Home Again...

I wake up early at 6:30, because the night nurse has come to give me my next injection of Lovenox. Since this is the third time I've been woken up (4 o’clock to take blood, 4:30 to take my blood pressure) I decide I might as well get up. I arrange the chair so I can read until I'm able to order some breakfast (which the hospital actually does pretty well) and wait for Cody to get up. I havethe same daytime nurse again and she lets me know that I have to be able to get my blood thinner filled, and be able to give myself injections before they'll discharge me, so I know what the goals are. I check online with my ipad and the blood thinner is covered. It's normally $1450 for 7 days worth of the brand and $660 for the generic. Luckily, because the surgery caused me to meet my maximum annual out of pocket I won't have to pay for it. They call it in, so it will be ready, then the nurse comes to teach me how to do the shots. When my mom was learning how to do shots, she got to practice on an orange; I get to practice on me! So the nurse makes me watch as she gives me an empty injection (nothing in the syringe) then she makes me do it to myself. I'm kind of slow, but it goes in. The nurse does it again, explaining that I need to make sure I pinch hard and rub hard with the alcohol because that will direct the "pain soldiers" somewhere other than where I'm actually sticking the needle. She also tells me that I need to "dart" it, do it fast. She asks if I would like to try again, and I tell her no thank you. I check to make sure it is okay I keep taking my birth control, she says yes (and it is listed in my paperwork as medication that I am continuing). She also tells me I'll need to make an appointment with my PCP to check my blood levels for the injections, that I should do this on Monday. She gets the paperwork ready, and I get to go home. We stop and Walgreens and get alcohol wipes, 14 generic Lovenox injections, and the new blood pressure medication that my PCP had just put me on (Metoprolol ER 50mg). After we get the prescriptions I realize I'm missing coumadin. They told me I would have to be on Coumadin and Lovenox at the same time. I call the nurse at the hospital and she says that is something that my PCP will give me a prescription for. We continue having an okay day, until after I eat and I get ready to give myself my first injection of Lovenox. I take a look at my abdomen and HOLY COW!!! I have an enormous bruise; I don't remember getting one, what the hell, where did it come from. I think maybe something is wrong, so I call the nurse and she said that I had it when we were practicing injections (I don't remember seeing it). Okay, thank you. I give myself the first injection, I still can't dart it, but it’s done, only 13 more to go! :(

Here is the bruise on my abdomen from the injection the nurse gave me at 6:30 am HUGE

Another Trip to the E.R.

So, the weekend was pretty good overall, but my left calf muscle was still really tight. It felt like a constant charlie horse. The doctor's offices are closed because it was Memorial Day weekend, so I had to wait until today to call and make an appointment. I call my new PCP's office and they can get me in at 1:30. I come in and explain the systems and she tells me she can see 2 possible things it could be. 1 - it could be that I have a blood clot, which would be weird because I have been up and walking around and moving my legs, 2 - it could be that the nerves in my calf are dying because the ones they are linked to in my spine were compressed for too long, and they just can't recover. She sends me for an ultra sound at a place right behind the E.R., she said if they say it is blood clots, I have to go to the E.R. to get the first dose of blood thinner, and they'll send me home. I get in right away, and sure enough, I have 2 blood clots in my left calf that are not completely obstructing blood flow (otherwise they would have been way more painful)! Cody and I head over to the E.R., Cody has to work tonight, so he's going to have to leave me at the ER and Donna will come and wait with me. Cody comes and gets me checked in, and there are A LOT of people, way more than the previous 2 times I was here. I get checked in and he has to leave. I put in a call to the neurosurgeon, because he is at this hospital today today, and maybe he can get me in earlier, but I have to leave a message. Donna arrives a little while later, she tells the check in lady that my neurosurgeon is at the hospital today, but there isn't much they can do at check in. We get to triage, I'm not sure if the lady was new or what, but I was like, my neurosurgeon is here today, can you please let him know. She's like, uh I'll check on that. I explain that my ultrasound results should have been sent right over, she can't find them, I tell her that I have 2 confirmed blood clots. I call my PCP's office, who said they have them and will fax them right over. Donna insists that I get a wheelchair and as soon as we get out of triage they are calling me to be seen by a doctor. My PCP's office calls back to see if they have been received, I say they must because I'm getting ready to be examined again. A nurse comes back and says that I will be admitted, which really upsets me because I don't like spending time in the hospital, and that they will have to put in an i.v. I do NOT like needles... I talked them out of the i.v. the day after my surgery was complete because they are so very uncomfortable, but they insist I have to have one. Donna calls my mom to let her know that I am back in the hospital for blood clots. An EMT (or so I thought until she turned around and I read her t-shirt that says Pima EMT Trainee) comes and puts in an i.v. then another nurse comes and gives me my first blood thinning injection in my stomach. I'm not having a good time at all. I'm not sure if I've had a bowel accident, and they won't let me walk to the bathroom to check (they'll bring me a bedside toilet, uh no thank you), they tell me they are working on getting me a room. Finally about, 45 minutes later someone comes to take me to my room. They're wheeling the bed and we get to the room, but it isn't big enough for them to roll the bed I'm on into so they can transfer. The orderly asks if I can walk, and I say that I walked into the hospital, Donna doesn't want me to walk. But, I do and while I'm up, my first stop is the bathroom!! Luckily, no accident, but my bladder sure was full!! I'd gone about 6 hours without peeing which is like, a post-surgery all time best while awake! I get into bed and then there is just waiting. The day nurse comes through, but she'll be leaving in just a bit because of the change in shifts. She informs me that I've missed the dinner cut off, so Donna agrees to go get me something to eat, she doesn't want to leave me alone, but she hasn't eaten either. She brings us back some dinner and we eat. It's about 8 o’clock and Cody should be getting off of work soon, so he should be here about 9, I tell her to go home and see Gordon and Tiffany, I'll try and get some sleep, she reluctantly agrees. I let Cody know what I'd like from home since he has to go there first and give Castro his insulin and food (more Depends, some wipes, iPad, library book, fuzzy socks, birth control) and he brings everything except the birth control (I forgot to include it, even though I was thinking of it). We visit for a bit, he eats some dinner. We talk, I don't want to leave the cat alone, and I should be getting out tomorrow, so I think he should sleep at home. He doesn't want to leave me, but knows he won't get much sleep in the chair. He leaves around midnight. I do manage to get some sleep between poking and prodding.