Heartburn?

[Felonee]

Hey Dee! I'm sorry to hear that you're not doing well! At least you get to watch CSI's season premiere. It's also Monday Night Football with the Cowboys, and DH won't switch over in 6 minutes :( My son won't let me watch in his room either, so I'm sitting here reading the boards and pouting!

I hope they get this cleared up fast. The good news if it's the virus thing is that they've got great drugs for it that work pretty well. At least they won't just assume that it's an ongoing thing that you have to live with.

[FrannyGlass]

Poor Dee...you are being such a brave little patient! If they start bothering you too much, just turn the tables...use the...CALL-LIGHT!! And use it frequently!! Trust me, that'll get you outta there in no time!

[Rhalvahn]

Ha ha ha -- My mom was a nurse 10 years ago, and I would NEVER mistreat them. Maybe the overnight weekend person...she wasn't very nice at all! The new night person (monica) is like Happy meets Grumpy! (She's happy!).

They had to redo my iv - and put it in my left hand - and hit a valve...blood on the bed...blood on the floor (alot) and all on my hand...but it's in a good vein. It was hilarious...in a very sick way.

Dang Katie - sorry to hear about the husband/son - that's totally NOT right!! You should have the option to watch a show too! I got my husband hooked on CSI - and he's not a big football person to begin with. So, not really difficult.

I'm glad they aren't assuming it is something - but I sure wish they'd figure out what's going on with me! ;-)

[dad2bike]

Hang in ther Dee! You'll either be cured or run out of blood. Either way you'll leave then.
Enjoy CSI. Have good nights rest in between stickings.

[Felonee]

I hope they find out what it is soon. I'm glad that they're not making assumptions, since they are generally wrong!

I get even with DH and DS often enough. I was a late-comer to CSI, so I rent the back season DVDs and sometimes I just sit here and watch all 4 episodes on a DVD all at one time... and then when someone has enough nerve to whine about it, I just point out that I only ask for 2 hours of TV time a week, and I don't generally get that, so they can all just shut up and leave me alone!

I've only been in the hospital one time (when I had Austin), and we were there for 4 days, and that was more than enough for me!

[Rhalvahn]

HA HA - I'm with you Katie! I'm a late comer to CSI too. Thank GOD for Netflix! As well as finding out what's wrong with me.

[dad2bike]

Good morning Dee! How's are favorite patient today? Soon to be former patient, we hope. Did they get your meals straightened out for yo?

[Felonee]

Yeah, gotta love Netflix! I switched to Blockbuster for awhile because they were cheaper, but the service was so slow and then they raised their prices. I said to heck with that, gonna get better service if I have to pay these prices!

I hope you're feeling better today. How are the lesions/spots/breakouts?

[Rhalvahn]

Well ? all the test results are back in ? and it?s a negative on H. Pylori. Both of the doctor?s were hoping that H. Pylori was the culprit ? as it?s an easy fix. Give me a PEV pack and send me home. Kantamani just ran out of the room to do a phone consult with the allergist and will be back. They don?t want to scale back the steroids yet because they don?t know what?s wrong ? but they don?t like leaving me on them because they are making me extremely moody, which is NOT a good thing, trust me. Fortunately though, I haven?t had any problems breathing since they started the steroids ? so that?s good at least.

So?as of the doctor walking out of the room ? they are going to run blood panels for lupus, and a dermatologist is going to come due a skin biopsy. The allergy guy is going to come back by (he looks like Lee Major?s from the Six Million Dollar Man?okay maybe a plump Lee Majors) and see me before recommending anything else.

On a high note ? the half life of the originally believed culprit (Protonix) is five days. Dr. Kantamani says she HAS heard of people having reactions like this ? but the Allergist simply doesn?t think that it?s the root cause. So, they are keeping me for another night ? at least ? Dr. Kantamani said it?s possible I?ll be here through the week unless they figure out what?s going on.

The other tests they are going to run are more specific/special in nature ? and will take some time to get the results back.

So now you know as much as I do. I?ll update you after ? well ? the Allergist just stopped in, so now I know more.

They are going to do a skin biopsy. He?s going to try to get that taken care of. He mentioned vascularitis ? which is a blood cell thing which doesn?t sound all that good. Apparently internal organ issues occur with that (so lets avoid it if possible, okay?). And a bunch of other stuff that I don?t know what it is, and he?s a doctor and rattled on and on and on and left my head spinning.

So ? the plan at this point ? skin biopsy (they?ll numb the area, remove the skin and sew it shut afterwards), keep me overnight again. Tomorrow, as long as the current status quo hasn?t changed (Hives, etc) they will put on me on a bunch of oral meds and send me home. PROVIDED all the results aren?t showing any internal organ issues occurring. Then again, between the two doctor?s, I have NO idea when I?m going home at all.

I?ll keep you posted as we find out more. They did an okay job with lunch (went well with the pancake breakfast) - steamed veggies, couple slices of turkey, and a salad with dressing that had 7 g of sugar in it...oh, and sweetened tea. ;-) ROFLMAO - but they are trying - I'll give them points for that at least!

