This time around they gave me a hospital suite haha it was a HUGE room. I waited around and some nurses came in and told me that I needed to get and IV. JOY. ugh. I told the nurse NOT to use my right arm in the crease because I had just given blood there that day and it was sore. BUT she decided that was the "best" place for it...and it DIDN'T work. Awesome. So she tried ANOTHER time. Didn't work. Then she decided to try my hand. WORST.IDEA.EVER. The vein "infiltrated" and I had a huge bump which instantly turned into a bruise. She than began to tell that my veins are really "valvey" I then began to tell her she just sucked at giving IV's (ok I didn't really tell her that but I wanted too!) At this time I voted for a new nurse to come in and give me an IV. They brought in this lady who was socially awkward, but she did end up getting the IV in my arm. And then she asked me what they had planned for me. I told her and I had to get a chest tube. She then began telling me that chest tubes are THE WORST, and that I would feel miserable. Wow. you are my new best friend. NOT. I wanted to strangle her.
So right as she left I started balling!! I was not excited for another painful experience :( Not long after that my PA came in. (LOVE ALL OF THEM) She noticed I was crying and came in to give me more info on what was going to happen. I had told her what the evil nurse had said. She then began to tell me what REALLY was going to happen and that the pain would not be unbearable.
Before I went to bed they decided I need another IV in my arm...really? Ugh.
They brought in this guy and YAY it worked after like 2 tries.
The morning came and it was time to get my chest tube...here is what a chest tube looks like:
They make a small incision on the side of your chest, under your arm and guide the tube into the lung.
Before they took me down, they gave me a calming drug, because I was so so nervous that I wasn't going to be put to sleep for the surgery. It worked great :) They took me down to radiology. Then they put me on a CT scan bed. They put this sort of stencil thing on my side and then they would slide me into the CT chamber and slide me back out, make adjustments, in and out, etc. Then they gave me the drug. I remember saying to the doc, when am I supposed to start feeling loopy? (Which I am 100% sure I already was haha) So then he told the nurse to give me more. The only thing I remember is the doc telling me he was going to numb the area and the shot may hurt a little. Then I swear I was eating food out of the sky haha and then it was over!
They took me to a recovery room where I slowly came out of the loopy state. When I had finally come to it, I realized they had me lying flat...which I hadn't done while I was at home, and I went into panic mode, I had a spasm in my back, and I couldn't breathe right. I started coughing and blood started flowing through my chest tube. YIKES! Johnny hurried and ran outside to grab and nurse and they hurried in. They sat me up and gave me some morphine. awwwww. They said that after they drain your fluids your lungs can get sticky and it makes it hard to breathe, which is what happened. During the surgery they drained over 2 liters of fluid.
They moved me back to my hospital room on the lovely 10th floor of the IMC. My PA told me if everything went smoothly I should be outta there in a few days, and ready for my NYC trip! So after a couple days my output of fluid was minimal. So they took me to get an xray, and whaddya know...my lungs had filled up with fluids again :( which meant that my tube was NOT draining properly. JOY.
They tried using a syringe and squirting some water up in there to try and unclog it. Didn't work. So for the next few days I just waited and waited until they thought of what they should do next.
You know what word I hate?
The day came when they told me I wouldn't be able to make it to my New York trip. I was very sad, and by this time I had been in the hospital longer than I was there for my actual surgery. :(
Here was my daily routine:
-8 am the surgeon would stop by to make his daily rounds, I was usually half asleep still so he would usually say, "I'll come back later when you are more awake." haha
-8:15 am get my vitals checked
-8:30 am an old LDS couple would come say hi to me (and on sundays bring the sacrament)
-8:45 am try to go back asleep, but then someone from radiology would come take me for my daily Xray
-9:30 am eat my breakfast that had been sitting there since 8:00 am
-9:45 am SLEEP :)
-10:00 am check chest tube and vitals again.
-10:15 am go on a walk around the hospital floor.
-10:30 am watch tv
-12:00 pm eat lunch
-12:30 SLEEP :)
and the rest of the day is basically the same, get vitals checked, watch tv, eat, sleep. Oh the joys of being lazy :)
I was so sad I wasn't going to be able to go to New York with my family :( AND I was going to have to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital.
On Thanksgiving morning Johnny went to play football with Nick. Courtney came over to hangout with me. Oh how I love her. She helped me shower, washed my hair, blow dried and styled it. Shaved my legs, and put some makeup on me. She is the best :) Later Cami and Chris came over and brought me Thanksgiving dinner and hung out. So nice of them, their food was MUCH better than the hospitals thanksgiving dinner. Its so great to know that I have friends that love and care about me, I am so blessed!
And then, something I thought I would never have to do, spend my birthday in the hospital. I am glad that Johnny, my family, and friends could be there to celebrate with me...here are some pics:
The daily vitals (more like every 2hrs vitals)
yay for bday gifts! Too bad whats in there is pumps and clothes, can't wear them!
Rylee and Katie sent me these for my birthday :)
My friends that came to visit me on my bday! (I had to hold that stupid tube like a tail haha)
They brought me a bundt cake mmmm and lotions from Bath & Body works!
