What a Week

For those of you who don't know, I spent most of the last week in the hospital. Here is the basics of the entire thing.

Since Decemeber, I have been in pain in my upper abdomen and left side and left side of my back. It continues to get worse as my pregnancy progresses (baby gets bigger pain gets worse, I guess). My OBs all say the baby is fine; which is great because I don't have to that worry on top of my pain. However, I am not OK. So, the OBs turned me over to a Gastro (I have a history of IBS-C which everyone thought was out of control with pregnancy hormones).

In January, I was hospitalized with pain and a fever. The Gastro did a colonoscopy. They ran all the tests you can run with a colonoscopy, and they all came back clear. My colon spasmed through the entire test, so Dr. N (the gastro) put me on anti-spasm medicine. With that medicine, some Miralax and fiber, we have been limping along. BUT, things kept getting worse. So, at the beginning of March, Dr. N. did an endoscopy. This came back clear except for a medium sized hiatal hernia, which Dr. N. said was small enough that most people wouldn't even know they had it. So we added some daily heartburn medicine and tried to limp on (which didn't really do anything other than prevent the occassional heartburn that I was having).

As a side note, my condition seems to be better in the morning and get progressively worse throughout the day. I manage to take care of myself and work, but by about 2:30 or 3:00, I find myself counting down every minute to quiting time (which isn't usually the case because at my office the floor is quietest at this time and I used to get a bunch of work done then). By 4:30, I drag myself to the car. When I get to Erik's school, I can barely get out of the car. When I get him home, I colapse on the bed or couch and Erik plays until Todd gets home. I hurt all night long, but the morning shower seems to loosen things up and I am usually feeling a little better by the time I arrive at work.

After the endoscopy, my condition got worse faster. Last Friday was worse than normal. I found myself watching the clock at 1:30 instead of 2:30, and when I made it to Erik's school I seriously thought of asking the director to go get him for me (I would have but she wasn't in her office). I ended up in tears trying to get Erik in the car. We got home, and I crawled in bed. We ended up going to Arby's for dinner, and I ate a plain jr. roast beef sandwich and couldn't even drink my sweet tea. I went to bed immediately after we got home, and by the time 10:00 came I was in so much pain that I was panicking (crying and panic make stomach pain worse). So, I called the dr. in the morning fearing that I had an intestinal blockage or something.

Saturday morning we went to the doctor. Dr. H (the on call OB) decided to admit me to the hospital for IV fluids and a gastro consult because I had lost so much weight over the last month and a half. (Funny little side note - Dr. H and Dr. N both go to church with some of my coworkers)

Saturday's gastro consult didn't go well because Dr. N's on-call person (Dr. M) probably hadn't seen a pregnant person in years. So his initial decision was to continue my regular medicines for 48 hours. He did order a stool sample to check for bacteria.

Needless to say we were not pleased, and neither was Dr. H (the OB). So, Sunday morning, Dr. H came in the room with me when Dr. M came in. Dr. M was much more thorough. He really felt like my condition was not digestive but muscular or skeletal, but wanted to wait 24 hrs to have Dr. N see me (and the stool sample labs were not back yet). He added another medicine to try to see if coating my stomach with a soothing medicine would help (it didn't).

Dr. N. saw me on Monday and ordered some blood work and consulted more with the OB's. We spent the day trying to stay hydrated and waiting on all the lab results. By Tuesday all the tests came back clear. So, Dr. N ordered a CT scan (which requires drinking a bunch of banana flavored smoothy stuff laced with barium - not the most fun for a nauseated person but comparatively not too bad - I am still thankful for that). The CT scan showed nothing unusual, so we were back to square one. So one Wednesday they gave me an enema to make sure that everything was cleared out (which my colon was already empty, I would have been mad, but I felt like it helped flush out any barium that might have been in my system).

So on Thursday, Dr. N decided to start testing for some more rare conditions. I would tell you what they are, but I don't remember. I do know one was vasculitis and another is a metabolic disorder. So Thursday was spent with blood work, a 24 hour test, and trying to keep my fever gone, and trying to figure a way to get me comfortable enough to go home for the Easter weekend.

