Quick update

I wanted to write this quick update so I don't have to write a whole lot later.

Everything from my bronch turned out ok--no rejection and no obvious infection. I slept pretty much all day Monday and Tuesday.

Tuesday night I began getting an upset stomach and some cramp-like pain. My back pain had also elevated over the last week or so. During the night Tuesday, the pain in my back and stomach became increasingly worse, making it difficult to breathe and making me extremely nauseated. I had to skip my clinical class once again Wednesday morning. I managed to get up and take a shower (Wednesday) and head toward UAB for my photo session. I figured that I might as well try to do it because I didn't want to have to make it up.

When I arrived on the unit, I told the photo tech how I was feeling. I told her I didn't think it was lung related and thought I should be fine to proceed with photo. The photo team is real hesitant to do the photo when you are sick. Photo can wipe you out and for such a small person like me, taking blood from my body may not be the best thing during a time like that. So they wanted the nurse to check me out first.

After I talked to the nurse, she wanted the nurse practitioner to check me out as well. The NP ordered lab work and an xray of my chest and stomach. The doctor on call said it was fine to proceed with photo, but the photo doctor didn't think that was the right decision and decided to not do the procedure. As I hung around, my transplant doctor decided to give me some fluids. I had not eaten all day and not much period over the last few weeks or so. I was also extremely nauseated and they thought that might help. The NP also gave me some IV phengren.

The pain never subsided and just got worse and worse. I felt so sick because of the amount of pain I was in. All my labs and xray turned out fine (which I suspected). I'm still not sure why I had the stomach pains though. After finishing the fluids, I decided to go on home. I had not seen the transplant doctor at this point, but he said if I felt ok, to go ahead and leave and not wait on him. So I decided to go and the NP paged the doctor and informed him of my decision.

I left the room, went to tell another favorite nurse of mine good bye, and made my way to the exit doors. This nurse of mine was still talking to me at this point. And all of a sudden, the nausea hit me really really bad and I told her that I think I needed to go sit down. She escorted me back to the ACT room (our outpatient/ procedure) room. I ended up throwing up and really feeling horrible. So I hung out for awhile and decided to wait and see the doctor. I wasn't sure if I could make it back to my car ok.

The transplant doctor finally came. Since everything with my lungs was fine, there wasn't really anything else to be done. However, he gave me some pain medicine (Lortabs) and another script for phenegren. After resting, my nurse decided to get our PCT to wheel me down to my car in a wheelchair (which helped tremendously). I made it home ok, but rushed to bed when I got home.

My pain continued to escalate through the evening and night until probably 3am . My nausea and breathing was really bad too. I was pretty much throwing up all night. I was finally able to fall asleep around 2:00 am and get some rest. I'm sure the Lortabs and phenegren helped as well. My mom was at my side most of the night. And at one point, I had gone to our den to try sitting in our recliner instead of laying in the bed. She stayed in there with me on the couch until I went to sleep in my room. She was so sweet and kept bringing me whatever i needed and made me as comfortable as possible. This pain was some of the worst pain I've experienced. I don't think I've had this bad of stomach pain since my stomach surgery after transplant.

I did manage to go to work for 1/2 day today, but came home and slept the rest of the afternoon. I was able to eat a minute amount (noodles) for dinner, but I still have very little in my stomach. The pain is not gone, but much better now. I'm still taking Lortabs and phenegren when I'm at home. I'm taking Zofran and tramadol in between.

So, I have had a very eventful last few days, with yesterday being totally unexpected. A lot of times when I am in so much pain, it makes my body tense up, and makes it hard to breathe. The pain felt like it was wrapped around my body and traveling up through my chest. And then, it was so severe, that it made me sick.

I hated missing clinical class yesterday, and are really behind. I also missed a test last night because of all the pain. So I will have to make that up as well. In addition, I was unable to turn an assignment in tonight because of being out of commission the last week or so.

Hopefully tomorrow and this weekend will be a lot better. We have our CFF Gala Saturday night, that I am volunteering at. And I also have a birthday party to attend prior to the Gala.