Medical Update 2012

Well if you don't already know I ended up on surgery again!

As if my already compromised, Franken Belly wasn't already nasty enough, I am hosting 5 additional holes from my surgery on the 16th.

So let's start at the beginning.

My last surgery was December 2010, it was the most horrific year of my adult life and I prayed I would not end up back in surgery for a few years although I felt another would unfortunately be in my future. It was just something I knew. I have also told my friends and family that my stomach issues will ultimately be the death of me because they will never be the same and never good! After speaking with a nurse the other day I know that if my issues of 2010 had happened 20 years ago, I wouldn't have stood a chance. Another reason to be thankful that the medical field is where it is today.

This time the surgery was scheduled for a day that Teach could stay close by. It was wonderful knowing knew he was close by and hat the kids were home with my niece and fine.

Over the past few months, I would stay it started around April of last year, I started noticing a lump on the left side of my belly button. For some reason my angle (looking down) was the only way it could be spotted. Two months later I asked Teach again and he saw it. I went to my family doctor to confirm it was a hernia and she told me that I could repair it when I got insurance but it would be for cosmetic reasons. It would never give me a problem.  Over the next 4 months it got much bigger and right before I went into the hospital, I looked about 6 months pregnant on one side. 

November of 2011 I had a horrific stomach pain that lasted for 6 hours and had me pleading with Joe to kill me. It wasn't pretty. I am not proud but the pain was unbearable. He asked if he should call an ambulance but I couldn't talk and asked him to just hold me and after many antacids, vomiting and crying, the pain went away and I was finally able to get some sleep.

The next episode was around Easter and I blogged it here.

There were a total of 6 other episodes before I went to the gastro doctor who told me that the next time it happened I should go to the ER. I explained that when it happens I can't think or move and if it happens with the kids home I wouldn't know what to do. He said call an ambulance and they can do a cat scan to see if there is an obstruction in your intestin.

He asked me to make an appointment with a surgeon which I did right away. The surgeon had assisted at my surgery and while he didn't recall I hoped once he had my records he may remember. My surgeon retired last year (I wonder if he should have before he cut into my belly).

The surgeon set up surgery telling me that I had a hernia that could potentially become strangulated and cause really big problems. Ugh...

I was told that they would go in laparoscopy but not know if they needed to go further (scar tissue issues) until they were in. If I was on a gurney when I woke that means it was laparoscopic and I was going home. If I was on a bed, they had to open me up and I was in a room. We were of course praying for a same day because the Teach had his first business trip 2 days later and it was a must.

The Pre-Op nurse was nice but my first one was nicer. The anesthesiologist the last time was nice, this person was nicer. He made me laugh. They wheeled me to OR and he ran up alongside of me and said, "drive by drugs" while inserting the meds into my IV. I kissed Teach goodbye and the nurse stopped so he could kiss me again. I told him I love him as the nurse said, there is always time for another kiss. He kissed me and I said bye. I heard them ask "Maria, do you want to get on the bed?" I remember saying yes but don't know if I ever did then I woke in recovery 2.5 hours later and was swiftly wheeled back to the room I was in prior to surgery.

The doctor came in with a piece of paper with pictures that I am dying to see right now. Teach had my glasses and I am blind without. He held it up to me. Told me that I had multiple hernias and that they were eventually going to meet up causing one massive size hernia. Awesome!

Currently, my niece is drained and watching Almost Naked Animals with Goddess.  Teach is on a plane from Illinois back to us. Handsome is playing Wii and I am sitting on the couch trying to find a comfortable position. I haven't found one in 7 days hopefully before it is all over I will know which way to sit that doesn't feel like I have a massive metal plate going through my abdomen.


This has been so much easier than my prior surgery but I am still very nervous. Three small fevers over the 7 days but never above 100 and I am trying not to do too much research on the surgical mesh they used to close my hernias.

There is no alternative and I couldn't eat anything that wasn't low residue. Praying at the end of this I will find some relief.

Thanks for listening and reading

You Trust Me, You Really Trust Me

After my surgery in 2010 I started up a Facebook page called Helping Hands where I informed my community that I was looking for work. No job too big, or two small! Babysitting, cleaning, packing, organizing, painting, errands, whatever. Thankfully a few moms have taken me up on this. My fee is relatively small, only $7.50 an hour but some money is better than no money and I needed it to be an amount that was comfortable for my community.

