Now officially admitted to the hospital and installed in my room, Eric and I decided that he should go home and sleep. He was extremely reluctant to go, but A) He had to go to work in the morning, B) The only thing he had to sleep on was a rather uncomfortable recliner and C) He couldn't really do anything for me at that point. So, he gave me a kiss and went home.
I did not sleep well that night. I was getting pain medication regularly, and the nurse would come in to check vitals every couple of hours. At 3 am, they came in to draw liver function tests (LFTs).
Dr. Watts' PA came in that morning to talk to me. He said that since they ruled out a biliary leak, they were looking at a couple of different diagnoses. He ordered a CT scan with contrast and (to rule out constipation) a suppository. Oh boy!
For the CT I had to drink contrast. They gave me six cups with the contrast divided equally among them and they mixed it with cranberry juice. I was supposed to drink one cup every 10 minutes. It was disgusting, but since I was NPO I was grateful for something to drink. Pain meds give you such a dry mouth, and even though I was getting IV fluids pumped into me I was still insanely thirsty. Then, after a dose of Ativan (because I am extremely claustrophobic, I had a panic attack getting a DEXA scan and that is just a bar that goes over your hips and legs, let alone a tube they slide you into), they wheeled me down for the CT. I had to sit a minute because they called me down a little bit to early, so I sort of dozed in my wheelchair and tried not to fall off of it. Then, they got me on the table and ran the contrast into my IV. Holy Hannah! They told me it would make my body warm, they failed to mention it would feel like my entire being was on FIRE! And, I felt like I was peeing my pants. (For the record, I didn't.)
The suppository wasn't incredibly successful, but I didn't think it would be. I have been backed up, but not THAT badly.
The news of the day: My LFTs were still elevated, the CT scan was normal. So, on to another sleepless night at the hospital. Highlight: My amazing father-in-law bought me JK Rowling's new book, which I had to read a page at a time because that's how long it would take for the pain meds to work and put me to sleep for 45 minutes or so.
Friday, Dr. Watts came in to talk to me. He said that my LFTs were still elevated, making interesting fluctuations, but still not normal. He decided that I should have a consult with a GI. So, I waited, and waited, and waited, but the GI never came.
Highlight of Friday: My mom and my sister came by and brought my little niece, and she snuggled with me. They gave me this awesome hot pad that was heated with water that would cycle through it, so it was always the perfect temperature. It felt really nice on my belly. Ivory loved it too, because it kept her nice and toasty while I was holding her. The nurses came in to ooh and aah over her, and we had a nice long chat. It was very relaxing and I was sad to see them go.
Eric came over every night after work, but being at the hospital was really hard on him. He felt really powerless and I could tell it was painful for him to watch me be in pain. He told me that he wasn't sleeping well without me at home, and he always looked so exhausted. One day, he said that he had a really vivid dream that I came home. He could hear me come in the door, say Hi to the dog, and crawl into bed next to him. He rolled over to ask me how I got home and I wasn't there.
Saturday, Dr. Watts came in again. LFTs still elevated. I told him the GI had never come in, and he told me that they never got the hepatitis panel ordered. My mom had done some research on Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction, and it describes my symptoms EXACTLY. Nausea, vomiting, intermitant severe pain, elevated LFTs. No jaundice, no fever, normal CT. Me to a T. I asked him about it, and he ordered an MRCP. He also decided to switch pain medication because I wasn't doing well on the one I was on.
Once again, they doped me up with Ativan before the test. Thank heavens they did! Even with the Ativan, I still was panicking a little in the MRI machine. The tube they put you in is TINY and the test takes like 45 minutes. I was very uncomfortable.
Saturay my mom and Dave came in and visited. Eric came by after work. At this point, I was at the end of my rope. I was physically, mentally, emotionally drained. I started to have a lot of anxiety, and I paged the nurse. An hour later, I still hadn't seen her. That had been going on all day; I would page them because I was in pain or extremely nauseated and dry heaving into my "horse condom" as Eric lovingly calls the blue emesis bags, and it would take them an hour or so to get into my room, by which point I was very uncomfortable. So, crying, hyperventilating, I called the number of the patient advocate and blubbered out that I think they all forgot me and I was so anxious and so upset and I really, really, really needed help!
Next thing I know, I've got three nurses in my room. The charge nurse came in and talked me down. They gave me some extra buspar and got me nice and doped up so I could sleep. Eric was really upset, and understandably so. I just had a meltdown and there was nothing he could do about it.
Sunday morning, they decided to discharge me. The MRCP was normal and my LFTs were, you guessed it, elevated. But, I had gotten to the point where I was off of IV pain meds and onto oral pain meds, so even though they had no answers, I was discharged. I was relieved, I was so ready to just go home.
So, that is where I am at now. I take a big handful of pills so I can function and nothing has changed. The pain is exactly the same, the nausea is exactly the same, and I have no answers. I'm going to try to get a referral to a GI and push for some answers. I'll try to keep everyone updated on this blog.
Once again, thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers! They are very much appreciated!
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