I Hate Dialysis Message Board

Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: General Discussion => Topic started by: deniferfer on August 23, 2013, 07:15:08 PM

Title: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: deniferfer on August 23, 2013, 07:15:08 PM
As many of you know back in Feb I had unexpected major surgery. Well for the last 6 months I had a open wound that wouldn't heal. The surgeon that did the work gave me excuse after excuse to why it wouldn't heal. Finally throwing his hand up saying I can't do anything more and that I need to go to a bigger hospital but never referred me. My Neph and I try to find another general surgeon to take my case and none would. My Dr was told by one drs office I needed a plastic surgeon..I was like ummm what?? My boobs are fine!  :rofl; Well no luck down that road either.

Well this us to July 31..I had dialysis the day before and when I got home I felt very sick, I was cold, sick and didn't want to move. Thinking i could sleep it off I went to bed and called it  night. The next morning I got up and felt the same so I headed to the D center ( I had a appointment there to meet someone going to PD and wanted to talk about my experiences). I get there and tell them how I feel and that I'm not doing so god. One of the nurses looks at me and says yeah your pale and takes my temp which was fine but when they checked my blood pressure it was 66/33. The head nurse says at the moment that I have to go on the machine now! They hook me up and give me tons of meds to raise my BP and draw lots of blood. They also start a antibiotic on me. They get my BP up and send me home saying if I feel bad again I need to go to ER. Well I get home and about a hour later the head nurse calls me and tells me that they found that i had a infection in my blood and had to go to the ER now. So I called my mom and had her meet me there. They get me admitted and check my BP and it was low once again! So before I could even get comfy I was sent to ICU!  There they started 2 IVs and gave me very strong med to raise my BP. (90/50 was a win!) The next day they start to run tests on me. They did a pelvic ultra sound and no it wasn't fun being catheterized and have water placed into my bladder. Then they sent me in to have my wound probed, they just numb the skin around the area but no matter how much I asked they wounldn't give me pain med and relax me! Those tests come back cler but they know that there is something wrong with the wound. My dr decides that she is going to send me to  major hospital. So I'm sent the next day to UCLA. (about 4 hours away from my home). There they get me in and right off the put in a central line so they can stat giving med with out messing with the IVs. I barly have time to think and they got it in and they are checking my heart running echos and all kinds of stuff. Then at 3am they send me in for a cat scan too! The next day they put in a arterial IV in my left hand, this was o listen to my pulse.  Then they did a test where they had to go thru my mouth to see and take picks of my heart in 3D. Well it was decided they needed to do surgery on me again. That they didn't what they would find but they needed to go back in. So it was set up and I went into surgery the next morning. I came out of surgery, with 4 drain bags, that i called my possum babies cuz the would hang them off of me. lol  and a nice big open wound in my tummy. They tell me they found pockets of infection all throughout that area and hand to wash it all out. That I'm lucky I was doing as well as I was! From there the goal become to get my BP to stay up on its own and get off oxygen so I could be removed from ICU. After a few days they got me stable and I ws sent to the normal ward. I had a lot more freedom and could use a bathroom behind closed doors! lol They got me off IV pain meds and showed me how take care of the wound and drain bags. The dr kept me over the weekend to watch over me, they where able to remove 2 of the drain lines and that was a relief to have less to worry about!

Now I have a home nurse that comes out and checks on the wound. She is very pleased that it is healing very fast and is already at less then half the size it was! Then i go to D and they give me IV antibiotic and i continue to do that for the next 4 weeks. By then i should be fully healed! The hard part is not overdoing it. I wnt to get back into the game and do everthing i did before. But I know I have to behave. Cuz I already set a goal that i wil be in Vegas with the rest of you guys in Oct!!   




Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: Angiepkd on August 23, 2013, 07:42:08 PM
Glad to hear you are feeling better!  Take it easy so you can make it to Vegas!   :cuddle;
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: UkrainianTracksuit on August 23, 2013, 07:50:16 PM
Wow, now that is some medical saga!  I send healing thoughts and hope everything works out wonderfully.  I loved the plastic surgeon quip.   :lol;
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: okarol on August 23, 2013, 07:53:17 PM
 :2thumbsup; You had me really worried! Having you well is a real gift - take care!  :clap;
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: Riki on August 23, 2013, 08:36:53 PM
glad to see you back again... that's crazy.. the doctor saying he couldn't do anything more for you.. and you had an open wound!  I would think that infection would be the first thing to look for.. some doctors are stupid..

I'm glad they figured it all out and you're starting to feel better
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: galvo on August 23, 2013, 10:38:00 PM
That was an ordeal and a half! You're a tough 'un to get through it!
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: willowtreewren on August 24, 2013, 01:09:31 AM
Geeze, Louise! What an awful story.

I'm glad you are are the mend and back in the game!

Aleta
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: Joe on August 24, 2013, 07:23:13 AM
Good to see you back! Heal quickly!
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: justme15 on August 24, 2013, 09:05:16 AM
glad that you are on the road to recovery! you are one tough cookie! :cookie; :bandance;
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: Jean on August 24, 2013, 10:30:22 AM
Good to see you back. You sure have had a time of it. Get better, okay???    :flower;
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: Big E on August 24, 2013, 02:00:30 PM
 :cheer: I'm so glad to hear from you again, Jennifer. Sounds like you'll recover nicely, and I'm really looking forward to seeing you at our meet-up. Hope you can make it.
  :2thumbsup; :bandance;
Love to you and and your devoted sis MissJazzyEmily

Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: amanda100wilson on August 24, 2013, 03:19:08 PM
Woe, you've been through the mill, girl.  Glad you are on the mend!  :2thumbsup;
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: Poppylicious on August 24, 2013, 04:05:41 PM
Awww, bless you!  Sending you oodles of *huggles* for a very speedy recovery. 
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: Chris on August 25, 2013, 04:19:33 AM
 :thumbup;
I wish I was going to Vegas to see you, Jazzy, and your mom again, but health has gotten in the way.
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: jeannea on August 25, 2013, 01:11:54 PM
Wow. That sounds like a nightmare. The first doctor was negligent. Any doctor should know that a wound that doesn't heal is a problem.
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: cdwbrooklyn on August 26, 2013, 11:31:01 AM
Wow, what an ordeal.  Glad you are doing well; get better soon.
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: deniferfer on August 28, 2013, 07:06:15 PM
Hey guys! Thank you again for all your sweet messages and support.  I have a update! I just saw my home nurse today and she says I'm going great!! The wound is now only 3 inces long, .6 cm wide and .8 cm deep. That's like nothing!  I still have the drain lines or my possum baby twins. One side is doing better then the other. But both are looking good and I see the dr in a week that is looking after my infection.  So hope that will be all good news. I know I'm going to get better for Vegas! I have to go, it was so much fun last year!!  Right now I'm very hopeful and I'm going keep being good and resting. ( trust me this is a challenge lol) but it for my greater good! =)
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: kit78 on August 29, 2013, 09:06:11 AM
Thank Gos you are coming out of that nightmare!  So glad to hear you are doing better.
 :grouphug;
Title: Re: Hey guys I'm back! Down but not out
Post by: galvo on August 29, 2013, 05:02:27 PM
I love good news!
 :flower;