My Vacation in the Hospital

[Guest guest]

Here I am again....in the hospital! My husband and I had

planned a week's getaway for my birthday. He always takes a

week's vacation for my birthday, and we schedule a special

trip....just something fun and private for the two of us. This year

we decided to go to Belize, to soak up the sun, scuba, fish and

visit the Mayan Ruins. We booked a special week at a secluded

oceanside resort in southern.

The pseudocysts started crying out in pain on the flight to Belize

City. By dinnertime, the pain had subsided completely and we

ate a light dinner of baked fish, potatos and carrots. Delicious,

but nothing too elaborate nor too heavy.

The next afternoon, the pain returned and continued on with

agonizing enthusiasism. I was in the throes of a full blown

excrutiating acute pancreatitis attack and silently screaming my

lungs out.

There are only two hospitals in the country of Belize, and both are

lacking in trained staff It's a third world type of place, and even

the hospitals reflect it. My husband called my doctor in

Savannah, described my symptoms, and the doctor instructed

Bob to get me stateside as soon as possible. The airline we

flew in on didn't have any departing flights until Saturday. One

airline was going back to the US, at least as far as Miami, and

the captain permitted us to fly in 1st Class on medical

emergency status. US Airways (our company), did the same,

and we got into Savannah yesterday a.m.

Immediate admittance to the hospital was made by my GI. It's a

new hospital (new for me, that it), so I'm hoping that this stay is

okay. One of the first tests my doc did was the a and l test,

agreeing though, that it probably wouldn't show any elevation, at

this stage of the game. They didn't! My doctor dropped a

comment that any one who still believed that the A & L levels

needed to be elevated to diagnose pancreatitis was still in the

dark ages. I'm on a dilaudid IV, was NPO and will be TPN later

today, Oh lucky me. The pain was just out of this world!!!

Haven't read all the messages yet, I wanted to get this off first.

The meds are making me sleepy. I'll be back in touch later.

They did a CT-scan with contrast late last night, which we are

waiting on the results for. It was my birthday yesterday....and all

I've been allowed was that awful barium cocktail for the prep!!!

Geeeez!!!

The dotor is talking about drainage of the pseudocysts, but until

we see the pics etc.., there's just not much more to tell you at this

point.. I'll be here for quite some time. I haven't been able to

catch up with all the messages yet, but will try. I'm weaving in

and out with the dilaudid, but at least it's putting a stop to that

relentless pain. I'll be back with an update later.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

hhessgriffeth@...

South Carolina

SC and SE Regional Representative

PAI, Intl.

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and

should not be substituted for professional medical consultation.