Thursday Night - about six at night I began feeling very sharp pains in my lower right side of my abdomen. I figured it was cramps and brushed it off. That night I did not sleep very well, but I was well enough to go to work. All day Friday, I continued to have a dull pain throbbing on only my right side, in addition, there was the entire body aches - my bones, muscles, everything - was aching. It even hurt when I would blink or move my eyes side to side. Then there was the major pressure headache. To say the least, I was feeling horrible. That night I went home with plans to go have sushi with my boyfriend and his mom. I laid down, thinking to myself if I was able to sit through dinner. I decided that my body aches and headache were the signs of the flu. As I lay upset in bed, pissed that I somehow caught the flu (probably from a sick patient at the hospital - which I work at), and yet confused by the pain that continued to plague me only on my right side. I starting thinking I had appendicitis and of course I looked up the symptoms on WebMD. I started freaking out, but the only symptom I had was pain. At this point, lost and confused, I turned to Facebook. I posted a status asking my friends with any medical background or experience to help me figure out my symptoms and what I had. My best friend from college messaged and called me right away saying to get it checked out because it could be possible that the problem was my appendix.
That evening I checked into the ER about 8pm. They ran tests - everything from: blood work, urinalysis, ultrasounds and a CAT scan (which I had to drink the contrast for - not very pleasant - and they also inject you with an IV dye - it brought on a warming sensation through my entire body, very odd). Of course there were no immediate answers. It was a huge waiting game. Not until a couple hours into my stay did I find out that my creatinine levels (looks at kidney function) were elevated, as well as my c-reactive protein level, which if elevated indicates some sort of inflammation or infection in the body. Both not good news, but still didn't pinpoint the problem.
Just before the Doctor came to my room, my RN told me that the radiologist and Doctor had looked at the CAT scan. She said they said the appendix looks fine and the results are questionable. And just like that she leaves. Seriously, lady!? Panic starts to set in. My mom is trying to calm me and Andrew (my boyfriend) is threatening to hit the next person to walk in. You don't just give us half an answer! What is questionable supposed to mean? Finally, shortly after 1am the Doctor visits my room. He applied pressure to my abdomen in several places and asked if there were pain. Well of course there was! More morphine please!! Then he and the PA play a back and forth game of coming to my room and pushing on my stomach and going back to their little cubby to discuss my situation.
Not until about 2am do they give me a straight answer. Everything looks good...my appendix, gallbladder, and ovaries. The only problem is the pain I'm experiencing and my elevated blood levels. They decide to admit me to the hospital so they could monitor my pain and my blood levels.
Being admitted is not all that fun. Not that I thought it would be fun whatsoever! I slept on and off in between techs and nurses visiting my room to check my vitals and IV. They gave me a great pain killer that helped take the pain away because that morphine was just not doing it. I slept mostly throughout the day Saturday and wasn't able to drink or eat anything in case I had to go into surgery. FINALLY, about 10 am my surgeon came to talk to me about my results - like the ER Doctor said, everything looked great, well besides my blood work - that was iffy. The only odd thing they found was my kidneys had scarring on them. He wasn't sure how that could have happened because I had never had a UTI or any type of infection of that sort. They released me that night to go home and rest.
Next week I have scheduled an appointment with both a Nephrologist (kidney doctor) and a Cardiologist (since I have high blood pressure - that could have affected my kidneys and caused the scarring).
Sorry for the novel! But this was a very eventful past week for me. Very nerve-wracking and overwhelming. I'm really hoping that my appointments next week go well and there is nothing more that they find.
This really is motivation for me to treat my body like a temple! It's the only one I have, so I MUST begin to treat it right (not that I destroy it), but I can certainly start eating more balanced meals and get back to my exercise routine!!!
I will update everyone once I hear some answers! Until then, I hope to work on some projects to share with everyone!
For now, I will use my last day off to continue to rest and read a good book -
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls.
Please keep me in your thoughts!
Karissa
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