So far, my jobs have all been in the babysitting area. Completely fine because I love kids. What I love the most about this is how I know they trust me. Trust means everything. It means you can count on this person to do right by you, take care of your needs and in their abilities. You can count on them!

I believe the reason this means so much to me is because I never felt like I could count on someone. My mother died when I was 12, my father abandoned us, my grandmother didn't protect me, my grandfather molested me, etc.,. I know I can count on my husband, it wasn't always that way and in his defense I never let him be there. I felt that I had to rely on myself because that was how I protected myself.  There was no one else to fall back on growing up, it was all me.

When I hear my friends say, they trust me, that I am good with their kids, or even them giving my name to another friend as a potential person to watch their kids I am thrilled. I get all fuzzy and warm inside. For someone to give me their children, their most prized possession, really says something. Oddly enough, there are people who have absolutely no problems handing their children off to just about anyone. I am not one of these people, my kids have been left with three people about a hand full of times in the past 8 years. It isn't something I do often and while I do have someone I completely trust (Clary), I don't do it often but I would trust her with my kids as much as myself.

Today, my girlfriend Carissa called and asked if I was around because her little one was sick and she had to get her medicine, and get some quick groceries but didn't want to take the baby with her. Heading there, I had thought how awesome it is that she called. She has options and it feels good to know she trusts me.  I know as a mom, leaving your sick kid is hard enough even if it is with your spouse.

Her baby slept the whole time. I sat on the laptop with her dogs at my feet, watching the baby toss and turn while she slept. She never even knew I was there. Carissa called from the road and offered to buy me lunch. People are just so kind! She was paying me to watch her sleeping baby and buying me lunch?! Not a bad gig. I  helped her take her groceries in and removed them from the bags mostly because she is a friend but because I know as a working mom with a sick baby, she has to be exhausted.

Wednesday, I am watching another friends baby. I hate charging for my services. As a friend, I would watch their children for free if things were different. Time is money and with a huge medical debt over my head, I need to charge for my time.

Thankfully they completely understand!

What do you do for extra money?

Journaling My Medical Drama of 2010 - The Final Chapter

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3


Last week, I spoke to my friend Maria who I had called accidentally while trying to call my friend Marianne, who was in the hospital for a heart problem. It was great to talk to Maria even if it was an accident. We worked together before I stopped a paying job to be a stay at home mom. She was big Maria (she is over 6 feet tall) and I was little Maria (4'11 and 3/4). For a while we sat next to each other and were just the Maria's. Any way, I digress as usual....while talking to Maria she said, "so are you eer going to write part 4 of the medical drama?" I asked, "you read my blog?" She said, every day and mentioned how she has watched the kids grow through my blog. Cute. She has never even met Goddess but knows all about her.

My reason for holding off on the post was, I wasn't far enough from this particular experience. It was still to raw but I can do it now. After discussing it with Maria on the phone, I am ready to write it down and let it go.

So....Maria and anyone else reading, here is the final installment of my medical drama.

Last we left off, I was home. It was the 21st of December and I was walking up and down the hall.  That night was OK. The next day sometime after lunch, I started feeling some pain. It started small enough but soon progressed to an unbearable. Every breath I took made it worse. Every move I made was excruciating so much so that, doing anything brought tears to my eyes.

When I had to go to the bathroom, Teach would come over, I would wrap my arms around his neck and he would lift me. Then I needed another minute or more before we started moving. The bathroom is only two doorways away but it would take us almost 5 minutes to get there and then the same thing. He would help me with my pants, then lower me to the toilet. Coming in until he was needed to help me again. Goddess saw us coming back from the bathroom and asked if we were dancing.

The pain was so bad that I wanted to die. It felt worse than anything I had ever physically experienced in my life. There was no breathing through it and if I had a knife in my hand, I would have killed myself to stop the suffering.

Beside this pain, my stomach had been leaking a disgusting fluid for two days and although I wasn't concerned about it, it added to my stress. My clothes were soaked. The pain unbearable and unable to even participate in my kids lives. I was there but not.

