Tiggerholic
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2006
There are a few people that know I am in the hospital and sort of what for, but my DH thought maybe I should put up a post, so those who are interested in knowing the "who, what, when, where, and why" can get all the information here. Ask questions or what not 
As some of you know this past month has been a pretty tough one on me. With the recurrence of my breast cancer, a FUN-FILLED, yet very tiring, week at DLR with dear friends
then 2 days after getting home, our neighbors decided that they wanted to have a BBQ on their back patio. Not a real problem, unless you use almost an entire can of lighter fluid on a little-bitty BBQ. Anyway, our apartment was flooded with carbon monoxide fumes, which sent me into a severe asthma attack and damaged my vocal cords. DH said "You could have left Minnie Mouse at Disneyland!" 
He was right, I did sound like her 
I was put on a course of predinsone (steroid) to help with the vocal cords and by this past Saturday morning, I had my normal voice back 
Then Saturday night comes and my abdomen began distending and come Sunday morning, I was vomiting, no bowel sounds, and looked like I was 7mths pregnant. These are early signs of an impending small bowel obstruction or "pseudo-bowel obstruction." Only difference between the two, is that the "pseudo" is when I get ALL the symptoms of a bowel obstruction, but when Xrays/cat scans are done, there is NO CLEAR obstruction. Basically, my intestines decide that they want a vacation and just stop working, which is EXACTLY what they have done this time. Either diagnosis is a direct admit into the hospital. Do not pass go, Do not collect $200
So, around 10am Monday morning we went to the ER and by 9pm that night, I was *finally* assigned a room
I have a NG (nasogastric) tube in place that, goes up the nose all the way to the stomach and is hooked up to suction to keep the stomach drained of all gastric fluids. Yesterday morning, Thursday, I started getting bright red blood from the NG tube. The Dr thinks that the NG tube is causing some major irritation to lining of the stomach and is keeping an eye on it. They had to put in a PICC (Pepherial Inserted Central Catheter) except it feeds into an artery that goes to one of the arteries that goes into the heart, because I just do not have an *good* veins left.
They started me on TPN (Total Protein and Nutrient) therapy as I am not allowed to eat or drink ANYTHING and because of the TPN, they have to check my blood sugar every 6hrs and then I am given 2 units of Insulin. Along with the TPN therapy, I just received my first bag of "lipids" or fats, which to me is rather silly, as my body overproduces lipids on their own. Go figure
I also have a PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesic) which is just a button I can push every 10 minutes to get pain medicine
I am also being given injections in the stomach to help prevent blood clots in the legs; anti-nausea and muscle relaxant via the PICC line. Then of course I am also getting straight "Potassium" and other assortment of mixes of IV fluids.
Right now it is just a waiting game to see *WHEN* my intestines will decide to wake up, medically it is called an "illieus", and start working. Once they do that, then they will start advancing my diet slowly, so I do not revert back to the "dead zone."
So, I tried keeping this short, but it turned out a bit longer than I expected. I am thankful that I can connect to the Internet, via dial-up at 24kbps, and get on VMK occasionally. Yes, it can take up to 20 minutes just for a room to load, but after it does load, things seem to run smoothly.
to all those who have asked how I am doing and continue to send 
and my way. Guess the start of my radiation therapy is going to have to wait until all this mess clears up 
Just call me Abbie Normal
Lyn
As some of you know this past month has been a pretty tough one on me. With the recurrence of my breast cancer, a FUN-FILLED, yet very tiring, week at DLR with dear friends
then 2 days after getting home, our neighbors decided that they wanted to have a BBQ on their back patio. Not a real problem, unless you use almost an entire can of lighter fluid on a little-bitty BBQ. Anyway, our apartment was flooded with carbon monoxide fumes, which sent me into a severe asthma attack and damaged my vocal cords. DH said "You could have left Minnie Mouse at Disneyland!" He was right, I did sound like her I was put on a course of predinsone (steroid) to help with the vocal cords and by this past Saturday morning, I had my normal voice back Then Saturday night comes and my abdomen began distending and come Sunday morning, I was vomiting, no bowel sounds, and looked like I was 7mths pregnant. These are early signs of an impending small bowel obstruction or "pseudo-bowel obstruction." Only difference between the two, is that the "pseudo" is when I get ALL the symptoms of a bowel obstruction, but when Xrays/cat scans are done, there is NO CLEAR obstruction. Basically, my intestines decide that they want a vacation and just stop working, which is EXACTLY what they have done this time. Either diagnosis is a direct admit into the hospital. Do not pass go, Do not collect $200
So, around 10am Monday morning we went to the ER and by 9pm that night, I was *finally* assigned a room
I have a NG (nasogastric) tube in place that, goes up the nose all the way to the stomach and is hooked up to suction to keep the stomach drained of all gastric fluids. Yesterday morning, Thursday, I started getting bright red blood from the NG tube. The Dr thinks that the NG tube is causing some major irritation to lining of the stomach and is keeping an eye on it. They had to put in a PICC (Pepherial Inserted Central Catheter) except it feeds into an artery that goes to one of the arteries that goes into the heart, because I just do not have an *good* veins left. They started me on TPN (Total Protein and Nutrient) therapy as I am not allowed to eat or drink ANYTHING and because of the TPN, they have to check my blood sugar every 6hrs and then I am given 2 units of Insulin. Along with the TPN therapy, I just received my first bag of "lipids" or fats, which to me is rather silly, as my body overproduces lipids on their own. Go figure
I also have a PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesic) which is just a button I can push every 10 minutes to get pain medicine
I am also being given injections in the stomach to help prevent blood clots in the legs; anti-nausea and muscle relaxant via the PICC line. Then of course I am also getting straight "Potassium" and other assortment of mixes of IV fluids.Right now it is just a waiting game to see *WHEN* my intestines will decide to wake up, medically it is called an "illieus", and start working. Once they do that, then they will start advancing my diet slowly, so I do not revert back to the "dead zone."
So, I tried keeping this short, but it turned out a bit longer than I expected. I am thankful that I can connect to the Internet, via dial-up at 24kbps, and get on VMK occasionally. Yes, it can take up to 20 minutes just for a room to load, but after it does load, things seem to run smoothly.
to all those who have asked how I am doing and continue to send and my way. Guess the start of my radiation therapy is going to have to wait until all this mess clears up Just call me Abbie Normal Lyn
