The Hospital - part 2 Blood Clots

Exactly one week after being discharged from the hospital for my surgery I went to see my doctor to have my drain removed from my abdomen. I thought it would be horrible but I had also taken some pain pills before I left and so it was uncomfortable but not like when I was little. When I had my hip surgeries I would have a drain in my leg and before I left the hospital they would take the drain out. I swear to you that when they pulled on that drain it pulled from my eyebrows down. The pain was horrible!!

My cousin Jessie had the pleasure of taking me to this appointment. I had mentioned that I didn't feel good and that I was having a hard time moving, I was so slow that day. On our drive to the appointment she even said one time that I was acting weird and that she felt that if our drive got any weirder that she was going to get off the freeway and just take me to an emergency room. After the drain was out I mentioned to my doctor that my upper back hurt and I was having a little bit of a hard time breathing. She immediately sent me down to have a CT scan. My wonderful cousin followed me and was there with me the whole time. When I got back to my room they had "my daughter" (aka Jessie my cousin, do I really look that old?) come into the room with me. The conversation that followed went something like this:

Doctor: Well, your mom here is being quit the troublemaker.

Me: (totally confused) cousin?

Jessie: Oh, Rachelle I can't believe you haven't punched your doctor in the throat yet!

Doctor: Rachelle, you do have some things going on with your lungs. You have extreme bilateral pulmonary embolisms. I am sending you to the hospital right now by ambulance. The ambulance is on it's way.

Me: (stunned and still shocked that they thought Jess was my daughter) Really, by ambulance?

Doctor: Yes, you are going to be directly admitted to the hospital and you are going by ambulance.

Jessie: madly texting away next to me to let everyone know.

We waited a long time before the EMT's finally showed up with the stretcher and loaded me up. They did get a report from my doctor and asked me a ton of questions. None of the questions included what my insurance was, that would have saved me some phone calls after I was discharged. I found out on the 5 minute ride to the hospital (once again really, an ambulance? I was 5 minutes away we could have drove) that there was a first ambulance that got to the clinic but it overheated and so we had to wait for a second ambulance to come get me. That is totally my luck. I have lungs full of blood clots, enough that it's to much for them to count and the ambulance overheats and I have to wait longer. I could have driven myself there by then. If I could have driven myself there I could have skipped having to watch the EMT's lift me into the ambulance. I know I'm roundy but the looks on their faces was like they were lifting a Sumo wrestler into the truck. It would have made me want to lose weight if I could have been thinking right and didn't want ice cream to bury the looks on their faces with.

Finally, I am at the hospital and because I didn't come with any orders (not sure if the doctor could send them or not, giving her the benefit of the doubt) I couldn't get any pain medicine and I had to be examined by one of the hospital doctors before I could get anything. Then, because this wasn't enough, everyone chimed in that I had been slurring my words for the past couple of days. Off I go for another CT scan. Once down there I realized very quickly that I could not lay flat. I had to lay flat and hold still for the scan but that is when the real pain hit. Oh My Word!!! I don't think I felt pain like that when I was in labor or when I had my kidney stone. It was a downhill spiral from there. Everyone said that the way my body was working so hard to breath they thought I was going to die that night. I finally got some pain medicine, actually 3 different kinds, I'm amazed that I lived through that much medicine without overdosing. Eventually I did calm down and was able to relax and breath a little easier.

All the time that this was going on I had the most peaceful feeling. I just knew that I was okay. I kept trying to tell everyone that I was okay, I wanted them to feel the peace that I felt. I will say that I know I had The Lord's Spirit there and that he was comforting me. That's the only way I could have stayed so calm and knew that everything was going to be okay. In this situation nothing should have been okay. Most people don't live through having one embolism in their lungs and I had to many to count. Yet I was alive and calm and had this reassurance that everything was going to okay.

I still had my catheter in from my surgery and they decided to remove that while I was in there for this hospital stay. I was so prepared for the worse but I didn't even feel a thing when it was taken out. It was so nice to not have a drain or a catheter or anything else hanging out of me. Now I just had the oxygen to contend with. I don't know how many of you have had a catheter in for 2 weeks but between the catheter and my bladder still healing (and lets not forget that I still have the stint in there) I ended up with no bladder control. When I say no control, I mean NONE!!

Imagine, if you dare, one week out from having abdominal surgery and no bladder control and trying to get in and out of a hospital bed to use the stinkin bathroom. This was with a whole room of people who would not leave because of how serious the situation was. They were either trying to help me out of bed or they were getting mooned. I know, not pleasant at all. I am here to formally apologize to all my family that was there to witness the mooning. I am so thankful for your continued love and support even after seeing my tush.

4 1/2 days later I was given the choice to go home or go to a rehab center. I chose home with home health. I came home on oxygen and am still on it. I hope that things are getting better so that I can wean myself off of it soon. It's amazing how much one part of your body can change so much of you life when it's not working right. Who would have thought your lungs would be that important :) I also came home having to give myself shots in my abdomen just above my incision. I have never given anyone a shot and have always had a hard time with needles. With this I just took the syringe and remembered what my mom said while she was in nursing school and gave myself a shot. I had to do 3 more shots when I came home and now I am just on Coumadin. I also have to have my blood checked 1 to 2 times a week to make sure it stays within a certain range so that I am not thick enough to make new clots and not thin enough to bleed out everywhere. It has been amazing to see how fast life can change.

Part 3 to come...Yes there is a part 3!