I called the doctors office on the 23rd asking his front desk to please have him prescribe a pain killer for me.  She asked if I had run out and I explained that I was sent home with nothing but couldn't breath through this pain. She put me on hold and when she came back said, "the doctor wants you to get to the emergency room." He says you shouldn't the kind of pain you are describing. I told him you said, your pain was above a 10 he said, it shouldn't even be at a 4!

Turning to Teach, I started crying and told him what I was told. My biggest fear; "they are going to keep me!"

I called Clarissa and told her that I had to get to the ER, could I drop the kids off to her. She said of course and wouldn't come to the car when I dropped off. She said she could tell by my face how bad my pain was and she didn't want to cry or make me cry.

The ride was unbearable and Teach called out each bump. I was leaking everywhere from my stomach and the pain was above a 10. He got a wheelchair and we headed in telling them that I had just been released 2 days earlier and was told by my surgeon to come back.

We were there almost 5 hours. Waiting for test results while I suffered and worried about the pain and whether they were going to keep me. Teach told everyone who came in that if there was no infection, they would have to give me something for the pain so I could be home for Christmas and if anything, we would come back.

The fluid was supposedly serous fluid and there was nothing showing up in my blood. The verdict was that this was the beginning of an infection from stool going through my sutures. If this was only the beginning, I hate to think what a full fledged infection would have been like.

I asked for pain killers and they gave me an antibiotic. Since being on antibiotics off and on for over 6 months I was concerned about going on another but took it anyway. I guess these people don't believe in antibiotic resistance.

When the nurse was leaving I asked for a pain killer to get me through the ride home. If you know me, I don't take meds unless necessary. If I am taking a pain killer, I NEED it.

I took two because of my pain level and we headed back to get the kids. We called Clarissa to have them ready and I asked for a plastic bag because I was feeling nauseous. I called my girlfriend Susan because she had text me while I was at the hospital and as speaking felt very loopy and tired. Teach was getting the prescription filled while I waited in the car. When he came back I told him I was tired and felt loopy like I couldn't hold my head up.

He asked if we could pick up the kids and take them to McDonalds because he had promised them. I told him fine since I would probably sleep through the ride.

Nope!

We got the kids, drove to Mickey D's and on the way back, I started getting very nauseous. We were only 6 minutes from home when I threw up. Unfortunately, the bag had a leak it leaked all over the car.

For the next two days, I would take my Oxycontin with the biggest regret since it made me nauseous 15 minutes after taking it.  Then I would sit there unable to hold my head up with a throat full of vomit waiting for it to finally come up. It went something like this. Teach would come over with the pill and water. I would take it. He would come and sit with me holding a plastic bag over my face, until I finally 15-30 minutes later would throw up. How the hell do people get addicted to that stuff?

Day 3 I woke up and refused to take the pill. It wasn't worth it. The pain was now an 8 and I could breathe through it.

When I finally got back to the doctor's office he wasn't there and I had the day wrong. So I made an appointment through his office at wound care at the hospital. They were great. I loved them but while there, they made me very nervous. They didn't like the fluid coming out of my stomach, didn't think it was serous. The cultured it. I also had two holes that were refusing to close. One was 3 cm. and the other 10 cm. They wanted to do another cats scan which I refused. They did a sonogram and when they made me head down to admissions to get a hospital band. I totally lost it. They probably thought I was crazy but I was sure I was being admitted. Wiping my tears they stuck some probs in my belly holes and under sonogram tried to figure out what was going on. They worried that there was an infection or that some of the sutures had popped. Really?!

I should have split this into two posts. This is way longer than I intended but there is so much to cover and its not just for you guys my readers, it is for me too.

Anyway, the short story is. Finally after a month of problems after surgery, more antibiotics and still wearing a surgical band. Me and my belly are doing much better. It isn't an attractive belly anymore. It kind of looks like a little baby butt with the line going through my little gunt but really all that matters is I am much better!

Enough!

So how was the start of your New Year?

Journaling My Medical Drama of 2010 - Warning, Graphically Detailed-PART 3

Part 1

Part 2

So, when we last left off, I was on the commode with an audience.

The next day, I awoke to a kiss on my cheek. It was Clary who had been given a pass to visit by Teach. She was good until I sat up to hug her. Then she stared crying telling me that she had assured herself that she would be able to hold it together. We visited. She got to watch me pee (we are soooo much closer now) and at least I had someone there to shut the door for me.

