A week ago last Wednesday I had a doctors appointment in New
Braunfels and Desiree and Maxx were my taxi team. I was really close to driving but it was only
five weeks since the big surgery and I just wasn’t quite ready. I woke up feeling weird and by the time Desi
and Maxx picked me up at 8:00, I had a bad lower backache and the beginnings of
a headache. By the time I finished the
doctor appointment about my knee, I was hurting pretty badly so I asked D&M
Taxi Service to please drop me at the Emergency Room of the new hospital in New
Braunfels. I have had kidney stones 3
times in my life and I really thought that was the case on this day. I was put into an ER room pretty quickly. They took blood and urine, ordered a CT Scan
and gave me some pain medicine. I called
Hollis to let him know where I was and told him that if I was right, I would
get some pain meds and D&M would give me a ride home. He elected to come to the ER anyway.
Not long after he arrived, I was taken for the CT Scan and
the doctor came in to say that my white blood cell count was up over 30,000 and
that it should be under 10,000. A few
minutes after that, a lady came into the room and said that she had my transfer
paperwork and once I signed it, the ambulance would be picking me up in about
10 minutes to transport me to Methodist Hospital where I had had my big surgery
five weeks ago. I was still in awful
pain so they put more morphine in my IV and loaded me up. Hollis went home to grab lunch and some
things I might need if I got admitted.
When the EMT’s took me into the ER at Methodist, there was much
conversation about where to put me.
Finally one nurse said that I was pre-admitted and that I needed to be
taken to Sub Level 2. Now this was not great
news. Sub Level 2 is the surgery floor
of Methodist. They said Dr. Pisano – my plastic
surgeon – was in the building and would come see me shortly. When he came in he told me that I had an
infected seroma. A seroma is a pocket of
fluid. He said he would be opening up my
belly incision, flushing out the infection and sewing me up and that I would
probably go home Friday. Hollis was sent
to the waiting room and off I went for surgery.
I woke up, sort of, in the recovery room and then was taken to the same
floor of the hospital where I was after my big surgery.
Thursday morning Dr. Pisano came in to tell me some freaky
stuff! He said the fluid was not pus and
that it was not yet to the point of abscess but that if I had gone home instead
of to the ER, I would have been septic in anywhere from 2-12 hours. He ordered a culture of the fluid so they
could be sure it was a non-resistant form of bacteria. He also said that he would not decide about
releasing me Friday until he had more information and could see how I was
doing. They had me on broad spectrum
antibiotics and he wanted to narrow the meds according to the type of
infection. Hollis came Thursday morning
to bring my quilt and pillow and a couple of other things. The rest of Thursday is a blur. Wonderful friends visited but I was pretty out
of it.
Then things got even more fun. The culture came back as staph and they
changed my antibiotic. Within an hour of
the first IV infusion, I began getting hives on the left side of my face and my
upper left thigh – I know! Right?? They
tried another high powered antibiotic and BAM – another reaction. Now the infectious disease doctors on the
case want to know if the staph is resistant to treatment or non-resistant. The weekend dragged on. I had more great visits! I really love my village! Reactions are just a little scary. Benadryl fixed them but I really wanted good
medicine and my walking papers.
Monday arrived and the infectious disease doctor made an
executive decision, put me on a bigger dose of the antibiotic I took after my
big surgery and send me home. I was
happy to be on my way out the door. Fortunately,
I did not have any reaction to this oral antibiotic. Hollis stayed home with me Tuesday and then
my wonderful sister came from Tyler to be on sister/princess-sitting duty for
Wednesday and Thursday. This included
cooking, cleaning, organizing and keeping me company. She was amazing! Though I was not nearly wiped out as from my
big surgery, a 12” belly incision, fighting an infection and 5 unplanned days
in the hospital will wear you out!
The whining paragraph (read at your own risk): 1. I miss driving! I have not driven my car since October 24th. My nurse Kathleen says that when the last
surgical drain comes out Monday that I need to start driving. Okay!
I will! 2. I am so ridiculously
behind on Christmas! I hope I feel up to
decorating this week and based on stamina, shopping will probably be seriously
curbed. We will have small group here
for Christmas Eve and maybe H and I will make it to church that night. Last one – I really want my life back! I am so very grateful to be cured and I want
to get the rest of my plan over with so that grandkids and quilt shops take up
most of my time.
Thank you all for all the support! I truly could not have gotten through this
without my husband, family, friends, quilting sisters and all who have
encouraged, prayed for and entertained me these last couple of months. You are all precious to me beyond words!