Thanks for all the well wishes. I appreciate them.
Dee

[dad2bike]

I hope whatever they give you to take with you keeps things in check. Seems like your symptoms have been controlled there in the hospital. It would be a bummer to go right back after a day or so.

Sweetened tea. Ah yes, I remember how hard it is to find unsweetened tea in Texas and anything east of there as well.
Be glad your not in a hospital in Tennesee. They would be giving you sugar in your IV
Went to a conference in Nashville once. Dang, I think even the meat had sugar in it. I went thru withdrawls for a week after that trip.
Are you tied down with IV's or can you get then put on the coat rack thingy and walk about? Get up and sitesee.
Later...

[Rhalvahn]

Well - I tried to post the blog link/picture of my cool unattached i.v. - but it didn't work. So - to answer your question - yes, I can get out of here all I want. Only one problem - there's no place to go. This is a small hospital (Christus St. Catherine) and has 3 floors - which includes the ER, and multiple doctor's offices. So I walk down to the ER - and back....and down to the ER....and back. ;-)

Well - the lunch was low carb - dinner was not. Pasta, bread, ice cream.... guess low carb for one meal was enough for them. Okay - maybe that worked - if you see a picture here - then it did, if not...oh well, I tried. ;-)



They did the skin biopsy tonight - it was a 16 year old dermatologist (not really 16, he was 32) but LOOKED 16. Very smart, and very nice. Didn't hurt at all. Took a nice pencil sized piece from the back of my left thigh and one stitch, and a bandaid and I'm back up and running. I was impressed.

They have switched me to all oral meds now - hopefully that's the first sign of getting me out of here. ;-)

Thanks for the thoughts - it's an interesting roller coaster ride.

Dee

[Maxibee]

Hi, Dee. I didn't get online last night, so I missed checking up on you. (Carefully avoiding the "HRU" question....) The only upside I can think of about being trapped in the hospital is that it is A/Ced and it's HOT outside. I know this because I am way North of you and it's HOT here!

Good grief, I hope they figure you out soon, Enigma Woman! I know this is just wearing you out. Being away from home this long and not being on a beach at the time just isn't right. Please keep us posted. I hope you get bonded out soon.

[Rhalvahn]

HA HA - I know it's hot out there! I think everyone around here is starting the 'hurrican pre panic' stage - my husband actually is pulling all the stuff out of the back yard to make sure it's all inside the garage. Actually, now he's going to pull the swing off the frong porch as well. I have a whole wall of windows in my room - look out over a court yard type area - no idea if they are coverable or not. Lets hope so?

As for the rest: (I'm sending out a family update, so I just copy/paste it into here, and everyone's updated!):

I guess the doctor?s have decided to use a new tool in the combat against this mysteriousness illness ? Sleep Deprivation! At midnight they brought me more meds (all oral now), at 4 am my favorite blood leech came by to suck out another vial of blood so that a test result would be back in time for doctor?s rounds, at 5 something, it was time to get my finger pricked for another blood test (sugar levels are fine) and then 6, more oral meds. I guess they were trying to make sure I was up before they wheeled in breakfast at 7??

On a light note ? they did the skin biopsy last night. Victoria (Brad?s mom) had stopped by and was here to keep me company (read distracted) while a really nice normal looking guy cut out a piece of the back of my left leg. All kidding aside ? he was very professional and it barely stung when he put the medicine to numb the area on it. The results for that will be back in a week or so ? but in his professional opinion ?You have hives!? and this is just to rule out ?other? stuff. He wasn?t even insulted when I asked him how old he was and he said 16?he said that?s his ?stock? answer?he?s 32?.he skipped a couple of grades?told him that was perfectly alright with me. Rather have the guy who got through in less than took a couple of extra years to get through it.

They are on the ball this morning ? just got picked up and escorted down to get chest X-rays. Again, to rule out some ?oddities?. ;-)

I?ll keep you posted on the status.

[dad2bike]

Good morning Dee! Looks like your having a busy day today. Maybe next step will be an all expense paid trip to the Mayo Clinic. Hmm at least it sounds LC friendly.
You could be on the next cover of the medical journal.
Take care.

[Rhalvahn]

Good Morning to you too Tom!

HA HA - that's if the Hurricane doesn't take us out! Talk about nuts? If you guys are watching the news - that little town to the west of Houston called Katy - that's where I live! And no offense to the men out there (especially you Tom), but I'd feel MUCH better if I knew I was out of here helping get the house ready for it. David's going to pick up Tori from school (it's closed for the next couple of days) and then stop by here. I'm PRAYING for release papers! 2 or 3 Epi- pens...just to make sure I can breath if we have any problems, and get me OUT of here! There's stuff to do! Lots of stuff to do! Although I seriously doubt my doctor's idea of improving would be knowing I'm going to go home and try to get all the important stuff off of my garage floor.

But lets not tell okay? I promise to take it easy...just get me OUT OF HERE! ;-)

My doctor is supposedly floating arond here - just got released!!! I'm outta here! Should take 4 hours to get all the drugs they prescribed me filled though. ;-)

I'll update at home!