When my roommate left for a rehab center (poor thing cried that she just wanted to go home but in your 90's you cannot just do what you want, it's like being a kid again) I asked to be moved to the more private bed.

My view

I stopped the morphine on day 3 after noticing that my blood pressure was as low as 85. No reason for that! Move on. I am not a big believer in pain killers. I think they mask a lot of what is going on and you won't be able to moniter yourself. This is not to say I am a big believer in PAIN. If you are in unbearable pain, you NEED relief. But how would I know what I need, if I were constantly masking it?

They removed my stomach drain on day 4. I was on the phone with Teach 20 minutes later and felt very, very nauseous. He told me to buzz a nurse. I clicked off my Blackberry as I pressed the buzzer for a nurse, barely getting out, that I felt like I was going to throw up. Opened my commode and noisily throw up, while holding my stitched and stapled stomach. On my first hurl, I noticed my friend Sandra standing in the doorway. She asked if I had called a nurse, stepped in and motherly started moving my hair away and handing me tissues for my face. Such good friends!

Here is the tree, the flowers and a balloon that latested until last week when it blew out the back door as Goddess and I watched it go over the mountain were from my Daddy!

The nurse came, all was cleaned and I felt fine. Sandra had brought me the cutest little Christmas Tree for my hospital room. It was decorated with red beads, red ribbons and had two little mittens on it. She said, "there are two for your two babies." Awww...always knowing what to say. Then she proceed to hang up my cards and things I brought with me,(from her and a teacher aid at the school, pictures of the kids, art work from the kids). I love my friends.

It is hard to see the kids at the hospital but they did come to see me. They were informed by Teach not to touch mommy, I showed them why they had to be careful. Handsome was very interested "What did they do? Will it be like that forever"?. Goddess, not so much, "it looks like it hurts!"

Clary and Teach came to see me on the same day which was wonderful. I felt like I had people with me and loved my foot massage (thanks Clary). Only a good friend could put on exfoliating gloves, and rub cream into your feet with your husband sitting next to you.

On this particular day I was pissed off for a good part of the morning. During the early morning, I received a new roommate who was really unhappy about being moved from her private room. Can't say I blame her but hear me out.

My little make shift dressing area

This particular morning, I decided to finally get out of my hospital gown. I made a little makeshift dressing room and got a basin of warm water, soap, wash cloth, towels and new pajamas that I had purchased for my time at the hospital. I took a bath (well, you get the idea), put on my new PJ's and sprayed some Dove Body Spray, on. Just a light raspberry. The nurse came in and said, "don't you look nice? It smells so good in here."

I went for a walk, met Clarissa in the hallway, walked back and forth with her. That is what you do in the hospital. Met Teach in the hallway, and we walked back to my room.

We were there about 10 minutes when the nurse came over and whispered. "What did you spray? Your roommate says it is bothering her and I have to ask you not to use it again" Ok, this would not be such a big problem if....I hadn't been smelling "ASS" for the past few hours. Literallly, my roommate and her husband smelled like "ASS". I never complained to the nurse however, my nose was offended for two days! There were times, I had to literally put my hand cream up to my nose to smell something other than ass, because when you are not eating, and your nausesous from your meds, you cannot smell unpleasant things without feeling more SICK!

Here is my Facebook post on that day:

IVs suck. no veins left anddd it smells like ass in here. imagine? my name roommate came at 5am complaining all morn. complain to my nurse about the Dove body spray smell. too much for her. its so not strong and was pissed at her rudeness. however everytime she passes my bed or her hub or she moves it smells like ASS! now I know why It was too much for her. she is not used to smelling something good. fah!

Than:


My nose is 100% offended. the smell of ass is overpowering. should I complain or just hand her some ass wipes?

Facebook kept me going. That comment sparked some funny comments from my friends who had all kinds of suggestions on how to deal with the "ass" family.
Fortunately, by day 6 I received my very first meal for my new intestine!

I drank about half of it! There is my commode! It was very good to me. I got rid of it that day and eventually used the bathroom which I was able to get into with my IV being outside the door.

Then I received a few more containers of liquid! When you have abdominal surgery, you are actually scared to eat. I can tell you that that first bit of soup I had, I felt where it was in my digestive track the entire time. I knew when it was entering my stomach, small intestines and than large intestine! Weirdness.

