Helen was sick for the first time in her life, and from what it sounds like on the verge of becoming seriously ill, but luckily just missed out on that…
I am back now all being well.
So what happened. Around 8:30pm Sunday night I started having lower right abdominal pain. By 10pm I was crying with pain having been laying in bed with my hot water bottle. So eventually called my mum and got talked into calling NHS 24 aka out of hours medical service. With the support of several people in a chat room I called spoke to a nurse, eventually…
so they made an appointment for me at the out of hours centre at the Royal Infirmary.
I managed to get there on my own…By taxi the taxi driver was lovely, although he did not know the correct place to drop me off for the out of hours centre.
Need I say the GP was lovely. She ruled out UTI and then because of suspected appendicitis, got me through the que in A and E where I got a wheelchair ride too.
Shortly after 1 am I was lying on a gurney in a crappy hospital gown, in A and E, tired, lonely, I was on my own and it was noisy. Luckily in spite of the lack of blanket I was warm… I was pretty much left on my own for hours there, feeling semi crap.
So I was poked and prodded at, and an IV port inserted in my arm hours before it was used. They put it in when the did the blood tests… And I had a pelvic xray. Then they hung a bag of saline.
It was about 5 am when I was admitted to Bed 6/1 which was ward 107 Section B. This was the general surgery ward. And by that time with the moving there was a back flow of blood going quite far back in to the IV line. So when they hung the new bag they had to attach a new line and port for it. Oh and I had one of the cot sides up in case one of the little old ladies I shared the room with got confused coming back from the bathroom again.
So Monday. There was nausea, and lots of sleep. I also had to have a pelvic ultrasound to rule out ovarian cysts, this came back clear, although I was no longer in so much pain. I slept most of the day not getting any the night before. And the nurses kept telling me off for not drinking enough, especially when I came off the drip. By the evening though it was believed I was going home the next day. So that night was not very good sleep wise.
Tuesday I woke up extremely nauseos, and ended up having 3 sips squash, pacing, 3 sips squash, more pacing, anti-emetic, some tea, more pacing, I think you get the picture. So I was nil-by-mouth from about 10am with a drip in - and a new port at that coz the other one had stopped working. And a visit from an anasthesiologist. And definately not going home. At 3:30 I was heading down to the operating theatre and put onto one of there horrible gurneys, but I was allowed to keep my blankets. By 4pm I was anathetised. I can sort of remember the recovery room, yeah sort of, and getting back to the ward around 6:30, quarter to 7, and having a visitor, but really that is all I remember. Apparently I didn’t do anything embarrasing, but kept saying I feel dizzy to which a really nice nurse kept saying it was the morphine. I remember being told my appendix had been removed (keyhole surgery). Finally became more rational at around 11pm needing to go to the toilet, and ended up really uncomfortable and catheterised…
Wednesday I ended up having morphine as well, texting a few people, and urm yes I can’t remember most of wednesday except that I had a visit for an hour and was cathetherised till midnight. Urm and in pain.
Thursday I got home, after struggling to pee - yeah took me drinking my tea and my whole jug of water to go. So went home moved my laptop to my bed and then slept.
The day and a half at home was ok, I mostly slept, and some crying from the fall out of the situation and my mum came to visit So Mum took me back up on Friday night. I couldn’t pee, and my bowels hadn’t moved. Everyone kept asking for a urine sample, which no matter how often I tried I couldn’t manage, so I was readmitted, this time to a different ward. This ward was vascular surgery, and only had one really nice nurse. SO I was catheterised again. And In pain again. Lots of pain, inspite of pain meds. I was also very nauseos. So the Doctor took me off the one med that was doing something for the pain. leaving me with paracetemol and ibuprofen, which I said from the start I couldn’t have. Oh and they let me walk around with a catheter leg bag coming loose on sunday.
So I am home now, and I still am in pain, on Tramadol Morning and Night, Paracetemol the rest of the time, with cyclizine for the nausea that won’t go. I have a catheter in still and will have till around the 21st of the month. Oh and anti-biotics for the UTI I have gained. Plus my usual meds…. I only get the decent pain meds etc, thanks to my wonderful GP.
I think in total I got stuck with needles 3 times for an IV line first time, twice for heparin and twice for morphine and once for a blood test, second time 3 times trying to get an IV line in, once for a blood test and once for heparin.