I was discharched on Good Friday with a bunch of prescriptions, a follow up appointment for Dr. N., instructions to make a follow up appointment with my OB, a present from some ladies who make encouragement presents for mom's on bed rest, and a misdelivered pink balloon which Erik happily adopted. I was also given words from Dr. N. that he thinks my condition is not digestive as they have seen pretty much all of my digestive system (I don't think they have seen my small intestine due to the baby). I am not out of the woods yet. And, he hopes to know more by my follow up appointment. He does already know that one of the rarer blood tests for inflamation is off the charts.

I had a good day Friday and ate well. However, around 10:00 Friday night the pain started again, and I got a horrible case of the chills. Todd had to hold me still I was shaking so much. The chills and pain continued most of the night and I ended up with a fever. I fought the fever all day yesterday (Saturday) so I didn't eat well at all.

Today I am feeling a little better. I don't think I have had a fever and I have already eated better (I ate breakfast!). Todd and Erik are gone to church. I am starting to feel tired again, but I guess that is to be expected.

So, here is a run down of the tests I have had:
A colonoscopy
An endoscopy
A gallbladder sononogram
A CT scan
A host of blood work
A 24 hour urine test
A stool sample for C-Diff
A sonogram of the baby and my ovaries (the baby looks great and is measuring a week bigger than his due date, and we are quite sure he is boy)
An enema (half treatment - half test)

A run down of results:
The baby looks great and kicks nurses and is head down
My digestive system is fairly normal except for what appears to be run of the mill IBS (I got to keep the protonix for heartburn so I can eat salsa again)
I don't appear to have gallstones or pancreatis or liver function problems
All my regular blood tests, stool sample, and other normal tests have been normal.
The 2 blood tests that might indiciate a more rare disorder: 1 came back slightly elevated but in the normal range for a pregnant woman, and 1 came back so high it is off the charts

A List of Challenges
Dealing with pain
Dealing with guilt for not being able to take better care of my family - Todd is doing a great job and Erik has been well behaved - I just long to have a more active mom role including doing some fun activities
Desiring to get back to work some - there are several things I need to do before my maternity leave - I know I can't do these things without help
Rebuilding strength - spending the week in the hospital and taking pain meds at night drops your blood pressure and zaps your energy - I currently don't feel able to drive, stand for about more time than it takes to have a shower, or to be left alone with Erik
Anemia
Eating - I am so nauseated and in pain that I don't really want to eat. It is a real struggle and it leads to dehydration. I also need to gain weight for the baby. I need to be able to eat well for the health of the baby and for my anemia. Additionally, eating often causes stomach spasms during a meal.
Getting ready for baby and packing a hospital bag
I need summer/spring maternity clothes
Figuring out a plan of what drugs will not upset my IBS when I deliver and having that plan in hand before delivery
Knowing what to do or who to call if my follow up with Dr. N leaves no plan of action (he has already said he doesn't know what to do since this does not appear digestive)
Pain from being in bed too long
Controling fever and dealing with the discomfort of having a fever (I get really nauseated and iritable)
Chills (due to both pain and fever)
Hoping my body progresses to labor very quickly and that the baby would be ready. Todd and I are going to talk to the OBs about inducing as soon as it seems things are ready (as close to 37 weeks as possible). However, we will have to know that the baby is physically ready and that my cervix is thinned. I have high hopes for this since I dialeted early with Erik.
I need to get my energy back enough to pay the bills and do our takes. This is an ASAP item.

I know there are more but my foggy mind can't recall them.

I will spend more time telling about the special things that happened at the hospital (visitors, the photo baby lady, Nurse Sharon, being able to see Todd again after not being able to for a couple of days) later.

In the mean time, Todd is a great Easter Bunny. Last night he brought me beautiful yellow roses which make me smile every time I see them. He put 11 of them in a vase on my vanity so I can see them in bed, and one in a bud vase so I can have it close to me on my bedside table. And he fixed Easter baskets for each of us. We all got candy and a snack size bag of chips. Erik also got Easter shaped sidewalk chalk. My Easter basket had extra bags of chips (Lays Original) because the salty light flavor tastes really good to me even when nothing else does. And, he bought ginger
ale (which tastes really good to me- but I have to be careful with I don't need to introduce too much gas into my already sensitive system).

Todd is great!!!!!!

I think I need a nap.