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Womans Day - 2 Yr5 Days in the Hospital
I'm out of the hospital! That is why my blog hasn't been updated, I've been the sickest of my life. What happened? Remember that sinus infection that I took a simple course of antibiotics? They did get rid of the sinus infection. The problem is that taking antibiotics kills all bacteria in the body, good and bad. I got exceptionally unlucky and came across a rare germ that caused bad bacteria to grow throughout my entire digestive system. This means I got sick with a life threatening bacterial infection.
The doctors said this rarely happens and even when it does, it usually doesn't happen to someone as young as me. I'm just unlucky like that.
The symptoms started Thursday Novemeber 20th around 4am. By Friday I was in so much pain, having really scary symptoms (but I'll spare you the gory details), and clearly dehydrated. Joshua took me to the ER at LBJ (about an hour from here, but when you're on shotty healthcare that's the hospital you get). They did get me hydrated with 3 bags on the IV, but that hospital was the scariest experience. When they finally got me back to the ER, I was crammed in a room of 20 patients, a mere 2 feet seperating each bed, all poor people and prisoners (not even joking, these guys were handcuffed to their beds while police officers checked in on them regularly), everyne sharing one dirty bathroom (you do not want me to describe it), and my husband only being allowed to visit me for 15 minutes every two hours. The doctors and nurses were nice, but ultimately clueless as they couldn't determine what was wrong with me. They basically said, "Take more stomach medicine and drink water. Come back if the symptoms get worse."
It was good to be hydrated but I was determined to never go back to that hospital again. Unfortunately, my symptoms did get worse. However, I still refused to ever go through that terrible experience again, plus I was so sick there was no way I could manage that long trip anyway.
Joshua also did not want to take me back to that awful hospital, but he knew he needed to get me to hospital. I was only getting worse. With some coaching from a nearby friend, he took me to the Kingwood Medical Center. It's just 3 miles from here and is a very nice hospital. Once he told me he was taking me to that hospital instead, I finally agreed to go.
It was Sunday afternoon and the ER was packed. I had to suffer for hours in the waiting room. My poor husband was going crazy and kept hassling the staff to get me in the ER (you know he loves me). Fortunately, they did eventually get me back to an ER room (yes, an individual room to myself without prisoners!) The doctor did an exam, could clearly tell there was something terribly wrong, ran a few tests, and admitted me into the hospital (complete with IV fluids that I was in desperate need of).
They performed a CT Scan on me that night, as well as a bunch of other tests. By the next day they had determined that I had tested positive for a specific (albeit rare) bug that had caused me a severe bacterial infection. They immediately got me on the right antibiotics while also adding medication to help the good bacteria grow.
The doctors were brilliant and on top of things. The nurses were the nicest in the world. The facility itself was lovely and CLEAN! I was very glad to be in a good hospital.
I was on a clear liquid diet for 3 days but by the night before Thanksgiving the doctor moved me onto food! I was sooo ready! Finally, my body was no longer rejecting it and it was wonderful! Thanksgiving afternoon, they released me from the hospital. After 5 days my husband could finally take me home :-)
I'm still pretty sick, but I'm on medication and the doctors assured me that I'm going to get all better. My focus right now is that I'm glad to be home, I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband, I'm praying that the application for financial assistance to cover my $30K+ hospital bill will go through, and I'm happy to be able to eat and drink again.
