Another Visit

Well I am only blogging today because my Mom keeps bugging me about it. I hate to blog unless it is about something lovely or of good report :) However, this is my journal and public though it may be, I must document.

A while ago I was up at 3AM in pain, weak, yet having to go pee. Well on my way back to bed my legs gave out and I fell into my mattress. I hit my right jaw, tried to catch myself with my right and left arm, and then hit the ground. Well Kev woke up and ran over to help me, laughing a little to himself I am sure, after I got back in bed I even giggled. I did not know how bad that fall would come back to haunt me later. I had a sore right arm, ankle, and jaw for the first couple weeks. My left arm was achy but nothing compared to the rest of me. Well as my arm and ankle continued to hurt I realized it was not a small injury. I saw a doc and after MRI's diagnostic nerve tests, they found that I tore both my right and left rotator cuffs (shoulders), and sprained my right ankle. I also ruptured the bursa sacks above each cuff. PAIN! No other words describe the pain. I thought guillain barre was painful, but now know that this kind of pain is debilitating in its own right. The orthopedic surgeon I saw will not do surgery on me because he believes that I will not heal well due to the guillain barre and he referred me to a physical med doc who can do a facet block in each shoulder until my body is ready for surgery. I cannot wait for the blocks. Hopefully next week they will be able to do them, they may last 6-9 months. That will give me plenty of time to prepare for the surgery.

I also have been on different medications to treat my current condition and I am on coumadin, a blood thinning medication I take for my clotting disorder. I did not know that my coumadin would react with my other medication. I have to take a finger stick monthly and test my INR. It is supposed to be about 3.0-3.5, that is my "goal." That number is the amount of time that it takes my blood to clot. My Mom knows that I am not very good at testing my INR, but once she saw all the bruises on me she started crying, made my Dad drive me home and I had to do the test. When I got the result I freaked. Without going to deep in the medical jargon, I tested my blood and found that it was 8.1, this is a very high INR. It puts me at risk for a hemmorhagic stroke (brain bleed), or internal bleeding. I went to my doc and they sent me to the ER. I am so sick of that place. I mean I get embarrassed when I have to go, and feel like I have now deemed myself, what many medical people refer to as a "frequent Flier" AHHHHHHHH. I hate that term. I am so sad that it has come to this. I am thankful for the medical people that help, but so upset that I am keeping them in business. Anyways, they adjusted my coumadin dose and luckily I was able to go home that night. Thanks to my Dad and Mom for being there when Kevin had to work. I was happy when Kev was able to finish his report and be there for me as well. What a wonderful family I have. I was also happy that nothing major happened and my Mom was listening to her motherly instinct or it could have been bad.

So I thought that things could not get worse, in fact I told my Heavenly Father that I am done and I cannot handle anymore. Kev told me that was a mistake and that Heavenly Father would show me just how strong I am and just exactly what I can handle. Well apparently I am stronger than I think. Last Wednesday I had a headache that got worse as the day wore on. I began vomiting and by Thursday I knew something was not right. I knew it was worse than a normal headache. I began to get scared because of the week prior when my INR was so high. I worried about all the bad things it could be and knew that I had to go to the ER. My Mom and Brittnie took me to the U. I was vomiting still and so sick, by this time I had a stiff neck as well as the headache, thanks so much to my Grandma for watching the kiddies. I also have to thank Stacie Hanson for helping clean my house, get my kids from school, and doing all those things that I could not, Love you!

Well when I got to the U they did the normal CT, blah blah blah. Then they told me they had to do a spinal tap. I hate those. I swear that one day it is going to paralyze me. Even better I have a fear that when I am supposed to hold especially still I will accidentally move and then the needle will go in to far and then I will be permanently paralyzed. This time when the doc was putting the needle in a sharp pain shot down my leg and I told the doc that, I was frightened. He said, "OK" then kept going at the very end he hit a nerve and my leg jumped off the table and did a kick into the air. I was even more frightened then, but the doc said he was done and I was relieved. The results came back and it was not good news, but then again when has it been?

Well Spinal Meningitis it was. They admitted me on the neuro floor and then told me that I had to stay until they identified if it is was viral or bacterial. Bacterial is deadly, viral has a lot of the same symptoms but it runs its course without usually being life threatening. I stayed 2 nights and then on Saturday they found that it was viral. While in the hospital I lost my hearing for a while, had double vision, headache, vomiting, and still had to deal with the shoulder pain. The nurses and staff there were not what I expected. I just wanted to go home. I was not treated like I hope

I treat my patients. Kev had to come in early one morning because I was in so much pain and no one would listen. He was so good. Within in minutes there was the nursing manager, director, charge nurse, and my nurse in the room trying to help me get some relief. I was saddened that it took Kevin being there to do that and I, as the patient, could not. Either way Kevin was the knight on the white horse, hahaha. I begged for them to let me home and luckily they did instead of making me stay until Monday.

Anyways, I am glad that I am home and hopefully can get the facet blocks, then surgery and heal soon. I have to say that at this time I believe that I can handle a lot more than I thought, and know that I can bounce back from this! I cannot wait for the day that I can pay all of you back who love, support, and help us.