Intense, intermittent pain landed me in the hospital on Monday, August 16th. My husband was out of town, my daughter was starting her first, full week of school, and I was at home in pain with my two year old. ACK!@#!
What started as mild abdominal cramping the week before, soon turned into full blown, 10 on a pain scale kind-of-pain. Yet, somehow that painful morning, I managed to get my daughter up, dressed, fed and out the door for school. The rest of the morning is really a blur.
I dove into bed and curled up. Abdominal cramping. Intense waves of pain. Sharp back pain. I couldn't stand tall. I walked hunched over. I got up only to go to the bathroom, change my sons diaper and get him something to eat. He spent the morning in front of PBS television, pushing cars around my bed and climbing over me. He kept saying, "mommy not feel good."
I took my first trip to the ER around 2:30 in the afternoon. I got myself to the ER and surprisingly the pain started to taper off. What's up with that? I declined pain medicine when I arrived because I drove alone and the pain was no longer that bad. A CT scan showed a right ovarian cyst and gallstones. The doctor ruled out appendicitis, kidney stones, gallstones and a urinary tract infection. He confirmed, what I kind of already knew, that my ovarian cysts were causing the pain. He sent me on my way with a prescription in hand. I returned home to pick up my kids at 7:30pm.
Now, here comes round two. [DING]
I picked up the kids at my neighbors house. Already I've begun cramping and I'm having trouble standing tall. Hunched over, I get the kids in the car and back home. I immediately march them straight upstairs and into bed. Forget about teeth, jammies or bedtime stories. There was no way that all of that was going to happen. I kiss them goodnight and head downstairs to pop my first round of pain pills.
I grab the bottles and take an anti-nausea pill and two pain pills. In less than five minutes, I was vomiting profusely. I threw everything up. A rush of nausea came over me. I sat on the floor and didn't move. When I thought it was safe to try again, I grabbed my medicine. Five minutes later I was at the toilet throwing it all up again. I frantically called the nurses line at the ER. I explained to them that I just popped 4 tablets of vicodin and threw them up. I wanted to know if it was safe to try again. I was scared of overdosing. The nurse didn't advice me and instructed me to return to the ER.
I called my husband who was in New York and I told him that I needed to go back to the ER, but, that someone had to come watch the kids and someone had to take me. I also asked him to call his mother who lives two hours away to come and help me. He hung up and he made a few phone calls. Within ten minutes my friend was at the door to watch the kids and my other friend had the car ready to take me. I have great [GREAT] friends!
Round two at the ER lasted from 8:30pm to 12:30am. This time, I was given pain medicine intravenously. The doctor agreed to just treat the pain with the understanding that I would follow up with my gynecologist within the next couple of days. Agreed - just please help make the pain go away! So there I lay, on my side with legs curled up. I felt loopy as the medicine made it's way through my body. The pain slowly disappeared, however I could still feel the cramping in my abdomen. I was released and told to follow up with my doctor.
By the time I arrived home it was about 1am and my Mother-In-Law met me at the door. The pain was back full blown and I wasn't able to stand up straight. I said hello, took more pain medicine and fell into bed. I remained in bed all night and didn't get out of bed all day on Tuesday (Day Two). I could barely function. Since I knew my kids were in good hands, I just focused on trying to control my pain. I called my doctor late Tuesday morning and they said they couldn't see me. WTF!@#! I wasn't adamant about being seen, otherwise I'm sure they would have. I really couldn't see myself sitting in a car and driving across town anyway. I wasn't up for the trip. So, I scheduled an appointment for Wednesday morning.
Wednesday morning (Day Three) couldn't come fast enough. I was popping pain pills and they weren't doing anything for my pain. I was physically and emotionally drained. I made it into the doctor's office while my mother-in-law kept my little two year old entertained in the waiting room. After a quick exam she requested an ultrasound of my uterus. She confirmed fluid floating around the right ovary and suspected that one of the cysts had burst. She recommended an overnight stay in the hospital for monitoring and re-hydration. I broke down crying and said, yes.
I was immediately admitted into the hospital at 11:30am and into my bed by noon. Nurse Melissa hooked me up to an inter-venous drip of liquids, gave me a dose of anti-nausea medicine and then brought in the "big guns," M-o-r-p-h-i-n-e.
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