Archives
9:21:00 AM PDT
Feeling Quiet
My BIG Hospital Scare Part 1
First of all I want to warn you all that this will be a long entry…I need to write about what happened to me, more for my sake, than anything else
I want to thank everyone that sent me e-mails, wrote comments, sent me your prayers, etc. I appreciate it far more than I can ever describe.
It all started Thursday evening. I went to bed early because I was getting a small headache and also was chilled, almost like I was getting the flu. I would get hot then cold. Later I discovered the reason for the chills was due to the fact I had a bad skin infection. (I actually had 2 things wrong and they said that neither were related.) I woke at about 2 am Friday. Bo (my husband) was still awake. I came out and asked him to tell me what he thought my stomach looked like. It hurt like heck. He told me that he thought that the skin next to the incision I have from my hernia operation from about 7 months ago was all swollen and a bit red. I told him that that’s what I thought also. I went back to bed and tried not to lay on it at all.
I woke up a few times in the middle of the night hurting from it. But, when I got up at 5:30 am (likeevery morning) I noticed that it was even more inflamed and very red now. I was concerned but not that worried. I was then madder at the fact that I was chilled and had a sore throat and really bad headache. All I could think was that I was getting a cold or the flu like the rest of the family had.
I had Bo get up and take Willy to school for me and I went back to bed. As the day progressed I had some chicken noodle soup around 1 and then took a nap. Around 3 Bo and Tyler were outside doing something to Tyler's car. I do remember Bo asking me what time Willy needed picking up from football practice but NOT that he was leaving. I woke up at about 3:45 pm and hurt so bad. I glanced in the mirror since it felt like my tongue was a bit swollen. I then tried going into our bed but couldn’t get comfortable. I came out and sat back down in the recliner after looking outside and realizing that Tyler and Bo had left.
I kept getting up to check on my stomach and tongue. Both were looking worse. It was then that I began to panic. What if my tongue swells so big that I wasn’t able to breathe? It was then that I decided I had better get to the hospital. But, since Bo and I don’t have a cell phone I knew I couldn’t get a hold of him. I called my daughters cell phone and kept getting that damn message…”all circuits are busy right now”…what’s with that??? My mom and both sisters live about 45 minutes from me and I decided that would take too long for them to get here. I thought about asking a neighbor to take me but I don’t know them that well. Maybe call an ambulance? It then occurred to me that one of my boy’s friends, Ryan, was coming over to spend the night. I called his house but I forgot that he was playing in the HS football game. His mom answered and she’s a really nice lady named Janene. It was then that I knew something was REALLY wrong because I could barely talk and she had a really hard time understanding me. But, I did manage to get out that my tongue was swollen and I couldn’t find Bo and needed a ride to the hospital. She told me she would be here in 10 minutes to get me. Her husband and she came and we arrived about 20 minutes later at the hospital. It is the very first time I actually didn’t have to wait long to be seen at the ER.
They didn’t take it lightly what was wrong. First they gave me a big dose of benadryl and then proceeded to put an IV into me. The doctor on call eventually called in a ear, nose and throat doctor since he was stumped why the benadryl and all the steroids they were pumping into me weren’t taking the swelling down. All they were doing was keeping it from getting much bigger. The specialist was there in no time. He immediately knew what was wrong by looking at the list of medicines I take. I take a high blood pressure medicine that has been known to have the exact side effects I was having. (The medicine is called Lisinopril) He said that about twice a year they see this exact same thing. And the strange part about this is the fact I have taken this medicine for about 3-4 years now. They said that that is about when the side effect that happened to me happens with that medicine. So, if you know anyone taking that medicine I think you need to tell them that they need to talk to their doctor about getting onto a new one. They said it is one of the most prescribed high blood pressure medicines because it is very good but some people have a allergic reaction after a period of taking it. (Thanks for telling me this doctors, pharmacy!)
They then decided that they needed to see what was happening to my throat better. They numbed my nose with this stuff that smelled like that paint at the fair when you make those pretty paintings that go round and round. And then turn out really cool, never the same. Anyway it was terrible. I gagged. He told me that they needed to do it to numb my nasal passage so they could get a tube down it to see my throat. (Seeing the tube that they were going to put down my nose was so scary…and LONG!) After several sprays of this numbing stuff he was able to put the tube down my nose to my throat without me feeling it and gagging too badly. The doctor was saying things to the nurse and I wasn’t really understanding all they were talking about. They left the room. Finally Janene was able to get a hold of Bo and tell him where I was at. I had left a note attached to the wall, but of course he didn’t see it. He said if I had attached it to the computer he would have. Oh brother! He said that when he and the boys got home they were worried where I was since he had the car and I don’t have keys to Tyler’s car. He told me that they would be there as quick as they could. And they were there about 20 minutes later. I was so happy to see them.
