U of U Hospital Stay

Well I wanted to post a few pics from when I was in the hospital. There are still a few things I wanted to write down as well, just so I don't forget them. This post might be kind of random, with just certain experiences that I want to remember, not in any particular order. The first few days I was in Salt Lake we basically did a lot of waiting. They kept saying that I had a blockage, or strictures, or narrowing in my intestines. I was in tons of pain. They were trying to avoid surgery if at all possible so they were trying a lot of other things first. I saw several teams of doctors-GI doctors, GI surgeons, internal medicine doctors, general surgeons, etc. It was a little frustrating at first, because they would all want to do different things (start TPN, not start TPN, etc). Finally after a few days the GI surgeons decided they would pretty much take charge and had me moved to the surgical floor. The GI doctors also continued to follow along. 

After a few days they decided to do a sigmoidoscopy, with the purpose of trying to open up some of the narrowing and strictures. I hoped and expected to wake up feeling better, with some of the problem fixed. That did not happen. I pretty much woke up screaming in pain. I had never been in so much pain-even worse than the car ride from Logan, and remember I said that that was the worst pain I'd ever been in. The nurses in recovery obviously didn't know anything about my situation because they just kept telling me I'd feel better if I passed some of the air that was put into me during the procedure (they pump you full of air to help them see things better). I tried to tell them that I hadn't been able to pass anything, even air, in a week. My mom and Chris were in the waiting room and they wouldn't go get them-they were going to just take me back to my room. When they wheeled me past the waiting room I saw Chris and told them again them my husband was waiting for me so they went and got them. I was mad because I had been told they would be brought back and be with me when I woke up. We went back to my room and the next few hours were the most miserable I had ever experienced in my life. I just cried and cried. Chris and my mom just stood by my bed for like 3 hours. I kept saying that I couldn't handle it any more, and I really thought that I couldn't handle the pain for another minute, and then of course another minute would go by. Doctors came in and gave me pain medicine, but it didn't help a ton. I think they were afraid of giving me too much. Eventually I threw up a bunch and they gave me some medicine for nausea which eventually put me to sleep. It was a horrible experience that I never want to relive again. It was awful.

Anyway, that was one experience I wanted to write about. Here are a few pics:

Sometimes I would come back from the bathroom to find Chris in my bed.

We went on lots of walks and sometimes we would go outside, which I really liked.

This picture was taken right before I had another sigmoidoscopy, only they called it "exam under anesthesia" because they actually used general anesthesia to put me completely under, instead of just sedation. They were hoping to really find the problem and be able to clear some of the strictures (that they thought were there at the time). This time instead of using air, they used CO2, which just gets absorbed into your body and you don't have to let out, so it's a lot less painful afterwards. I was very clear that I did not want to experience what I had a couple days before, and they assured me that the CO2 would be just fine, and it was. However, they could hardly accomplish anything because of how narrowed everything was, so I still didn't have the relief from the pain that I was hoping for when I woke up.

Another day I had another sigmoidoscopy, (and they used CO2 again), which still didn't really help. Later that day I had to have a test called a barium enema x-ray. Yeah, it's as much fun as it sounds. I cried through the whole thing. Chris and my mom had to wait in a waiting room down the hall. When I was being taken back to my room the transport guy made me so upset. He was going so fast, over bumps, around corners. I had just had these two horrible procedures and was in so much pain and he was clueless. One time he seriously almost ran someone over going around a corner. My mom and Chris thought he was crazy too. In Twin the transport people slow down and warn you when there's a bump, and are really careful. I was not a happy camper.
This pic below is in the surgical ICU the day after surgery. These pictures are out of order, but oh well. I was in the ICU for 2 days. It was great fun.  I had an NG tube down my nose and all kinds of things hooked to me. I was in terrible pain the first night but they finally got it under control. I was happy to leave the ICU though.

This picture was before I had surgery, on a day when I had just showered, so I don't look too bad.

This is getting off the plane when they life flighted me to Salt Lake. That was a fun little experience. I was in a lot of pain and I remember that first night in Salt Lake it took a long time to get a nurse in my room and to get any pain medicine. I was pretty miserable.

This is one of the first days in Salt Lake. All in all I was there for 17 days. It seemed like forever. Poor Chris and my mom had to sleep on a pull out couch and a cot. Luckily though Chris' dad brought his camping trailer and parked it in the parking lot after we had been there for a few days. Then Chris and my mom took turns sleeping in the trailer. They would trade off every other night. My mom was actually just telling that she really liked that because she could sleep in a bed and get a good nights sleep, and catch up from not sleeping as well the night before, and it really helped her not get worn out or exhausted. I also was glad that I was able to have someone with me every night.

Speaking of having someone with me during the night, there was one night that I woke up and realized that my ileostomy bag was leaking. I pushed the call button and then called for Chris loud enough that he woke up. At this point my incision from my surgery was still open and they did not want it to get infected. I didn't either. In fact I was terrified that now that everything was leaking everywhere, that it was going to get infected. The nurse came and cleaned everything. When she first got there, she said, "You need to tell us when it gets full so this doesn't happen." I was mad that she said that. I was sleeping and didn't know....Anyway, I was crying, and I was so glad Chris was there. She assured me that she cleaned everything really well. It took a long time to take care of it though, it was kind of a traumatic experience. By the time we were done it was like 5 in the morning and I called my mom and wanted her to come then. I felt bad for waking her up, and even though Chris was there, I guess I needed someone else to tell me it was going to be ok too. And of course she was happy to  come. 

Well those are the main things I wanted to write down before I forgot them. I may think of more things later and add another post, but this is good for now. The University of Utah is a great hospital and I had great doctors and nurses there, even though the things I wrote didn't sound like that. I was glad that I was there and thankful for the help that I finally got.