Our Very Own Hospital Escapade: Part 1

This January, we learned that you never know what's around the corner.

Over two years ago, I had some vague right lower quadrant(RLQ) pain while we were in Dominica.

Socratic.org

I visited our school's on-campus clinic and they scheduled an ultrasound for 9/18/17, the day Hurricane Maria hit.  So in the hubbub of the aftermath, I didn't get follow-up back in the states.  Later that year, I had more pain, but our insurance wasn't great and I figured if it got worse, I'd go to the Emergency Dept (ED.) Luckily, it seemed to subside and we continued on with school and life.

At the beginning of this last December, I was busy studying for the COMP exam.  I was under a lot of pressure and my pain returned.  Both K and I figured it was likely due to the increased stress from studying. 

Then, on 1/2/19, I began feeling awful.  K sent me to bed around 7:00 PM and that night, I couldn't even turn over in bed without excruciating pain in my belly.  The next day, we drove to K's folks' home and dropped E off before heading to the hospital.  We went into the ED and I told the physician's assistant (PA) about my pain.  They were worried about a couple of different things; they performed some physical exams and then decided that I probably needed a CT scan of my abdomen.  The CT scan came back and showed "a lot of inflammation" around my appendix and in my small and large intestines.  The doctor came in and told me I needed to be admitted to the hospital.  Scared, but relieved, we waited to go upstairs to my room.  The internal medicine resident came by while we were still in the ED and told us that I'd probably be seen/examined by both the gastroenterology doctor (GI) and the surgeon.  We were blessed to have a single room (I didn't share the room with another patient) and got settled in for the night.

The next day, I was seen by the internal medicine team and the GI doctor.  They were concerned about Crohn's disease and told me I needed a colonoscopy.  As a younger person, I thought the day I'd need a colonoscopy was far off in the future, but when they brought in the GoLytely drink, I laughed and started drinking.

Mooremedical.com

My nurse was sweet and offered to flavor the rather salty GoLytely with Crystal Light.  It tasted like a savory lemonade.  I made it through the first four or so glasses before I had to slow down.  My initial goal was just to drink it and get it over with as fast as possible, but that much liquid in my stomach made me nauseated and I vomited up quite a bit of it.  Still, it did what it was supposed to do.  I hadn't had much of an appetite for the last two days, so luckily I think it took less GoLytely than it might of had I had a normal diet.

I slept pretty well that night (for being in a hospital) and woke the next morning to the phlebotomist coming to draw my blood.  My procedure was scheduled for 8AM and they rolled me down to the colonoscopy suite.  The GI physician and anesthesiologist were already in the room and the nurses who did my prep were so kind. The anesthesiologist started giving me the propofol and I stared at the bar holding up the TV; I was out in less than two seconds.

I woke up after the procedure and the GI doctor explained his findings.  He told me that he was pretty sure I didn't have Crohn's just based on the gross appearance (gross meaning what he could see with his eyes, not the microscope.)  Still, they took biopsies, which they let me look at before sending them to the pathologist.  It's a strange feeling to look at pieces of your intestines.  Then, they showed me pictures of inside my small intestine and colon which were awesome!  He told me he'd consult with surgery as he wasn't worried about Crohn's and definitely thought it was my appendix causing all this trouble.  My surgeon came in a little later and told me that he'd scheduled a laparoscopic appendectomy for later that afternoon.  I was nervous for the surgery, but so grateful that I didn't have Crohn's disease.

Stay tuned for the next part of our hospital adventure!

For His Glory,
KCE