Balloons!!
The doctors finally came up with an idea...the decided to put in this stuff called TPA...Tissue plasminogen activator (abbreviated tPA or PLAT) is a protein involved in the breakdown of blood clots. It is a serine protease (EC 3.4.21.68) found on endothelial cells, the cells that line the blood vessels. As an enzyme, it catalyzes the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin, the major enzyme responsible for clot breakdown. Because it works on the clotting system, tPA is used inclinical medicine to treat embolic or thrombotic stroke. Use is contraindicated in hemorrhagic stroke and head trauma.
They found out that I was clotting on the inside so they shot this stuff inside me with a syringe, then they would clamp my tube off, and let it sit for an hour. IT WORKED. My tube started flowing properly! So they had to do that every couple of days to keep the tube from clogging.
One day my IV started leaking...nooooo! I was so angry! I did NOT want to get pricked again. But when it came down to it, they had to re-do it...they were actually surprised out how long my vein had been working, usually with the type of antibiotic I was on, they have to redo IV's every couple of days. Thank goodness I have tough veins! The nurse that re-did the IV did an amazing job. He rocked.
A few days later they decided that I was NOT leaving anytime soon and that I should get a PICC Line:
I was soooo nervous to have this done. When I was there for my original surgery, they put in a central line AFTER I was put out...and this time I was going to have to be awake.
They had two nurses come in. One to watch the ultrasound monitor and one to put the catheter in. It was way weird. So first they do an ultrasound on your arm to find the correct vein. Then they do about 4 numbing shots around the area, that's really the only thing that hurt. Then they told me to hold my breath as she injected the catheter and guided it to my heart. And honestly, I COULDN'T even feel it! Crazy! It's because your bigger veins don't have touch sensors.
That procedure went well and I was now able to have my blood drawn through the PICC line instead of getting a million pokes daily! yay!
(sidenote) When I was getting ready for the PICC line, a nurse from a different department came in and said she was there to remove my chest tube...um WHAT?? I had just discussed with my surgeon that day that I would need it longer. So that's exactly what I told her. It's good to pay attention to your own health and know what is going on. Apparently that detail had slipped through the cracks and no one had told her I was going to need the tube for a longer period of time.
So after the lovely month of November I was hoping I would be able to go home and enjoy the Christmas season. Not happening sista! I missed our work Christmas party, so my mom came to the hospital and I watched the Polar Express (we do a movie trivia every year) and then I took the quiz. NAILED IT.
Johnny and I had "date nights" where I would go with him down to the hospital cafeteria and watch movies in our room. Its so nice to see new scenery rather than the lovely 10th floor at IMC. But after traveling that far I was always so exhausted...so sad. We watched alot of fun movies & tv shows while I was in the hospital. Mostly Glee, Modern Family, and Friday Night Lights (thanks to Ashley for giving it to me to watch).
It was
I don't know if I already mentioned this in this post...but one night I talked in my sleep to my nurse. Nice. So embarrassing!! haha.
It was not easy being in the hospital for almost a month. I felt like my life was on hold while everyone else was still living life and having fun. It was very hard to not be in control of what happened to me. I was VERY needy, and I HATED it. Every time I needed to go to the bathroom, someone would need to help me out of my bed and help me sit down on the toilet. Anytime I needed ANYTHING someone else would have to do it for me. I felt bad that if something I was hooked to started beeping in the middle of the night, that it would wake up Johnny. It was the WORST if whatever it was had a low battery haha. Or alot of times my oxygen level was too low and I had to focus on taking deep breaths ugh.
Finally December 9th rolled around and after my Xray that day, they told me I would be able to go home!! I was overjoyed! So they took out my chest tube. It was a weird feeling. Johnny was able to be in the room with me. My PA began to cut the sutures, (it tickled and hurt at the same time) Then when it came to pulling the tube out I had to hold my breath. It was a WAY weird feeling. If felt like a bunch of air/gas was leaving my body through my side.
After that procedure, they waited a few hours and then I had my final xray, to make sure there was no build up of fluids. When my PA came back with the results, he had a worried look on his face. He said that my fluids had built up again and that they would need to redo my chest tube. My heart sank. But then he put on a smile and said, "Just Kidding"!! oh boy, I was so mad at him!
My dad came to the hospital to come pack up all my things. (Johnny had school I think) and My mom took me home. We had to stop at Walgreens to get all my meds. It was funny because when I went to pay for them, I totally forgot my PIN# haha. Probably because I hadn't used it in over 2 months. I was out of practice! haha.
***I know I am posting this a year late, but what a better time then on the anniversary of my surgery? haha. Its been a good year. I am healthy. My scar is healing nicely. I can't do sit ups yet...grrr..it hurts, but thats really the only downside. I am so thankful for modern medicine and health insurance. I am grateful I have a full-time job and an awesome boss that gives us health benefits. (My final bills were in the $100,000's) It was over $80,000 just for my one month stay at the hospital. That doesn't include my surgeries and all that. Thank you again to everyone for all the visits, cards, flowers, and FB messages. It is a good feeling to know you are loved and cared about.
Oh Bethel, I'm so glad you are alright!
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