For dinner that night I received....Fried Chicken and Mashed Potatoes! Really??? There was no work up to it...soup, ginger ale, italian ice, then...this.

I ate about 70% of it and it took me an hour to eat because I fed myself like I was feeding a 10 month old.
For breakfast the next day, December 21st, I received this...

It was delicious and I ate everything except the orange juice. I was afraid it would upset my stomach.

On the 21st, my doctor made his rounds by 9:00 a.m. and I got to post this message on Facebook:

Being released from my prison cell today! now if they would only remove the handcuffs!!!


I was beyond happy and called Teach right away. He came to the hospital at 12:30. My IV was disconnected and I was released a half hour later. I was excited but hesitant; no antibiotics? Ummm...OK, I guess I was ready. The doctor knows best.
 
I was wheeled out by a 6.5 foot, 65 year old volunteer as the nurses said, "good-bye Maria". They knew how important it was for me to be home by Christmas. It was the 21st and I was heading home.
 
Teach met me at the door with the car and I got it feeling soooo happy.
 
He went to pick the kids up at the normal time and hearing them come through the door was music to my ears.
 
He was awesome, bringing me my drinks and cooking my meals, taking care of the kids. My man, was awesome. I walked up and down the hall way every 25 minutes about 10 times each way....feeling like I was on the mend.
 
Until.............................................................
 
Part 4, the final chapter coming!

Color Carnival - Sweets

Thankfully Martha the former host of Color Carnival has graciously been keeping the happy meme alive while I've been recuperating from my surgery next month.

Martha, I can't thank you enough for stepping up and taking care of this while I was away. Unfortunately, my surgery which I had on the 14th of December really knocked me for a loop. I thought for sure, I would be up and running a few days later.

I was in the hospital until the 21st, back to the ER on the 23rd, and today they put a drain in and I will start another round of antibiotics. It has been a long road with more pain than I ever thought possible but I am feeling better and while I am moving slow, getting back to life is very important to me. I've been gone for wayyyy to long. I pray to be happy and healthy next December so that I can make up for this holiday season.

Without further ado, here is my Color Carnival submission. I haven't taken the camera out since before the hospital so I have some slim pickens but this is a photo of some lollipops I saw the end of November. Not the best composition but here it is.

Start The Year Off Right! Say No to Unnatural Ingrediants and Eat Healthy in 2011

My regular readers know that 2010 was a challenging year for me medically. I have been sick since May 2010 and loads of months wasted until I finally demanded a particular test which started the ball rolling on my health upswing.

My issues which I will cover more thoroughly in another post have demanded that I totally change the way I eat. Digestion, fiber and how my body reacts to what I put into it are now what matters to my existence and my relationship with food.

Currently in my post-op state I am not allowed to eat fiber. I am on a low residue diet however, as soon as I get the go ahead, fiber will be extremely important in my diet.

When I received the Barbara Says No Box from Barbara's Bakery I was so excited.

I cannot wait to dig into the High Fiber Cranberry cereal. My daughter loves it.

I was able to try the Baked White Cheese Puffs and they were delish. NO mess and I didn't feel guilty eating them knowing that they were baked. So worth it!

Both of my kids, devoured the bag of Snackimals. Talking about the animals and that they were chocolate chip. I loved that they loved them but loved more that there were no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, or trans fats.

Barbara is also helping one of my favorite birds the Puffin. BTW, the Puffin Cereal has been eaten by Goddess every morning since we got it. There is less than 1/2 a box left. 

Summer's Sweet Moments Hosted by Milano

One2One Network has linked up with Milano cookies to ask about this Summer's Sweet Moments, a moment from summer that made you stop to savor the sweetness of life!

The reason I found this so hard to answer is because I spent 2 weeks of my Spring in the hospital and 6 weeks of my Summer suffering from all kind of "itis" issues. Diverticulis and Endometritis so while it seems I should have nothing "sweet" to discuss here, I have plenty.

My little family became much closer during my time away and my husband and I did what we could to make sure the kids had an enjoyable summer regardless of the fact that we had to stay close to home.

The moments I spend with my kids together and separately are always "sweet" moments for me. Moment's with my girlfriends, family members are moment's that I particularly enjoy but this year, the moment that was the sweetest for me was, my 44th birthday.