Things now started to get a bit jumbled in my mind since they had me on so many medicines at this point. Including more pain medicine than I already take. It wasn’t until Sunday afternoon that Bo told me that I was scary to look at. My tongue was so swollen that not only was hard to understand but also it was bulging out of my mouth a bit. Oh, and I forgot to mention that they had also checked my stomach and said that it appeared I had a bad skin infection and started me on antibiotics for that also.
The doctor came back in and explained to Bo and me what they felt needed to be done. They were VERY concerned that if they didn’t do anything and just had me stay in the hospital to keep an eye on me that my tongue and throat would swell more during the night and I could possibly die. Ok, so we knew that we didn’t want that to happen so Bo had him explain what they felt they should do. He said that they wanted to take me to the operating room and intebate (sp??) me while I was awake. The reason they would need to do this while I was awake was due to the fact when they do it when you are asleep the muscles around your throat relax and can close up more. The doctor explained that they would be prepared with a back up in case something went wrong during the procedure. They would have to put a trache (sp??) tube into my throat. This was something that they didn’t want to have to do though. (mmm me neither) All of the kids were still there and Cassie was going to take them home. I hugged them all and told them that I loved them and that everything would be ok. That I would see them tomorrow. (Praise GOD I was able to) Oh, I called my mom and told her what was going on. She was going to come and be there with us but we decided she couldn’t make it there by the time they did it so she should just wait to hear from Bo.
They wheeled me to the operating room. The man wheeling me looked familiar. He noticed it too. He asked if my mom was Arlene. I told him yes. His name is Jim and would be my nurse for the procedure and he is also my mom’s neighbor. I was happy knowing that someone I kind of knew would be taking care of me. We get to the OR doors and Bo has to go to the waiting room. They tell him that it will be about 30 minutes or so.
They get me in there and I am terrified. I know this is going to hurt. They put more of that terrible medicine in my mouth this time to numb my throat. They had my arms stretched out to the side. One of Jim’s jobs was to be in charge of holding my tongue out as far as he can. That hurt so bad since when it started to swell it got really hard also and hurt. So, he’s yanking away on my tongue so its out of the way so the surgeon can attempt to see what he is doing. First he put more numbing medicine down my throat. He then proceeded to put the tube down my throat. I am watching it all and scared out of my mind. I don’t exactly know what all happened but I know they had a hard time getting it down since there wasn’t a whole lot of room since my throat was so swollen up. But, it finally was done and all I can remember was gagging like crazy. I mean really gagging. I just knew I was dying. I heard the doctor say something about “we need to get some relaxation medicine into her quick so that she quits gagging”…I shook my head very hard in agreement. They immediately did that. That not only made me forget about the gagging but also made me sleep. The next thing I remember is waking up with a ton of people around me in the ICU. Bo was right there with me holding my hand. He told me later that he had never ever had me hurt his hand like I did at the next moments. They had to take blood from my wrist. To get blood gases. That’s where they take the blood from your artery rather than your vein. If you have ever had this done you will know what I am talking about. It is the most painful thing. And I was drugged! The problem was they had a really hard time finding my artery. Finally after about 4 tries (yes, 4 painful times) they called the IV nurse to come do it. She was able to do it after 2 more tries. Even though I was really knocked out with the relaxing medicine I remember the pain of this.
What I remember most is you can’t talk at all. All you can do is drool. I remember thinking how I was going to suffocate in my drool and die. Bo left around 2 am he told me the next day. It was a long, terrible night that I hope I NEVER, EVER have to go through again. I remember several times during the night banging on my bed to get the nurses attention. I didn’t know where the nurses call button was so this was the only way I could get his attention. They had given me a pain medicine button to use but the relax medicine (or as I was calling it, my gag medicine) I had to ask for. Every time I asked for it he would give it to me. He then would take a suction tube like they use at the dentist to suction all the drool out of my mouth. This went on all night.
