Unplanned hospital trip
I went in on Thursday the 30th as planned. Everything went well. They only got 12 mature eggs, and we were hoping for more based on the tests. So that's not a great number, but it's not terrible. My wonderful friend Lindsey brought me home from Portland. The doctor gave me Tylenol with Codeine for cramping and said to go home and rest. You get a local sedation for the procedure, and Versed, which is my new favorite drug. So fun! It made me so happy! Lindsey and I got an hour drive home to catch up. She stayed here for a bit and I fed her daughter Lizzie fun snacks and started to feel crampy. They told me to expect cramps, so I told Lindsey that I was going to bed and she left and headed home to Portland. That was around 11:30 am. I ate a piece of banana bread, took my Tylenol and hoped for good sleep.
Around 2:30 I was not feeling well at all. I started to really get nervous. I had this overwhelming feeling that something was not right. I called the doctor and spoke to a nurse. She said things like "Everyone experiences pain differently. For some women, they do cramp more. Try a heating pad and rest". That is not what I wanted to hear, but fine. I was being a baby. I got the message. I kept feeling pressure so I went to the bathroom and on my way back I got super sweaty, nauseated, and shaky. That's not me. I knew again, something is not right. So I did what any grown woman would do, I called my mom. She was watching my kids, but I said I needed her to come over. I was alone and something was wrong. She said she would throw the kids in the car and be right here.
I called the doctor back at 3:15 said, this is getting worse, not better. I need help. She agreed to call in some Vicodin pills for me. I called her right back and asked for anti-nausea because I had flu like symptoms happening. My mom went to go get the meds before she came over because I needed something quickly.
Then I did what I hated to do, call Caleb. Like a psycho, over and over. No answer. No answer.
It's now 4:15 and I called the doctor back. I said I took the pain meds, and anti-nausea and I was still dying. It was getting worse. She said "Don't go to the ER, they don't know how to handle this. Reproductive medicine is very complex and we don't want them to mishandle you. You can come to the clinic tomorrow at 11:30". I asked if I could go to my OBGYN who is very close and knows me quite well. She said no, they really don't advise that for the same reasons.
So sit and suffer? I called Caleb like 10 more times. Finally, I called his work. I didn't even know the number. I called the wrong office. They transferred me. They said Caleb was in surgery but he can talk to me if it's an emergency. I said "no, just tell him to call me when he's done". As soon as I hung up the phone I felt like that wasn't the best decision.
My sister, who is practically my doctor, was in California visiting my grandparents. They have no cell reception. I texted and called her but it wouldn't go through. So I called my grandma and she wants to chat and make small talk. I did the best I could because I didn't know what to say. Finally Rhoda gets on the phone and I tell her what's going on. She told me to get to the hospital and to get Caleb home.
Finally Caleb calls me back. I told him what the nurse said and what Rhoda said. He said he had a few more patients and did I need him to leave now or come home when he was done? I told him to come home after his patients. After all, the nurse wasn't worried so why should I be. By the way, Caleb was working an hour away in Eugene.
Next thing I know Caleb is home. I had been laying in bed in so much pain. Almost passed out many times. And just trying not to throw up. He walked in and took one look at me and said "You look awful". He took my pulse, and then my blood pressure. Such a cute doctor thing to do. My BP was 80/40. He told me I am going to the hospital. NOOOOO! I hated that answer. I despise the hospital. I told him I couldn't sit up to get there. He said too bad, and he went and got the car ready.
We got to the hospital and he took me into the triage area. The nurses all disappeared and all of a sudden I was going down. I was in a wheelchair mind you, but I had to get on the floor ASAP. Caleb prevents me and grabs me and lays my head on his lap and swings my feet around onto a chair. The nurses come back in and I'm passed out. They took my BP again, it's the same, not good. So they immediately wheel me to the back room. They do an ultrasound and said I have internal bleeding and need immediate surgery.
The doctor says "We don't know where the bleeding is coming from. We need to cut you open, we don't know how big yet, but you're going to have a major surgery. General anesthesia and you may lose an ovary. We may need to do CPR, are you ok with that?" Caleb says "Let's try and avoid CPR". And I said "Are you telling them Do Not Resuscitate? I know I'm old, but seriously". That's my favorite and only enjoyable part of all this. I kept trying to make jokes with everyone and they thought I was nuts. They gave me a breathing tube and some other horrid contraption because I had that ONE piece of banana bread. That way I didn't choke and die, I get it, but that sucker hurt! They do a couple more tests, confirm what we already know. They won't give me any pain meds because my BP is too low. It took about three hours before they took me to surgery.
After surgery, they told me the news. Good news, they did not have to open me up like they thought. They were able to go in orthroscopically. They also were able to save my ovary. They put some stuff to patch the huge hole in it. I had three holes from the laproscopic surgery. I also had to get a blood transfusion because I was too low. They got a liter of blood out of my stomach area. Crazy. The body only has 5 liters, so losing one in your stomach is bad. And is what was making me so sick.
I stayed in the hospital for three days recovering. My blood count is still super low. I am on bed rest and limited activity. I am supposed to eat and drink as much as I can to recover. And I've been in bed ever since.
