a night in the emergency room

Monday for lunch I ate bland pasta and oh what a mistake was that. About thirty minutes after lunch I started having abdominal pain and cramping. I figured that it would go away with time but as the afternoon progressed the pain continued to worsen. I called my GI doctor and the office told me that he was out of the office and to take something for the pain (Hello?! I have nothing at work for this kind of pain and this always happens to me; whenever I need my GI doctor he’s s out of the office. Perfect.). If the pain becomes more than I can deal with, go to the emergency room. At around 8:30 that night, I gave in and went on to the hospital.

When we got to the emergency room, I had an idea that there would be some sick people with the flu but oh my goodness there were a lot. I tried to sit somewhere where we had some space. The nurse told me that there was a pretty long wait. A lady sitting in front of us had been there for eight hours with abdominal pain… it wasn’t looking promising for me.(LOL) By the time I was called back we had been beside people with masks on and across from a lady vomiting; I was cringing at times but then after waiting so long – who cares anymore? We were all in the same room; if you’re going to get sick, you’re going to get sick.

I got back there and explained my situation to the er doctor. It’s always a gamble going to the er, you never know who you’re going to get and if they know about GP. I’ve had to educate my doctors before about GP; that’s a very reassuring feeling (NOT!). I got to see two more doctors before the night was over and they all agreed that I was having a flair up. That was a little upsetting. Pasta is a staple in my diet. If that is upsetting my stomach to this extent, I’m in trouble. I got two rounds of Dilaudid for pain and Zofran for the nausea along with some x-rays. When I told the doctor how much Zofran I take a day he looked a little shocked. The Zofran works really well – no side effects; the Dilaudid however is another story. I get a major rush from it and I usually pass out from it or act stoned, there’s really no other word for it. :)

They released me around 4am which was nice. I made it to the parking deck and I got that familiar feeling… nausea mixed with the sensation of vomiting. I dealt with that all the way home. My stomach pain has eased up with the aid of Vicodin. Every time I eat the pain returns. Mashed potatoes should not cause pain. I feel like I’m Jell-o and just generally weak so I haven’t made it back to work. Maybe Friday.

Why does GP have to be so uncooperative?

a life in the bathroom

I am finished with physical therapy. My therapist dismissed me a session earlier than planned. My colon muscles just never “came around or woke up”. My pelvic muscles gained about forty percent in their function. She mentioned that the next step for me would be having my colon removed. My sphincters are strong which is a good thing if I were to have the surgery but I’m still somewhat content drinking magnesium citrate every weekend. I will talk to my GI doctors about the possibility of having the surgery and what the pros and cons are; who wants to drink magnesium citrate for the rest of their life?! The down side of the surgery according to my therapist (she works with patients like me and patients who have had the surgery) is that you have to eat small meals and you “go” to the bathroom more frequently – possibly two to three times a day. Before my intestines/colon slowed down, that was my life some days, I lived in the bathroom. It’s just deciding how I would want to live my life;

• In the bathroom a couple of days out of the week
• In the bathroom all throughout the week sporadically

Either way I’m going to live my life in the bathroom (LOL). My bathroom is going to be nice in my future house. I have PLENTY of time to decide. My therapist just reminded me that the older you get, the harder it is for those muscles to adjust or change to their proper function. I just don’t want to miss out on life. With the magnesium citrate, I’ve almost missed a year of weekends. My car parks on Friday evening and I don’t move it until Monday morning. What’s that going to be like as a wife much less a mom? I so miss weekend outings with Jacob but as a mom I’m going miss birthday parties, soccer games and dance recitals.

running out of steam...

For those other GP patients out there; do you ever feel like you’re running out of steam and you can’t keep up?

This has been me for the past few months. At work I walk up to dining hall for lunch with several friends. It has progressively got worse but by the time I get to the dining hall I feel as if I am going to collapse in the parking lot from feeling so weak. I know I’m out of shape – don’t get me wrong here. When I get home from work there is no energy left to go and work out; so yes I’m out of shape.

This week the feeling persisted throughout much of the day – all week so I called my GI doctor; perhaps my nutrition had something to do with it. He had me come down to do some blood work; he said it could be a variety of things.

I met with my nutritionist this past week as well. She wasn’t pleased with my daily calorie intake so she recommended switching over to liquid diet and substituting pureed food (baby food – I’m only touching the fruits) and only eating whole foods (pasta, potatoes and rice) when I feel like it. The whole idea is to obtain better GI absorption since I am having what appears to be a hard time (liquids digest and absorb better). If I continue to drink the Special K Protein drinks to receive any adequate nutritional value, I will need to drink six to eight per day. Currently I’m doing wonderful to drink three and then I usually eat a “GP” sized meal for dinner. So- I’ve got some diet planning and rearranging to do.

As for therapy, it’s HARD!! As human beings we are so complex. My pelvic muscles have come about forty percent. As for my colon muscles, it’s not going to happen. They are too damaged – that was my understanding. My therapist has tried all types of techniques but I just can’t get my muscles to work. We still have some things to work on but it is what it is.