It is ironic. I was excited for this summer. We are finally getting a real vacation after four years. (All other previous attempts failed, mostly due to sicknesses, and last year due to my husband’s strike.) I was looking forward to this year’s season pass to Dorney Park; with no open incisional wounds, I can finally use the water park to cool off. But life makes other choices for you, in ways you don’t expect.
As many know, the Relay For Life of Bethlehem, PA was this past weekend. I am on the committee, and was doing all I could to get my ducks in a row and be ready for the event. As usual, no matter how much you plan ahead, there is always a lot to do the week leading up to the event. On Monday, the pains started, severe abdominal pains. Anyone who knows me also knows I hate hospitals by this point, and will avoid them if I can. Why? Because when I go, they always find a way to keep me at least a couple of days. My medical history, and a cancer diagnosis, work against me every time. So I mentally worked out the math, and determined that if I go to the ER, I would probably miss Relay. Since this was not an option for me, I just figured I could make it until Sunday following the event. My family kept urging me to go, and I would keep saying I would be ok. Tuesday was the committee meeting, and I don’t think anyone knew I suffered in silence. By Wednesday morning, though, it was clear I could not hold out any longer.
While Brian was at work, my mom drove me to the ER at LVH. The doctors had their suspicions, but an ultrasound confirmed it: I had gall stones. I was given the news: if my pain did not subside by Thursday morning, I would be having surgery that day. So, I was admitted overnight. The next morning the pains were as strong as ever. So, my surgery was being planned to remove my gall bladder. Nothing is easy for me, though. Normally a laproscopic procedure, my past surgeries made that impossible. This would be an open and complicated surgery for me.
While waiting for surgery, I had to deal with a faulty IV. It was placed in such a way, that if I did not keep my hand in a certain position, it would turn off the drip. So, they used it just long enough to put me under, and switched to a different location during surgery. The procedure took 3 hours, and recovery was rough. My breathing was abnormal because I was not allowed anything by mouth since being admitted, and ended up missing two nightly doses of Singulair (asthma preventative). And Thursday evening, the new IV failed, as well, and swelled up my hand. The pain meds were not working through it, because of whatever was blocking. The nurses tried unsuccessfully to find a new vein. Finally, I was scheduled for the PICC team to have to give it a shot. My last dosage of pain meds before they gave up on the now disconnected IV was around 4:30 AM Friday morning. At that point, it was only being used for the pain meds. Sometime later in the morning, because it made my hand worse, they pulled it out completely.
The PICC team did not arrive until around noon on Friday. By that point, I was so many hours without pain meds I was in agony. PICC was only able to get in an IV with the assistance of an ultrasound machine. Thankfully, after a bit of work, it was done, and my nurse rushed in with the pain meds. The drama was not over. A pipe burst on the 7th floor, and the flooding somehow made it down to my room on the 5th. The moved me to a room on the other side of the same floor. I was finally released on Sunday, and have been home since.
So due to this unexpected surgery, I am going to miss out on quite a bit. While I still plan to go on vacation, and to my family reunion this summer, I will probably be stuck in a wheelchair a lot. The same goes with Dorney, as any rides are now excluded. And as a parting gift, I was have another large scar to add to my roadmap of a stomach. *LOL*
On a side note, the surgery will also keep me from accompanying Buddy to his appointment in Delaware on Friday. I feel helpless being at home and not being able to speak to this new pediatric spine surgeon. I will just pray all goes well for him!