[Medical] Hospital scare @_@
First of all, to all those that I SMS'ed...I apologize for doing that in the middle of the night, but I was more than a little antsy at that point...
I woke up Sunday morning with a stomach ache. I immediately had flashbacks to the last time this happened to me. This time, the pain wasn't nearly as acute as back then, but it was still very annoying. By the time I was completing some errands, I thought it'd be a good idea to go to the Kaiser hospital in Baldwin Park and their Family Practice department which I used last time. No appointment needed.
The waiting room was surprisingly empty. Eventually I got in to see Dr. Sierra. He sent me to the lab, but to my surprise, he requested blood & urine tests - *stat*. He also went on his dinner break, so instead of sitting there for 50 minutes waiting, I ran off to do my duty at work which was going to be my next stop anyway. I think I made them panic a bit because they thought I said I was going to *eat*, and what things were leading up to, that was a no-no!
When I returned (6pm by now), Dr. Sierra sent me off to get an abdominal CAT scan. Oh man, this was almost as bad as a colonoscopy! I made a mess
, but this is why they didn't want me to eat. I hadn't eaten since the morning, but I wasn't hungry anyway on account of the pain.
Dr. Sierra then informed me that I was now heading for the emergency room. The blood test results indicated a higher white blood cell content than normal. The CAT scan showed some other things. He had already examined me and where it was most painful was right where my appendix is (the pain had moved all over the place during the day). He used the words...
...early appendicitis.
That could mean surgery, right then and there
!
They insisted in taking me to the ER in a wheelchair. I think it would've taken less time for me to walk over. But in contrast to the Family Practice waiting room, the ER was *packed* on a Sunday night. And I guess being "officially" wheeled over gave me priority. It's been really hot out lately, but the air conditioning was working *too* well as I was placed into an exam room. I was there for several hours and got visited by too many people to remember: an ER physician, more than one nurse, the admin. person who was formally admitting me to the hospital, and most importantly, Dr. Amr (yes, that's how it's spelled, pronounced "Amir"), one of the surgeons on duty. It was now after 9pm.
Dr. Amr was not convinced that surgery was going to be necessary even at this point. The tests weren't all that conclusive; they were more like "borderline" cases. I was also not exhibiting some of the other typical symptoms such as nausea or fever. She made a decision to keep me in the hospital overnight for observation. They would take more tests first thing in the morning and if things didn't improve, I'd go into surgery then. "Does that sound like a plan?" she asked. All the staff I met were nice like this, but I was still wrestling with the totally unexpected idea of staying overnight in a hospital for the first time in my life (every other procedure I've had has been out-patient where I'm out the same day), and worse, the thought of being put out of commission by the very first surgery of my life. Dental surgeries don't count. Neither do the D&C nor the endometrial ablation procedures I had in 2002.
So I was admitted into the hospital, and the nurse hooked me up to an IV. More tests. Both my arms had so many needle marks because they were having trouble finding my veins
. It was a long time before a room was ready; the hospital was very busy. I got another wheelchair ride. It was close to midnight when I arrived in room 2221. It was a shared room; the other patient was already asleep. But I now had access to a phone; I couldn't use my cell elsewhere. Now I could contact my carpooler & my boss. There was no way I'd be at work on Monday even if surgery wasn't necessary. And then my anxiety made me send that mass SMS. Sorry! But I actually got replies; thanks to those of you who did
. And to the two people who actually phoned back...thank you too; you did a great deal to help me get through the initial shock.
It was hard to sleep under the circumstances. Never having dealt with the conveniences of the controls on the side of a hospital bed, I didn't even know how to turn the light off. And every couple of hours, I was getting interrupted just as I was dropping off to sleep. Another IV was hooked up and going at 2am. A nurse came in at least twice to check my vital signs. Once, I got a really low blood pressure reading on the left arm where the IV was, so she had to switch to my right arm. At 6am, the critical blood test was taken. Dr. Amr paid a visit at that time as well. She checked me out and seemed confident that I was going to pull through without needing surgery, but it all depended on the last blood test.
The Monday day shift came on duty. I met more staff people. An odd thing that happened was that they wrapped the side bed rails with sheets. It is apparently standard procedure for patients with a history of seizure disorders like I had many years ago. And then, they wrote on the board.
Blah, my keitai camera sucks
. Anyway, this is the "care board" that I was looking at from my bed. It had the date, my room number, Dr. Amr's name, and the nurses (Edith was the head nurse and Yolanda was assigned to my room). It had a message board on the right side for family/friend communications in case anyone were to come. I wasn't expecting anyone, but the other patient had family members visiting her. The interesting thing was on the left side, lower half: the "Plan for the Day". The nurses who received me when I arrived the night before had written "0 (Zero) Abdominal Pain" as an inspirational goal. Below that was a note that I was not to take anything by mouth, not even water. The IV was taking care of hydrating me.
