home sweet home

[Guest guest]

Well, we left STL at 11:50 am and I arrived at my doorstep about

2:00 pm. Bonedust was quite happy to see me and once I finished

unpacking and laid down to rest, he decided to lay beside me with

one paw over my shoulder and his head resting on mine...so sweet.

So backing up a few days...

A week ago today, I was sent for x-rays and, out of curiosity, I

asked to see them before I was taken back to my room. One of my

cages looked extremely crooked (like it had slipped to the side) and

I was taken aback. The next morning, Dr. B came in and had me stand

and march in place. He commented that I looked fine externally and

when I asked for elaboration, he commented that one of the cages

looked a bit " off " on the x-ray, but that I seemed to be doing fine.

Then, he said I could leave the hospital.

So, this weighed on my mind from the time I saw the image to the

time I saw him on Monday morning. Was it possible for the cage to

move out of place? Could this be the reason that my left hip and low

back feel so uncomfortable? Will I need another anterior surgery to

correct whatever has gone wrong? Is the Fellow responsible? The

angst went on and on and on. But, I kept rebutting my thoughts with

this statement, " If Dr. B thinks it's OK, I should think it's OK. "

Thursday was pretty laid back and Friday we walked back over to Dr.

B's office to attempt to meet up with Kathy G. from Florida.

Success! They were running very late with appointments and so we

were able to visit for over an hour. Kathy's husband was with her

and my mom with me. We discovered that we had the same surgeon for

our Harrington rod surgeries (Kathy grew up in OKC), were schooled

in the same school district, and that one of my colleagues and dear

friends was Kathy's roommate in college at OU! I couldn't believe

this had never come up on the board. I told Adam that I am making

the world a little smaller one connection at a time. I am beginning

to think that there is a very strong correlation between people who

get brave enough to post on this board and really super nice

fantastic human beings. I never would have guessed that we had SO

much in common.

So then came Saturday...my friends from Norman who are temporarily

transplanted to St. Louie picked us up for an early dinner on " The

Hill " , which is world-famous for Italian food. I had a nice, hard

chair at the restaurant and the only bother I had was my drawstring

on my pants rubbing on my incision - I suspect this will be the case

for quite awhile. We had a lovely time and the food was incredible!

We were home early, visited just a bit over coffee at the apartment,

and then they went home and mom and I went to bed.

Sunday morning found me sleeping in until 11 am. Mom finally came in

and woke me and said she had some food ready for me. I was about 3

hours off on my Oxycontin so I decided I should eat a little before

I took it. I had half of mom's leftovers from the night before (she

had already eaten the other half) and then sat down to catch up on

email and read a few posts. I was a bit uncomfortable sitting in the

chair I chose, so I went to get my pain pill and then thought about

lying down again. During this time is when the pain hit me. I felt

this extremely sharp stabbing pain in my rib cage just below my

scapula. When I would try to breathe deep (to calm myself), it got

worse, and when I laid down on my side, it hurt even more. I tried

laying on my back and other side and that really got the pain going!

What on earth was wrong with me? While the pain was intensifying, I

broke out in a cold sweat and felt nauseas. Then, I threw up. The

pain didn't stop and I was still chilled (my legs actually looked

purple) so I wrapped myself in a blanket and tried to lay down

again...dumb idea. I tried walking around stretching my arms up,

standing in the sunbeam, nothing was helping. So, finally, I decided

I better call Dr. B. I thought my stomach was settling and figured

that since I had thrown up the Oxycontin, I should try a different

pain pill. So, I took the Hydrocodone and ate a Ritz cracker with it

(the only kind of crackers we had). Before Dr. B returned my call, I

threw up again. He said that there was a small chance I had a

pulmonary embolus (blood clot) and that I should go to the ER and

have them x-ray my chest to make sure that wasn't the case. And yes,

I could see the photograph of Cam's post about my TED hose as he

spoke the words...

So, we called a cab, went to the ER, and told them why were there.