The clinic called and said 6 of the eggs fertilized. They will call me to let me know how many of them make it to day 5. After day 5, they will do DNA testing and freeze them.
Around 2:30 I was not feeling well at all. I started to really get nervous. I had this overwhelming feeling that something was not right. I called the doctor and spoke to a nurse. She said things like "Everyone experiences pain differently. For some women, they do cramp more. Try a heating pad and rest". That is not what I wanted to hear, but fine. I was being a baby. I got the message. I kept feeling pressure so I went to the bathroom and on my way back I got super sweaty, nauseated, and shaky. That's not me. I knew again, something is not right. So I did what any grown woman would do, I called my mom. She was watching my kids, but I said I needed her to come over. I was alone and something was wrong. She said she would throw the kids in the car and be right here.
I called the doctor back at 3:15 said, this is getting worse, not better. I need help. She agreed to call in some Vicodin pills for me. I called her right back and asked for anti-nausea because I had flu like symptoms happening. My mom went to go get the meds before she came over because I needed something quickly.
Then I did what I hated to do, call Caleb. Like a psycho, over and over. No answer. No answer.
It's now 4:15 and I called the doctor back. I said I took the pain meds, and anti-nausea and I was still dying. It was getting worse. She said "Don't go to the ER, they don't know how to handle this. Reproductive medicine is very complex and we don't want them to mishandle you. You can come to the clinic tomorrow at 11:30". I asked if I could go to my OBGYN who is very close and knows me quite well. She said no, they really don't advise that for the same reasons.
So sit and suffer? I called Caleb like 10 more times. Finally, I called his work. I didn't even know the number. I called the wrong office. They transferred me. They said Caleb was in surgery but he can talk to me if it's an emergency. I said "no, just tell him to call me when he's done". As soon as I hung up the phone I felt like that wasn't the best decision.
My sister, who is practically my doctor, was in California visiting my grandparents. They have no cell reception. I texted and called her but it wouldn't go through. So I called my grandma and she wants to chat and make small talk. I did the best I could because I didn't know what to say. Finally Rhoda gets on the phone and I tell her what's going on. She told me to get to the hospital and to get Caleb home.
Finally Caleb calls me back. I told him what the nurse said and what Rhoda said. He said he had a few more patients and did I need him to leave now or come home when he was done? I told him to come home after his patients. After all, the nurse wasn't worried so why should I be. By the way, Caleb was working an hour away in Eugene.
Next thing I know Caleb is home. I had been laying in bed in so much pain. Almost passed out many times. And just trying not to throw up. He walked in and took one look at me and said "You look awful". He took my pulse, and then my blood pressure. Such a cute doctor thing to do. My BP was 80/40. He told me I am going to the hospital. NOOOOO! I hated that answer. I despise the hospital. I told him I couldn't sit up to get there. He said too bad, and he went and got the car ready.
We got to the hospital and he took me into the triage area. The nurses all disappeared and all of a sudden I was going down. I was in a wheelchair mind you, but I had to get on the floor ASAP. Caleb prevents me and grabs me and lays my head on his lap and swings my feet around onto a chair. The nurses come back in and I'm passed out. They took my BP again, it's the same, not good. So they immediately wheel me to the back room. They do an ultrasound and said I have internal bleeding and need immediate surgery.
The doctor says "We don't know where the bleeding is coming from. We need to cut you open, we don't know how big yet, but you're going to have a major surgery. General anesthesia and you may lose an ovary. We may need to do CPR, are you ok with that?" Caleb says "Let's try and avoid CPR". And I said "Are you telling them Do Not Resuscitate? I know I'm old, but seriously". That's my favorite and only enjoyable part of all this. I kept trying to make jokes with everyone and they thought I was nuts. They gave me a breathing tube and some other horrid contraption because I had that ONE piece of banana bread. That way I didn't choke and die, I get it, but that sucker hurt! They do a couple more tests, confirm what we already know. They won't give me any pain meds because my BP is too low. It took about three hours before they took me to surgery.
After surgery, they told me the news. Good news, they did not have to open me up like they thought. They were able to go in orthroscopically. They also were able to save my ovary. They put some stuff to patch the huge hole in it. I had three holes from the laproscopic surgery. I also had to get a blood transfusion because I was too low. They got a liter of blood out of my stomach area. Crazy. The body only has 5 liters, so losing one in your stomach is bad. And is what was making me so sick.
I stayed in the hospital for three days recovering. My blood count is still super low. I am on bed rest and limited activity. I am supposed to eat and drink as much as I can to recover. And I've been in bed ever since.
The clinic called and said 6 of the eggs fertilized. They will call me to let me know how many of them make it to day 5. After day 5, they will do DNA testing and freeze them.
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| Checking in for surgery |
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| TMI! Sorry. Three days later and I look pregnant! Swelling, fluids, bruising, good stuff |
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| Super fat fingers from all the swelling |
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| Amazing hair day. My sister bathed me and I went to bed with wet hair. Had to capture this beauty! |
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