My husband came in bearing the necessities for the perfect meal for "ME". Wine, Steak, Sweet Potatoes and Chocolate Cake are all the things that make up the perfect meal in my eyes. To know that he really knows what I like and took the time to get all of it on his ride home, made me realize even more what I knew already. We are and always will be perfect together. There may not be grand gestures of adoration but in the long run, having someone who REALLY knows you, and takes care of all the little details (and the big ones too) really made my birthday special.

Then because I liked the cake so much....he went out and got it again...and another steak the next weekend. Now that IS "sweet".

Medical Update

Well, it just keeps getting better and better. Mostly this is for my records but if you care to read, please feel free. I hate to bother you guys with this but my blog is a place for me to put what is going on in my life. Here...we go....

Just got a call from my GYNO from her car cell phone which made my heart drop for a moment.

She joked about not putting it on any bathroom walls which made me laugh and felt that maybe she was trying to cushion the blow.

I waited for the test results from the biopsy of my uterus.

She stated that it wasn't Cancer and I could relax but it was "interesting".

"The pain you endured during the biopsy and after, plus all the ailments you have been describing can all be explained. You have micro abscess in your uterine wall and both Acute and Chronic Endometritis. I want you to come in for a culture. Nothing invasive. Just a swab. I will not put you through any more pain.

You have to reschedule your colonscopy because everything down there is pretty much all connected and going in now will cause more inflammation. This infection unfortunately stems from your intestion infection. The infection is in your uterus and fallopian tubes. Unfortunately I have to figure out which antibiotic will work. You were on antibiotics for a month and those didn't work for this. I am really sorry to say this is just a continuation of your initial infection from May."

Hooray me! At least I know I am not coming up with random ailments or suddenly became a hypercondriac.

So tomorrow I have to call my GI guy and tell him I have to post-pone the colonscopy and schedule a follow up with my gyno.

My Emergency Hospital Stay - Part 3

Part 1
Part 2

A picture of the kids that Teach sent me after they left me at the hospital on day 5.


So, this is the one that I have been avoiding. This is the post, I have been unwilling to put into words.

Part 2, left us with my spending 6 hours in the worst pain of my life.  So, after the 6 hours, two rounds of morphine, I am depressed and bitchy. The nurse of the day offers a smile asking me "who shit on your parade today?" I tell her no one that, I am just tired. My roommate offers up, "she just wants to go home!" I make a complaint about the chair being uncomfortable and notice a wheelchair in the doorway. My chariot has arrived to take me to another cat scan. My urine test must have showed something.

I am doing my second cat scan in less than 6 days. Great. The cat scan takes about 25 minutes and I am back in my room. A "new" chair is next to my bed and a bigger curtain is up, the last one was only 4 feet long, this one at least gives me a little privacy. The chair, a gift from the nurse who wanted to make my day must have been "the chair" 15 years ago. It is old, a bit broken but better than the piece of crap wood they had there.

A doctor comes in telling me that the abscess is a problem and that they will be doing a procedure to drain my intestine under the cat scan. I am not nervous and have no idea how they will be draining it but relieved that something will be happening. I knew something was wrong and I am being promised relief.

There are four techs, a surgeon and the Supervising Nurse with me. I am placed on the cat scan table and a number of pictures are taken to figure out the location for the drain.  A phone rings and the supervising nurse says, "I told you not to bother me for an hour, I am in a procedure." She states to a tech that another person has passed away in ICU. I am comforted but concerned that I am being attended by the Supervising Nurse. A surgeon explains that a catheter will be inserted into my intestine and that the abscess will be drained.

After every movement, they all leave to take more pictures. This is like a surgery but they are going from outside the body and everything needs to be in the right place. The surgeon gives me a local. I feel him cut me and flinch more from shock than feeling. Two people have my arms and two people have my legs. The surgeon, takes something that looks like a harpoon, puts both hands on the top and pushes. There is a collective moment of breath intake. They knew he is piercing my intestine and so do I. I cry and they all stroke my arms and legs. I feel the catheter being inserted. Once in, he puts his hands on both sides and pushes. Another gasp from everyone and I cry more. The push is enough to bring the pressure up the catheter and I hear them putting it in containers. There is one person holding my hand and I continue praying.

