curious-me's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All this in only 48 hours? Seriously? What are you supposed to think when you get a message on your phone from the urgent care clinic asking you to come in and discuss your results - results that would normally take 2 - 3 dsys to get back and they are calling in less than 24 hours? How are you supposed to act? How about I start at the beginning? The Beginning: Monday It began as a normal Monday. I was tired - as per normal - but around 9 or so I started to get these cramps in my stomach. They felt kind of like 'girly cramps' except 1) it was too early for girly cramps and 2) they kept getting worse and more centralized. I couldn't stand up straight or walk normally. I kept wavering between wanting to go home and wanting to stay since my boss is a huge jerk to me. Finally at 2:30 after staring at a piece of paper for over 10 minutes I decided to quit being a hero and head home. I got home and curled up on the bed but couldn't find relief. I took some more pills for the pain and whined to Keith about the pain. That evening he gave me one of his pills from his wisdom teeth removal - close to percocet. I didn't feel any different except for a bit of a 'haze-y' feeling. We decided to go and bring back some equipment to his work truck since he wouldn't have to work for a few days. It was on this drive that the pills hit me big time. Thankfully I wasn't driving cause I'm pretty sure I was stoned. I was spaced and giggly and when we got home and I got out of the car I was weaving and couldn't walk straight. I tried to eat the dinner we had picked up but after a few bites I had to put it away and then lean on Keith on the couch and try not to fall asleep. We headed to bed at 9 cause my eyes wouldn't stay open and I was out like a light in minutes. Tuesday I woke up at 6am and actually got up. The pills had worn off by then so I was in a lot of pain. I called in to work and then Keith and I headed to the Urgent Care Clinic to be there when it opened. The wait times were actually pretty reasonable. I was seeing a doctor within half an hour of being there. He felt around the sore area and said it could be either my apendix or ovarian cysts. They weren't sure. They sent me for blood tests and an ultrasound. I got lucky as they had a cancellation for 11 that morning for the ultrasound so I left, bought a litre of water downed it, waited a while and then came back for the test. My bladder was uber full and the girl even commented on how full it was. She then let me pee and did another 'internal' exam with a camera. She told me I would have the results in 2-3 days unless they found abnormalities and they would call sooner. The doctor said he would call later that day with the blood work results. I spent the rest of the day lazing around until it was time to leave for our chiro appointment. I had a modified adjustment as I couldn't lay on my stomach due to the pain. We got home around 7 and had a message from the doctor he had called about half an hour after we had left. He said my white blood cell count was slightly high 11.7 I believe (normal is 10 I think?). He said if the pain remained or got worse to go to the ER. I again wavered between going and staying home and waiting for the results. Finally around 10 as I fought through the pain I finally admitted to Keith that I was scared of going to the ER and wasting our time if it turned out there was nothing wrong with me. He convinced me that it would be better and safer if I got checked out to make sure it wasn't my appendix. So we got dressed and left for the ER. The ER was Hell. There's no other way to explain it. SEVEN hours of pure Hell. It was crowded, disgusting and filled with many people. People who looked sick and people who looked absolutely fine. I saw the triage nurse after an hour of being there - she took my temp - normal and then my blood pressure (um sky high would not be an exaggeration). She gave me a withering glare and I told her I would call my doctor and get on meds asap (and I will). I then sat for what felt like an eternity in the waiting room until finally around 3:30am they called me in to...another waiting room (yay!) where I sat for a couple more hours. I saw another nurse who after assessing me agreed it was my appendix. He said I would get assessed by the doctor and then get admitted for surgery. I felt a huge relief after finding out was wrong with me. The doctor was a man who could disappear through walls for hours on end or at least that's how it felt to all of us waiting in the 'waiting room'. We were a patient lot but we were all getting frustrated. I was the very last of our crowd to finally get called into a room to be seen by 'the doctor'. After waiting another eternity he finally came in. Keith had waited this whole time even after he found out I was probably going to be admitted - we both wanted to be sure. This turned out to be a very good thing since the doctor came in and told me it wasn't my appendix and that I should probably go home. Obviously I was seeing red and was a wee bit upset. He explained that my white blood cell count was back down to 9.8 and with no fever it was very unlikely it was appendix (something they probably already knew about 5 hours earlier!!). He said I could stay and do more tests or just wait for the ones I already took. Duh of course I wasn't hanging around there anymore. We quickly got out of there and once in the car I lost it for a few minutes and shed a few tears. I just wanted to know what was wrong with me and for the pain to stop already! We got home at 6am and I called in to work explaining I had just got home from the hospital and wouldn't be in - no more no less. Better than babbling on I guess. I took some pills and we immediately headed to bed and were asleep within minutes (well after I finished babbling about stupid doctors and such). I awoke at 9:30 to hear the phone ringing but there was no way I was awake enough to answer so I went back to slumberville. Wednesday (today!) I awoke at 11:30 for good and was too keyed up to sleep anymore. I had to check the answering machine. There was actually 2 messages one for Keith at 8 (neither of us heard that ring of the phone) and the other at 9:30 from the Urgent Care Clinic asking me to call them to discuss my tests. Gulp. The Ultrasound woman had said it would be 2-3 days and here they were calling me already. We showered, had a small bite to eat and left for the clinic once again. My thoughts ran to dark places and I kept forcing myself to stop it. I had to wait and see what the results were. Once at the clinic we were seen within 10 minutes by a doctor. The doctor had called to discuss my blood results NOT my ultrasound. I was pretty surprised. The nurse had taken my blood pressure and again I got that look and asked why it was so high. Sigh. The doctor said my sugar levels were high and asked if diabetes ran in my family. F*CK! Yup my brother, my dad, two uncles (both sides), my cousins....I could go on. So I am to come in for another blood test once I have fasted - I'll probably go on Friday - my flex day which I'm still taking! Nobody seemed overly concerned that I was still in pain and the doctor finally went to look to see if my ultrasound reports were in. He came back and said he didn't have the full results but he thinks it was probably a cluster of cysts but they would have the full results in a day or two. Oh joy. So I left depressed about the diabetes and high blood pressure and still upset that I am in pain and no one seems to care. So I am now self medicating on tons of pills and slowly starting to process my new reality. Diet and Exerise NO EXCUSES. It's going to be a long bumpy road and I am going to have my self pitying moments but I will deal with this and I will take it seriously and I will do everything I can to make myself healthier. I will go on blood pressure meds (that runs rampand through the fam as well) and I will lose weight and get healthier in hopes that I can have some control over diabetes. Cause really what else can I do? As my good friend C always says, "Giving up Isn't an Option" Peace Out. 2:22 p.m. - 2009-04-22 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
||||||
|
||||||