run in fairly fast so that meant that I was having to wake up and pee every hour or so in addition to every thing else! This, of course, meant very little sleep. I DID  remember to put my phone and, more importantly, my Kindle, in my purse before I left the house so I could read in between trips to the bathroom!  But by the end of Sunday, it was clear that this was NOT  going to be as serious as the attack I had had a couple of years ago. This seemed like a very nasty attack of constipation! On Sunday I was allowed to have real food, the "soft food" diet. Breakfast was grits which I have never liked and scrambled eggs. I ate all the eggs and about half the grits, and by now it was clear the obstruction was gone. On Sunday Jake brought me some clothes and I literally put on my "big girl panties!" Today it was quite clear that the worst was over, and eventually, I was allowed to come home. The first thing I did was to have a shower. It was wonderful!

I have to give many many kudos to Jake who spent long hours in the emergency room with me keeping me amused. He coped very well with having nothing to read since he left his tablet at my apartment! Then on Sunday, he and his friend Kate brought clothes to my room and he came back today and stayed {with his tablet so he could read!} until I got to go. And after he got me home, he dashed out and bought me some essentials like rye bread and bagels and cream cheese, etc. {I had planned to go grocery shopping on Saturday morning.} After the shower, I felt fantastic and thought I would have no problem going to physical therapy tomorrow, but as the evening went on, I realized how tired and achy I am, so I will call and cancel tomorrow morning since my appointment is at 1 PM. I have a feeling I will sleep very well tonight!