The doctor says that's all then shakes his head and with a syringe, pulls more fluid. He shows me the syringe. It is filled with thick, yellow, pus. He says, "that's not good" as he hands it over to the nurse telling her to send this to the lab too!

He stitches the catheter into me and tapes it to my side. It contains a bag which will hopefully collect the remaining fluid. They took 99ccs out of my intestine. He tells me that this should relieve some of the pressure I had been feeling.

I am taken back to my room and sleep under a cover of morphine.

My Facebook status that night: FU no water or food. A big FU to my extremely uncomfortable bed. FU to horrific procedures without being put to sleep!

My first meal in 32 hours was a cup of ice which I begged for.

That night I feel pain in my hand. I page for a nurse, no one comes. It is about 2:30. I go to the bathroom and again pull the string for a nurse. Hopefully they come. Someone might have fallen in the bathroom, you would think they would run in. No one does. Heading back to my bed, I again push the button looking for a nurse.

I wake up and it is 4:30 a.m. I turn on my light and this is what I see.

I am pissed off and page a nurse. No one comes! I stop the drip on the IV, remove the plug from the wall and head down the hall looking for a nurse. They stop me in the hall and walk with me back to my room. Obviously the vein infiltrated which is exactly what I knew at 2:30 a.m. Damn them! So, with diverticulities, a drain, a yeast infection, urinary tract infection now this! I am not happy!

My roommate is leaving which is totally fine with me. It was hell and the girl had issues that I was tired of hearing about. She didn't want to go. She loved her pain meds, being fed and watching TV.

When she leaves, I ask them to please let me have at least a night without a roommate. I would love to sleep!

One night alone but the next morning I get a roommate. She is 91 years and feel in the bathroom, breaking her hip. Her daughter is with her. When she leaves I tell her that I will make sure she is taken care of.

They operate on her hip that day. She is a pistol but gets very confused. I spend four nights talking to her through our curtain. It's Ok! You are Ok! You are at the hospital. You broke your hip. I'll get you a nurse. You are not wearing shoes. She cries all night. Waking and forgetting what happened to her and why she is here. Poor thing! I became her advocate when her daughter wasn't around. The nurses left her on bed pans for hours and took forever to get her one. They were awful and I wanted to tell them, just imagine this is you, how would you want to be treated?

Eventually she left before me too.

The drain comes out 3 days later and I am scheduled to leave. A surgeon visits and says the drain was taken out too soon. It is Friday and he says he is holding me until Monday! I call the house and tell my husband. I am crying and begging to come home. He and the kids were coming to get me. I just want to go home. They dangle the discharge papers in front of me and take it away. He tells me everything will be OK and that he didn't think it they would release me. I hadn't been on food yet.

I am told I will have a cat scan on Sunday. Sunday, I am told the machine is broken and that it will be tomorrow. I am upset! I want out! I want to see my kids, I have been in the hospital for 2 weeks!

My girlfriend Susan visits. It is pleasure to see her standing in my doorway. She saw my Facebook status and headed to the hospital from PA.

Facebook Status June 5: Another morning waking away from my family in an isolated, dirty, 4 wall room makes me so sad!

June 6th, I walk down the hall! Like a baby, I need a nap on my way back. I guess 10 days without food or water will do that to you.

I head to the waiting area to read. I just can't sit in my room anymore.

June 6th Facebook status: I hate not being in charge of myself! I hate this rollercoaster! I hate not having a direction! I hate being here!

I get to eat!

It isn't much but it is food and I am happy.

June 7th, I am going home! I am so happy. My husband and Goddess come. They eventually leave to pick up Handsome because being released takes quite a while.

They come to my room and grab my bags after more waiting. They head to the car and a nurse walks me downstairs. She gives me numbers of doctors to call for follow up and wishes me well.

I walk to the doors. The car with my husband and kids are in front. I walk through the automatic door. My first time in 14 days. I feel the sun, the kids are smiling in the back seat. I smell flowers. It is a beautiful blue sky day. I breathe and have to stop myself from sobbing. It is a religious experience. Not my first there were two others at the hospital that I will have to tell you about too!

With tears in my eyes I make it to the car on wobbly legs. I open the door and get in. We drive home and all I can think about is, "I love my family."