The Incredible Shrinking Krista

Monday, July 4, 2016

What's that old saying???

I think it goes something like, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions..."  Well, I have been living that very reality this last week.

When we were at Disney a couple weeks a go I started to noticed I couldn't eat much, I was throwing more and more food away because as hungry as I was, it was just uncomfortable to eat.  It just kept getting worse.

On Saturday, June 25, we were at the zoo with Barney's family, and I broke out in a cold sweat, thought I might pass out and was in horrible pain.  Things just kept getting worse.  By last Monday night, I was in so much pain after about 1/3 of a chicken breast and a few green beans that I stayed up hoping it would "settle" until almost 2am.  I felt like it was stuck somehow.  I woke up Tuesday morning in even more pain, like someone had shoved their fist through me.  I could feel the "knot" from front to back.  It hurt to drink, eating wasn't even the tiniest option because of the pain.

I had a job interview, which I went to, then came home and called my surgeon's office from my weight loss surgery nearly 3 years ago.  They made an appointment for me for Wednesday at 3:45 the following day and told me to go to the ER immediately if the pain became unbearable.  By about 7:00, having had about 20 oz of fluids, and not a bite to eat, I knew I was in the danger zone for dehydration and I needed to go to the ER.

I did.  They checked me for blood clots in my lungs, which they told me I didn't have, then the next thing I knew, I was being admitted, for what I had no idea.  As they were rolling me to my room they informed me I was going to ICU, the only bed in the entire hospital that was available.  We won't discuss the complete panic I went into when they were wheeling me closer and closer to the room my Nana passed away in in December.  The ICU nurse kindly read the radiology report to me from the CT scan they had done and it said I had a "small herniation along the suture line from my sleeve".  She didn't try to interpret that, and said she had no information about sleeve gastrectomy, so she didn't feel like she could speak intelligently.

Wednesday rolled around and the PA from my surgeon's practice came in to see me.  She explained that I did have a hernia.  She suspected that they would do an Upper GI and then, if that confirmed the Hiatal Hernia, she would expect an EGD (scope down my throat to look for ulcerations), done in the OR to be able to immediately fix the hernia and any ulcerations that they found.  I was taken for an Upper GI that afternoon, with a Radiologist that, to put it bluntly, was an arrogant ass.  I got moved out of ICU and into a regular room that day as well, which was nice.  I felt like the ICU nurses had so many better things to do than to take care of me.

Thursday comes around, and again, the PA comes in.  She explained that the doctor wasn't going to do surgery at this time.  His plan was to get me to the point that I could tolerate fluids and get me home, then bring me back in to do the hiatal hernia repair as an elective outpatient procedure.  I sat there and cried, for literally over an hour.  I felt like I was abandoned.  Here I was, sick, in order to eat jello, I had to ask for pain medication (morphine) to be able to eat it and not cry.  How could he possibly think that was a logical answer, especially without having been in to see me?

I had decided that enough was enough, and that I wanted to see a surgeon.  PERIOD!  I asked the nurse to call the doctor's on-call # and let them know that I wanted to see a surgeon on Friday.  My doctor came in about 8:30 or so and gave me a million reasons why he wanted to send me home.  I explained why I thought that was crazy.  I have a job to be healed for.  I have job interviews to be recovered for.  I have a family.  I have 3 kids to take care of, and by the way, the financial implications of a 2nd admission and doing the surgery just weren't viable for us.....and prolonging this pain and illness just WASN'T an option.  He agreed to do the surgery on Friday evening, around 8:30.  He was reluctant, said I wasn't in enough pain, that he would rather reserve that slot for someone sitting on the side of the bed wretching in pain.  Well, I stood my ground and he agreed.  The CRNA came in around 9:00 to do the whole pre-anesthesia thing...just before 11:00 on Friday morning, the nurse came almost running into my room all in a rush, they were coming to get me right then for surgery.  The anesthesiologist that came up behind her said that the surgery schedule was so light they were only running 3 of the 9 ORs.

All things considered this has been one crazy week.  I got home Saturday evening from the hospital and am still dealing with the air they had pumped up into my stomach for my surgery, all the gas is painful to absorb and get rid of.  I haven't had pain medication since Saturday night of any kind, which is good (to be honest, that stuff really scares me).  I ate solid food tonight for the first time in a week.

This is another speed bump/delay in my goal of getting back down to my weight before my Nana passed, but it's a goal worth working for and achieving no matter how long it takes.

Thank you to all my friends and family who checked on me over the last week and said prayers.  I am on the mend, and will slowly, but surely get back to full form.  I have a follow-up with my surgeon next week which I need to schedule tomorrow....in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy some time with my babies, relaxing and hugging them.  The older 2 are headed to camp next week, so I think a relaxing week is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Krista

P.S.  For anyone who may be wondering, I did get on the scale today...197.6, so a bit more weight lost, which should happen considering I've been on a liquid diet for a week.  I just need to be smart as I re-introduce things to my diet that I make good choices.

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