At 9am, Dr. Amr came in all decked out in her surgical gear, but it wasn't for me. I hadn't "spiked a fever". My stomach pains had largely subsided thanks to the IV cleaning things out. And the blood test yielded more normal results. No surgery necessary! I would be discharged and sent home
!
I had not eaten a thing in almost 24 hours. I was still on the IV. So I was rather surprised to see breakfast served after 9am!
French toast, Cheerios cereal & milk, orange juice, and coffee.
Umm...all the jokes about hospital food being bland? No comment
. I should've never downed the orange juice first. My stomach reacted as expected. Then I ate so slowly that they were taking my lunch order while I was still eating breakfast.
The IV finally ran out of fluid after 8 hours. It did its job!
Lunch, served at 1pm, was slightly more interesting.
Grilled chicken breast, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, a bread roll, orange Jello, & apple juice.
But it was too soon after breakfast, so it took even longer for me to consume. In fact, it finally came time to check out at around 2pm, and I was still eating as Edith was administering my exit survey.
So how was I feeling? I had a headache. It was not only hot but really humid outside. The air conditioning in the hospital rooms was turned down to conserve energy. As for my stomach, I think the pain & diarrhea I had at this point were residual effects from the previous night's CAT scan and the lack of solid food for 24 hours. They said that if I was still having problems in 3 days, to return. Otherwise, I could ease myself back into full operational mode: going back to work, including the gym workouts which I haven't even started to blog about...that's for another time
.
I returned to work on Tuesday. The retraining at the Help Desk is consuming my time. I ate normally with no problems. When I did go to the gym after work, I didn't feel like doing my usual 10-minute warmup run on the treadmill, so I kept it down to a 4mph walk. But I did all the weight machines...even the abdominal crunch...with maybe some reduced weight on some of them.
What's next? No one had any answers as to *what* caused the stomach pains in the first place. Dr. Amr emphasized that if it ever happens again, that I am to go directly to the ER and not to Family Practice. And she recommended something that I dread...to have my regular doctor refer me for another colonoscopy. I last had one in 2003 and wasn't due again until 2008. But given my family history (my mom had colon cancer) and what has happened to me now, it has to be moved up sooner.
Anyway, that was my adventure. I have great admiration for the medical staff that I encountered every step of the way. But I don't really want to go through this again anytime soon!
I woke up Sunday morning with a stomach ache. I immediately had flashbacks to the last time this happened to me. This time, the pain wasn't nearly as acute as back then, but it was still very annoying. By the time I was completing some errands, I thought it'd be a good idea to go to the Kaiser hospital in Baldwin Park and their Family Practice department which I used last time. No appointment needed.
The waiting room was surprisingly empty. Eventually I got in to see Dr. Sierra. He sent me to the lab, but to my surprise, he requested blood & urine tests - *stat*. He also went on his dinner break, so instead of sitting there for 50 minutes waiting, I ran off to do my duty at work which was going to be my next stop anyway. I think I made them panic a bit because they thought I said I was going to *eat*, and what things were leading up to, that was a no-no!
When I returned (6pm by now), Dr. Sierra sent me off to get an abdominal CAT scan. Oh man, this was almost as bad as a colonoscopy! I made a mess
, but this is why they didn't want me to eat. I hadn't eaten since the morning, but I wasn't hungry anyway on account of the pain.
Dr. Sierra then informed me that I was now heading for the emergency room. The blood test results indicated a higher white blood cell content than normal. The CAT scan showed some other things. He had already examined me and where it was most painful was right where my appendix is (the pain had moved all over the place during the day). He used the words...
...early appendicitis.
That could mean surgery, right then and there
!
They insisted in taking me to the ER in a wheelchair. I think it would've taken less time for me to walk over. But in contrast to the Family Practice waiting room, the ER was *packed* on a Sunday night. And I guess being "officially" wheeled over gave me priority. It's been really hot out lately, but the air conditioning was working *too* well as I was placed into an exam room. I was there for several hours and got visited by too many people to remember: an ER physician, more than one nurse, the admin. person who was formally admitting me to the hospital, and most importantly, Dr. Amr (yes, that's how it's spelled, pronounced "Amir"), one of the surgeons on duty. It was now after 9pm.
Dr. Amr was not convinced that surgery was going to be necessary even at this point. The tests weren't all that conclusive; they were more like "borderline" cases. I was also not exhibiting some of the other typical symptoms such as nausea or fever. She made a decision to keep me in the hospital overnight for observation. They would take more tests first thing in the morning and if things didn't improve, I'd go into surgery then. "Does that sound like a plan?" she asked. All the staff I met were nice like this, but I was still wrestling with the totally unexpected idea of staying overnight in a hospital for the first time in my life (every other procedure I've had has been out-patient where I'm out the same day), and worse, the thought of being put out of commission by the very first surgery of my life. Dental surgeries don't count. Neither do the D&C nor the endometrial ablation procedures I had in 2002.