The next thing I sort of remember is hearing my mom and sister. My sister kept wiping my face down since I was sweating so badly. I could hear my mom talking to the nurse and doctor but don’t remember anything that they said. My sister, Karen, then told me that mom had gone to the waiting room because it upset her so badly to see me like this. I guess I looked really bad. I not only had this tube coming from my mouth, but my tongue was hanging way out of my mouth and I kept banging on the bed for my more gag medicine. I would take my hands and pretend to be writing so they would give me a paper and pencil so I was able to tell them what I needed. Mom ran from the room crying and had to stay away until she calmed down and then would come back, talk to me a bit, cry again and have to leave again. It was an over and over again thing she did. I then remember the doctor coming in and telling me that it appears the swelling has come down a great deal and they were going to remove the tube. I remember shaking my head in agreement and before I had a chance to ask to write anything down about what or how they would do that he yanked it out. DAMN! Now that hurt!! But, it was out. I coughed and sputtered. He asked if I could talk. Yes, I could, but it hurt. He said that it would hurt for a few days. (and it does, believe me)
After doing a few more tests and things they moved me to a private room still on the ICU floor. My nurse for Saturday was the sweetest woman. She was an older German woman and talked so fast I had to ask her to slow down so I could understand her. The private room I was in was huge, with lots of chairs and my own bathroom/shower and my own TV. So, I was happy about that. They kept a close watch on me. And about every 4 hours gave me a dose of antibiotics for my skin infection. The redness and swelling was coming down and it didn’t hurt as bad either. I had a hard time eating and so I was and still am eating softer foods. Like mashed potatoes, jello, ice cream. Things that aren’t too hard to swallow. They told me that I had to stay another night in the hospital. I was glad of that. Saturday evening a man came into my room and asked me if I remembered him. It took me a minute but then I remembered that he was the one that was my night nurse after being returned to ICU. He just wanted to see how I was doing. I then asked him why they made a person have to wait to get the gag medicine. Why didn’t they figure out how often a person was asking for it and give it to them before they begged for it. He told me that the dose they gave to me in the operating room was usually enough for the normal person to be out the whole night. He said he was amazed how much and how often I needed it. He told me that he checked my chart and saw what kind of medicines I was on and knew that after reading what I took that my tolerance was a lot higher than most people. Therefore they had to give me a whole lot more. He told me that he was amazed how much I needed. In fact he said he kept asking the other nurses that were helping him with me if they had given it to me when he had told them to and they all said yes, every time. Bo and I thought this was kind of funny.
I called my mom about 5 pm Saturday night and she wasn’t home. I tried again around 8 pm and she answered. She had just walked in the door. Jim and his wife had invited her to their place for dinner and to talk about me. He told her some things that none of us were aware of. It seems that they almost lost me on the operating table. When she told me this I was in shock. I began crying. I told her they were keeping me another night. She then talked to me a lot about a bunch of different things in regards to my health. She said that Jim knows a lot of people and if I give him permission he is going to start checking around to find me another doctor. I don’t want to do this since I LOVE my doctor. But, I do understand. My doctor doesn’t make hospital calls. Therefore when I have to go to the hospital (this has happened a few times) I have to rely on getting a good doctor at the hospital. So far, I have really lucked out. Mom and I talked about many other things in regards to my health. She is very upset about the pain medicine I am on. I take 80 mg. of Oxycontin 3 times a day. I told her if I had known how addicting that was when I first went on it I would have never started it. I hate being on it. But I don’t have a choice anymore. They say that it is far more addicting than heroin. So, if I were to ever get off of it I would have to go through drug rehab. I tried explaining this to my mom but she doesn’t seem to get it. She thinks I can get off of it myself by taking smaller amounts. It doesn’t work that way. If I am even an hour late taking it I get cold sweats, I shake, I can’t even describe how it feels to go through withdrawals. It is a nightmare. Anyway, mom and I also talked about the weight loss surgery. I think that this will need to be the next step I take. I need to lose weight and I just can’t seem to do it on my own. I need to talk to a lot of people about this, including my doctor who I love to death.
Continued on Part 2...
Written by lindainspokane Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
-
How horrific! I'm so glad you are doing better! (((HUGS)))
~Jaime
http://journals.aol.com/chasenkids/ChaseNKids/ -
Good God. I hope you're feeling much better now. This sounds absolutely horrendous. Thank God you're all right!
-
I'm happy to read these entries from you, but what a scare! I heard about what was going on but I'm glad to read it from you now. Be well Linny
~JerseyGirl
http://journals.aol.com/cneinhorn/WonderGirl -
OMG Linda! I had no idea you went through all this hell! Yes, I understand the blood gasses test.....yowzer it hurts! And spraying that stuff up your nose! Gross! I am so sorry you had to go through all this gal! That was some experience! I wrote and told all my friends that have high blood pressure what you went through, in case they take that med. How insane that no one warns you about this kind of thing! I hate the medical profession for reasons like this. I wish you a speedy recovery, and hope you'll be up and at em real soon.
Hugs and more hugs!
Linda
Life in the Fat Lane
10/23/04 7:48 AM
I have had blood gases before, and she got it in in one try, and I remembering looking at my mother and saying "that didn't hurt at all, what's the big deal?" because she told me it would hurt terribly. Then the person pulled the needle out of my wrist, and I totally understood. The pain was Incredible!!! OMG. I just cried and buried my face in my mom. Thank goodness she was there. Now she's so ill and in a nursing home, which saddens me more than I can say. There is nothing in this world like the comfort your mom can give you.
I'm on to part 2, but I want you to know that you are in my prayers. I truly hope you're doing much better now. Hugs!! Anna