The ER September 5, 2008
Alright, some gory medical details are to follow below the line, but the short of it is here for those who want to skip the gory stuff. I got sick the other night, went to the ER after calling 911, and spent 13 hours there. I am okay now. I’m not great - my blood pressure is still low-normal off my blood pressure medication and I have some abdominal pain, but I’m alright and have scheduled followup to find out what the real issue might be.
Okay, so, for the details.
I awoke about 3 a.m. Wednesday morning at David and Kathryn’s place after having gone to bed around 2 feeling fine. I didn’t feel right, grabbed my cell phone and headed for the bathroom. I proceeded to be pretty sick, with diarrhea and retching and the most severe pain of my life. The gallbladder attacks of 20 years ago were nothing compared to this. I also became extremely diaphoretic (sweaty), which scared me, as I know it can be a symptom of heart problems, so I first called Bill, and then dialed 911. I was just barely able to get dressed and meet the squad outside so that I wouldn’t get the dogs all riled up.
Let me just say, this EMT was the coldest SOB I ever met. They let me crawl into the back of the squad (I’m sure they didn’t want to try to lift me). He complained that I couldn’t be still enough to get my blood pressure. He then told me my blood sugar was “crazy high”. I had informed them I am diabetic. They get me to Triage, and the nurse starts taking vitals and history. At this point, the EMT tells her my blood sugar was 166, hardly “crazy high” for a diabetic. As soon as she got my blood pressure, a mere 78/43, she quit with the history and got me back into the ER. By this time, Bill had come up behind me and had his hands on my shoulders; his presence was very soothing, but it was clear he was pretty scared, too. Neither of us is used to getting that kind of attention in the ER, as usually it’s stitches or something less critical, but a blood pressure that low was obviously not something to be messed with.
They got me back and put IVs in both hands, started 2 bags of fluids to try to get my pressure up, at first with little success. I was out of it and in a lot of pain, but it was lessening. The evening nurse was awesome and helpful, very apologetic about having to do the IVs in my hands, very professional. The doctor was in my room every 5 minutes or so, which of course had me scared shitless. They drew a bunch of labs.
So, my blood cultures were clean, my labs were all normal, except for a white count of 19. They infused vancomycin and Zosyn. They sent me to x-ray to get films of my guts. They gave me morphine for the pain, which helped a lot and allowed me to sort of fugue out and almost-sleep for a while. I sent Bill home with Dan to get some rest, and Dan came back with some clean clothes, rubbed my back, was very sweet to me.
The x-rays and a bedside ultrasound apparently showed a mass on my right ovary, so they sent me for a CT scan with IV and oral contrast. Bleh. Yuck. If I never do that again, it’ll be too soon. That confirmed the mass, so they then sent me for a transvaginal ultrasound. Again, very miserable stuff, especially when you’re in pain. I’ve never had penetration hurt before, so that was pretty scary.
So, I wait around some more, and the OB/GYN resident comes to do a pelvic exam; there’s nothing grossly wrong, but there’s tenderness when she does the bimanual exam. She tells me about the mass, which apparently is about 2.5 x 4.5 x 5.6 cm.
After 13 hours in the ER and the third resident of the day, they gave me a meal try and some discharge instructions, sent me home. It was after hours and the person who schedules followup was already gone, but she called me tonight and I have a followup appointment for Monday afternoon.
We still don’t have an explanation for the diaphoresis and drop in my blood pressure. It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, except perhaps the mass is a cyst and it burst. That MIGHT cause the diaphoresis and the BP drop, but…
I’m alright, as I said, but not completely okay. I’m scared about what Monday will bring. I suspect I’m headed for surgery to have this mass removed, and if so I intend to come out of it sterilized. I’m beyond an age when I believe it would be safe or reasonable for me to be pregnant, anyway, and birth control is a pain, so it would solve that, at least.
I’ll keep you posted on what happens.