So I was admitted into the hospital, and the nurse hooked me up to an IV. More tests. Both my arms had so many needle marks because they were having trouble finding my veins
. It was a long time before a room was ready; the hospital was very busy. I got another wheelchair ride. It was close to midnight when I arrived in room 2221. It was a shared room; the other patient was already asleep. But I now had access to a phone; I couldn't use my cell elsewhere. Now I could contact my carpooler & my boss. There was no way I'd be at work on Monday even if surgery wasn't necessary. And then my anxiety made me send that mass SMS. Sorry! But I actually got replies; thanks to those of you who did
. And to the two people who actually phoned back...thank you too; you did a great deal to help me get through the initial shock.
It was hard to sleep under the circumstances. Never having dealt with the conveniences of the controls on the side of a hospital bed, I didn't even know how to turn the light off. And every couple of hours, I was getting interrupted just as I was dropping off to sleep. Another IV was hooked up and going at 2am. A nurse came in at least twice to check my vital signs. Once, I got a really low blood pressure reading on the left arm where the IV was, so she had to switch to my right arm. At 6am, the critical blood test was taken. Dr. Amr paid a visit at that time as well. She checked me out and seemed confident that I was going to pull through without needing surgery, but it all depended on the last blood test.
The Monday day shift came on duty. I met more staff people. An odd thing that happened was that they wrapped the side bed rails with sheets. It is apparently standard procedure for patients with a history of seizure disorders like I had many years ago. And then, they wrote on the board.
Blah, my keitai camera sucks
. Anyway, this is the "care board" that I was looking at from my bed. It had the date, my room number, Dr. Amr's name, and the nurses (Edith was the head nurse and Yolanda was assigned to my room). It had a message board on the right side for family/friend communications in case anyone were to come. I wasn't expecting anyone, but the other patient had family members visiting her. The interesting thing was on the left side, lower half: the "Plan for the Day". The nurses who received me when I arrived the night before had written "0 (Zero) Abdominal Pain" as an inspirational goal. Below that was a note that I was not to take anything by mouth, not even water. The IV was taking care of hydrating me.
At 9am, Dr. Amr came in all decked out in her surgical gear, but it wasn't for me. I hadn't "spiked a fever". My stomach pains had largely subsided thanks to the IV cleaning things out. And the blood test yielded more normal results. No surgery necessary! I would be discharged and sent home
!
I had not eaten a thing in almost 24 hours. I was still on the IV. So I was rather surprised to see breakfast served after 9am!
French toast, Cheerios cereal & milk, orange juice, and coffee.
Umm...all the jokes about hospital food being bland? No comment
. I should've never downed the orange juice first. My stomach reacted as expected. Then I ate so slowly that they were taking my lunch order while I was still eating breakfast.
The IV finally ran out of fluid after 8 hours. It did its job!
Lunch, served at 1pm, was slightly more interesting.
Grilled chicken breast, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, a bread roll, orange Jello, & apple juice.
But it was too soon after breakfast, so it took even longer for me to consume. In fact, it finally came time to check out at around 2pm, and I was still eating as Edith was administering my exit survey.
So how was I feeling? I had a headache. It was not only hot but really humid outside. The air conditioning in the hospital rooms was turned down to conserve energy. As for my stomach, I think the pain & diarrhea I had at this point were residual effects from the previous night's CAT scan and the lack of solid food for 24 hours. They said that if I was still having problems in 3 days, to return. Otherwise, I could ease myself back into full operational mode: going back to work, including the gym workouts which I haven't even started to blog about...that's for another time
.
I returned to work on Tuesday. The retraining at the Help Desk is consuming my time. I ate normally with no problems. When I did go to the gym after work, I didn't feel like doing my usual 10-minute warmup run on the treadmill, so I kept it down to a 4mph walk. But I did all the weight machines...even the abdominal crunch...with maybe some reduced weight on some of them.
What's next? No one had any answers as to *what* caused the stomach pains in the first place. Dr. Amr emphasized that if it ever happens again, that I am to go directly to the ER and not to Family Practice. And she recommended something that I dread...to have my regular doctor refer me for another colonoscopy. I last had one in 2003 and wasn't due again until 2008. But given my family history (my mom had colon cancer) and what has happened to me now, it has to be moved up sooner.
Anyway, that was my adventure. I have great admiration for the medical staff that I encountered every step of the way. But I don't really want to go through this again anytime soon!