Jim and I decided to take a little vacation to California at the end of August. We packed the van, and drove, the first night as far as Vegas, spent the night, and then finished the drive by getting to California on the Wednesday afternoon... For two days, we had a most amazing visit.. just doing relatively nothing, and loving each other's company. (Getting to California wasn't smooth sailing by any means... at one point, we couldn't get the van to slow down... the engine revving to 80 mph at one point. Jim had to turn the van off as we were moving to get it to slow down. We got into Barstow and found that the cruise control had failed and stuck... causing the engine to rev, and in the 103 weather, the whole engine to overheat... wasn't pleasant. Jim disconnected the cruise control, let the engine cool down, added more fluid and we were back on the road).
We wanted to replace the canopy on the 5th wheel, and it was supposed to be an easy fix... Jim disconnected the canopy from the trailer, and it popped out, and fell on the windshield of the van... yep, breaking the window...
On Friday afternoon, at about 3:00 pm, I started having a slight pain in my lower back on the left side. I decided to go back and take a nap and hopefully, the pain would go away. I tried to nap for a little bit, but within 45 minutes I was in such excruciating pain, Jim decided to drive me to the hospital emergency room.. The hospital was about 15 minutes away, and by the time I got there, I was screaming in pain.
When the attendings were checking me out, my blood pressure was 218/97, my temperature was 103 degrees and all I could do was scream and pant... The doctor gave me something for pain, and they gave me a CT scan to see what the problem was... At this point I was bringing up... In the scan, they saw a small kidney stone. It had just left the kidney, and the doctors felt I needed a stent so that the stone would not block the ureter... On Friday night, I went to have the stent put in, but because I had been bringing up, I couldn't have general anesthesia. So, they did a spinal block... worked great...Just before they started the surgery, because my blood pressure was so high, they gave me an injection to lower it.... It apparently worked really well, because within a few seconds, my bloodpressure plummeted to 55/35 and I was having convulsions... I think I passed out because I don't remember anything until I woke up in recovery...
The surgery was supposed to take about 10 - 15 minutes, but instead, it took over an hour. As the surgeon got into the procedure, the blood test results came back, and it showed that I had a UTI and was septic. In visiting with him aftewards, he said that I had so much infection in the kidney, the surgery took more time because of the infection cleanup that had to be done..... and that was before the stent was put in. The staff questioned me forever about symptoms.. did I have pain, did I have a fever before this, did I have urgency to pee... I had nothing... In recovery, I heard one of the doctors say that I was "Tacky"... and in my drugged state, I told him I was NOT tacky.. and he said I was.. and again, I told him that I was not tacky, and I have never been tacky... and it was the nurse who explained to the doctor that I was not tacky, but he should have said tachychardia. So, no, I was not tacky, but I was tachychardic... Giggle... Words matter.
The main thing that the doctor said to me was that if I had not come into the emergency room with the kidney stone, I had a very small window where the bacteria in my bloodstream would have taken over, and my heart would have stopped. So, within a couple of hours, I would have died.. that is sobering.
I was admitted that night, and for the next 5 days was pumped full of antibiotics, and fluids, I swear, gave gallons of blood. I was put on three different antibiotics that went through my IV, the 2nd of which I was allergic to, and broke out in blisters up my nose, on my mouth and on my arms..My arms, at this point, look like a battlezone...
There were many times in the hospital, were I was so tired, and hurt so bad during this recovery period, that all I could do was cry... hospitals aren't really the place to go for rest.
I had an amazing support staff. One doctor, in particular was from Ukraine, and every time he came into my room, he would call me "Luba" which is Ukrainian for my first name, "Love". ... made me smile. His first name is Ilya, and I immediately thought of that tv show from the 60's... The Man From U.N.C.L.E..... and the David McCallum character was Ilya Nickovitch Kuriyakin who was supposed to be a Russian spy...
I always wondered why this particular Russian Spy had a British accent...Well, this Russian was not particularly tall, very slender built, and blonde and had those cold, steel blue eyes just like my mother... I had asked him why he left Ukraine and he said that he was born in Ukraine, but he was educated in Moscow. He and his wife had a daughter who had cerebral palsy, and there were no fund available to look after her in Russia - so, they immigrated.
One phlebotomist should be a dominatrix - that woman was out to inflict pain - all at 5 in the morning. Her theory is that she will find a vein on the first try - it might hurt, but she'll get it... Not my favourite.
I received texts and emails and messages and visits from some of the most amazing friends.... Michelle and Stephanie and Jim from California made visits, and in fact, Stephanie and Jim came to check on Jim and I both while I was still in the emergency room... Michelle, herself, was having medical issues and came to visit. Beautiful flowers showed up from Ontario - such a beautiful, cheerful surprise from my bestie, Lynn... who always has my back... Thank you to all.
And, I got calls and skype messages from several people from my work, including my supervisor, Joy, the customer service manager, Tara, one of the sales guys, Barry, and the president of the company... these types of calls, buoy you up when you really don't know if you are going to die, or if you just want to die. Much appreciated.
Every day, I got little messages from my children, Brianne and Brad with special messages from the grands...didn't have to, but sure was nice.
And, last, but definitely not least... my Jim... this man is the epitome of patience, and understanding, and staying cool and calm during a really, really stressful time. He spent the first night in the hospital with me, and that's when we realized that they cot they gave him to sleep in really was the pits, and he decided to sleep in the 5th wheel... He endured my demands, put up with my complaining... and, even laughed with me when we couldn't figure out what the hospital food was. He showed up one night, after a particularly questionable hospital meal showed up, with mac and cheese, and a couple of pieces of grilled shrimp... it was celestial... I wasn't allowed to take a shower, so he so gently washed my face and hair in the sink, and made me feel a little fresher than just laying in bed... Couldn't love that man more.
Jim understands when I need to sleep, makes sure I am staying hydrated, and is vigilant in making sure I take this plethora of meds on time.
I have a follow up with a urologist in the next week, when they are supposed to take out the stent and remove the stone....
In the last couple of years of my mother's life, she was plagued with kidney problems - that's why we are now looking into further testing to see if this kidney problem I have is genetic... But, a little frail lady, in her 90's having these problems... I do not know how she made it through.. Sepsis is extremely brutal on the body, and, with her battling it, several times, along with age and Parkinson's Disease, proves what a strong lady she actually was.
So, thank you to those who saved my life.. physically and emotionally... I couldn't have done it on my own.
So, I am thankful for small miracles and small kidney stones... without them, I wouldn't not have been able to go on....
Today, Jim is at the cabin - we had planned for the plumber to spend the weekend working with Jim on getting the toilets and sinks up and running... As I hear there are some problems and mistakes that someone else made, they are working to fixing those issues, and moving forward.... But, that is for the blog that will come next.
Before I forget, when we were pulling into Vegas on the return trip, we got rear ended... sigh...You know, there are times when you just start waiting for things to happen...
Thank you for your love and support. Cheri
Follow up: 9/23/2019 - I had one more surgery to do a little repair work to the kidney, remove the stone, and thank goodness, remove that beastly stent... I feel 100% better... I'm still a little tired, but appreciative for all the help I received, and the support... especially Jim - he is a little on the crusty side of life, but I feel that man's love and support every single day. I could not have made it through without him by my side... Love him something stupid.
Cheri
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