Hospital I and II

WOW, do I have quite the story for you - and let me warn you, like many of my stories, it is going to be long!

The short version is that, except for a brief, painful, 24 hours hours, I have been in the hospital since the Sunday after the 4th of July. (So the 6th?) I got out on Friday the 18th. So I spent almost 2 full weeks IN THE HOSPITAL!!!

Let me show you my lovely view...

And my constant companion....

I know - you are totally jealous. I did get really pretty flowers, though.

As much as I enjoy them, I would not recommend going through all that just to get them.

Here is the story, if you are interested: I had been struggling with a severe migraine for days and it was not going away, nothing was helping. By Sunday (the 6th) I was in a terrible state and called my neurologist 3 times (with 2 different drug "cocktails") before he finally told me to just go to the ER and get an IV. Well, go to the ER we did, but none of the meds they gave me helped. (Despite the boast from the ER nurse that they could clear almost any migraine in one shot, maybe two) Oh, and they gave me this medicine that I always have a reaction to, even though I told them I knew I was going to have a reaction. ("agitation" they call it - it is more like some kind of Jack Nicholson thing). After many moons and many meds in the ER, they raised the white flag and decided to admit me. Now at the risk of giving you TMI, I must also tell you that it was also determined at this time that I had a UTI. Sorry, but it is vital to the story.

So I stayed in the hospital from Sunday through Thursday, getting rid of my migraine. Each day was just one more day, one more day. The doctor, of course, wants to make sure that you are fully migraine free when you leave, so it takes awhile. By the time I left Thursday, including the time at home I had been in bed quite some time. So I did not really think about my back being a little sore.

Thursday evening I got home, sent a couple I AM HOME emails, showered, and collapsed back into bed because by then my back was really sore. And then things just went downhill from there. The pain in my lower back got worse and worse AND to compound matters, that "Greensleeves" Snickers commercial and one of the songs from Singin' in the Rain were playing over and over in my mind in this crazy way. It was like this - pain, feverish, probably slightly delusional - all night Thursday night and all day Friday. I did not leave the bedroom. So I ate nothing and drank very very little.

At some point Friday night Jim comes in the bedroom feels my forehead and tells me I am burning up, takes my temp and it is 102. Then he tells me I am going to have to go to the ER. It was like in the movie Speed where they go to the airport to drive in circles and the tourist guy says "but I've already seen the airport". I was in no shape to go, but knew he was right. The worst part was we could not find my glasses and I did not even feel well enough to put in contacts and I could not see a thing.

So we went to the ER and apparently it was packed. All I know is they told me there was no room in the inn and so I laid down on a bench. Jim says we spent over an hour in the waiting room. Oi vey! I feel worse for him than me. We got back to the ER room, finally got some lovely morphine for my back and learned that my potassium level was dangerously low. Apparently in one day I had severly dehydrated myself despite getting bags o' fluid the entire time I was in the hosptial round 1.

The potassium level in and of itself was bad enough that they has to re-admit me and that is when my life turned into Groundhog Day. Come to find out the UTI (see, told you it was important) had turned into quite the kidney infection and the infection was in my blood and everything. So for a few more days I felt really puny, then finally started feeling better. Ahhh. Then, just when it was time to go, my white blood cell count went up and I got to stay, yes, one more day at my home away from home, St. Vincent Hospital.

Told you it was going to be long, and believe it or not, there is much much more I could tell you (like just how much of a "hard stick" I am, etc), but that sums it up. I am home and I am blessed and I am feeling better. Thank you for your prayers and concern!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!