They said there were two tests that could be done to find a blood

clot but that one of them would be tougher on a Sunday. The " easy "

test would be a CT scan with contrast dye. All that was necessary

was to start an IV with an .18 needle. Some of you know how I feel

about needles and that I am a 'hard stick' to begin with. The nurse

(who said he had been a nurse for 2000 years) said that I didn't

have any veins, but he would do his best. In case you don't know, an

18 needle feels like a very sharp knife when wiggled around under

one's skin. It seems my veins are smaller than said needle and while

he gave it the old college try, he gave up on my preferred right arm

and moved to the left. He stuck me there (thinking he had a good

vein) and when I was shedding tears and my knees were quivering, he

said he didn't want to hurt me anymore and he was giving up. So then

this woman my age popped in and said she was going to give it a go.

She looked both arms over and said that she had found a great vein.

So, she stuck the knife back in my arm and wiggled it around until

she got one. I asked if she had done it and she said, " Yes, but we

don't talk until it's totally done. " I respected her wishes only to

learn that while she did successfully get the IV in, no blood would

come out and it was in the wrong part of my arm for the contrast

dye. Nurse Mike informed us of this one. By the time she had the

catheter sufficiently in my vein I was yelling and crying, knees

quivering, and began to break out in hives. She asked if I always

get so anxious with IVs and I told her, no, but that this one hurt

too much to be calm. She had the tourniquet on my left arm when I

told her I needed a break and asked her to kindly remove it for a

moment. So, she started quizzing me about my life and we discovered

that we both had scoliosis and had spine surgery as youngsters. She

did not have Harrington rods, however, but was one of the first to

get a newer rod. She's had two kids with no problems but expressed

concern that she might begin to have trouble at any time. She

pointed out that I was fine until two years ago. All of this did

help to calm me down. Then she told me she had a 50/50 chance of

getting a vein and asked me if I wanted her to take it. HA! She said

she could go as high as 60%, but that was it. I politely declined

her offer. I said that if there was another test that didn't involve

a big fat needle, I'd like them to make the effort or I could say I

was just pretending and go home and forget the whole thing. She said

she wasn't going to try anymore and left.

Then the doctor came back in...Dr. Katz (this made me laugh). He

said he still needed blood out of me and suggested a central line. I

asked how he would do a central line without an IV and he said they

don't use IVs in the ER. I said, then can you at least give me

something to relax me? He asked how I respond to anxiety meds and I

explained that I had never had any to my knowledge. He finally

agreed to give me something (Ativan) before he did anything else to

me. They also gave me some nausea medication, which I had requested

right after he saw me. So then, he decides he can definitely get

blood out of my jugular vein and says it won't hurt anymore than an

IV. Now I'm feeling confident! Fortunately, the Ativan did help a

little and while he attempted to find juice in my jugular, I was

only slightly uncomfortable. He failed. Next came the groin...and we

had some blood! Thank God. I don't know what would come next - an

artery perhaps?

So then they did this...

A V/Q scan (sometimes called a V/P or ventilation/perfusion scan) is

a nuclear medicine test in which short-acting radioactive particles

are injected through a vein or breathed into the lungs. If there are

areas of the lung that do not " take up " the particles, it is an

indication that there may be a blood clot. I got both - injection

and breathed radioactive particles. Sounds safe, no?

And the verdict is...NO BLOOD CLOT. However, in the midst of the

trauma, the pain in my ribs went away. Perhaps the Ativan helped

that too? Someone at the ER said it was possible I had a very small

clot that dissolved itself. Since I know nothing about such things,

I will chalk it up to an unsolved mystery that took nine hours of my

life and caused me to miss the entire Super Bowl including free

pizza at our apartment complex. Oh well.

Monday morning comes and we get in to see Dr. B. I want new x-rays

because the others are so scary. He doesn't think they are necessary

until I tell him I was laying down for the ones at the hospital.

Then, he decides it's a good idea. grrr. I was so tired by this

point. So mom and I checked out the standing films and agreed that

perhaps my spine is really just that crooked at the bottom and that

the pain I am having on the left is likely the result of the new

position my spine is in. We were supposed to fly home yesterday but

when Dr. B gave mom " the look " after she told him we were planning

to leave that night, we decided it wouldn't hurt to wait one more

day.

So, now I will wait and see until March 13 when I have my follow-up

visit. I am resting a lot, walking a lot and being very patient with

my body. However, the shared leave pool is depleted so I do want to

go back to work as soon as I am capable. Unpaid leave sucks. At

least I got six weeks worth of pay.

And now you know the rest of the story.

kam