Back in February I was not feeling well. I had lost a bunch of weight again and weighed about 85 pounds. I was in a lot of pain. I kept having nights where I would get really sick and feel almost like I had a bowel obstruction. I was in Idaho doing a preschool book fair (on my birthday) and I called my doctor and asked if we could do a scope and she said she could get me in the next day. I arranged with my cousin and niece that they would watch Luci. I drove home late the night of the 22nd and got home at like 1 or 2 in the morning. It was snowing and it was an awful drive. Then we had to leave again early the next morning to make it to Salt Lake. My appointment was not until 2 pm, but Chris had an audiology appointment first thing in the morning. Our plan was to go to his appointment in SL, then drive to Orem and drop Luci off with my niece, who would then take her to my cousin's when it was time for her to go to work, and we would come get her that evening when I was done.
Apparently the day before, there had been a huge semi wreck (and I want to say a fire?) that took out one whole side of the freeway. It was the next day and they were still cleaning it up. We sat in traffic for like 3 hours (which is really rough when you are doing a bowel prep of a scope!) and didn't make Chris' appointment. We rescheduled it for a a couple hours later and missed that appointment too. We ended up turning around and going to Orem to drop Luci off at my cousin's (because my niece already had to go to work) and then went right back to SL for my scope. I was not feeling well, and going all day without eating or drinking was not helping.
When we got there they gave me some zofran for nausea. My doctor did an upper and lower scope since I had also been having bad heartburn. When I woke up she said the upper part looked fine. But she only got a few inches in and there was a spot that was super narrow and she couldn't even get her scope through. She was able to kind of break through some scar tissue and stretch out the narrowing with her scope. That is probably why I had been getting somewhat obstructed.
When I woke up I was in pain, and nauseated and dry heaving. I was crying. My doctor said the stuff she did could have caused pain, etc. She was a little nervous about us driving 3 hours home, in the snow, with me feeling so sick. She gave me the choice of staying or going home, but kind of acted like she would rather me stay. I was not really in any shape to go home so I agreed to stay. She wasn't able to finish the scope and look at the rest of my intestines, so she said if I stayed, we could also do an MRI and look at the rest and see if there was any inflammation, etc.
Chris stayed with me until I got settled in a room and got some meds and was feeling a little better. Then he went back to my cousin's and took care of Luci and spent the night there. I arranged to have my niece watch her the next day, so the next morning, he got Luci ready and dropped her off with my niece, then came to the hospital to be with me. He didn't get there till about 11 or 12 though, I think. They had found that I had a UTI so they gave me a dose of an IV antibiotic, then had me do the MRI. It didn't show much if I remember right. There could have been lots of reasons I was having pain, however. All my bladder issues sometimes cause me pain, and I did have a UTI, scar tissue causes me pain, etc. My doctor ordered me some TPN and the pharmacy delivered it to the hospital as we were leaving. We finally got out of there about 5 pm. I wasn't feeling tons better, but at least knew that there wasn't anything serious going on. The fact that there was not a lot of inflammation was just another testament that the Remicade infusions I get are working.
We were able to go to Orem and pick up Luci and got home that night. It was a crazy couple of days. I was super glad to start TPN. That was the end of February and I am still on it. Typically I stay on it for about 4 months, but I think this time the Dietitian is not in a hurry to get me off of it, since I always end up back on it anyway. They have figured out that if I do the lipids separate from the TPN, and only 3 days/week, that my liver stays happy. Elevated liver labs has been a big reason why I have gotten off of it in the past.
Cuddling Luci when we got home
The next week or two I was still not feeling great, and still feeling like I was somewhat obstructed. I was being careful with what I ate and trying not to eat things that would cause problems. I went and had a test done called a Small Bowel Follow Through, where they have you drink a bunch of contrast, then take a bunch of x-rays as it moves through your system. They can see where the contrast goes and how fast it moves, if it gets stuck, it there are any fistulas or other trails that it follows, etc. They were pretty thorough but didn't find much. Only that down by my ostomy, my intestine curved at like a 90 degree angle, in a big "S" shape, and that that could possible causing some problems too. Not the answer I wanted but it was helpful to know. Over time, those symptoms kind of went away and I haven't had any problems with that for awhile. In fact I have been feeling pretty good.
Like I said before, I am still on TPN, but now am only doing 4 days per week. The dietitian doesn't want to stop it just yet, but I didn't want to gain any more weight (I have gained 25 pounds and none of my clothes fit me now), so we agreed on just 4 days a week now. I have just been maintaining my weight which is fine with me. :)
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