The Word of Your Body

So I have diverticulitis...

Monday night was basically hell...I hurt so much I could barely sleep and I had a bit of a fever. I started feeling bad on Sunday night and woke up Monday not feeling great but I made myself go to the gym and workout. I came home and felt---meh...not so hot. By Monday night I was not good and Tuesday morning wasn't any better. When I woke up not feeling well enough to go to Spinderella's class, I knew something was wrong. I'm glad I listened to my body (and my pain) and made an appointment to see my doctor.

I went in and she looked me over and when she pressed on my stomach I almost came off the table. So off to the ER she sent me (for more tests that she can't do in her office).

I will say that if you need ER help in Houston, the Methodist ER clinic at 59 and Kirby is REALLY nice...especially in the middle of the afternoon. It's like a spa in there...and next door is the mammography clinic and I really am convinced it IS a spa---best place ever for a mammogram. If you are going to be tortured, you might as well be tortured in beautifully furnished turquoise and brown rooms with fluffy robes and lattes and herbal teas on demand. They even bring you Diet Coke if you want it (with a straw!).

I didn't have to wait for a bed because my doctor called ahead so they led me right on back and got me comfortable and the doctor came in right away.

And part of being comfortable was...DRUGS...

But first I had to succumb to having blood drawn through some sort of port they left in my vein...but hey, I only got stuck once.

The sweet nurse did a good job with the needle stick and then drew up one giant vial of blood (instead of multiple tubes). Then she mixed me up a cocktail of Sprite Zero and some sort of contrast dye stuff for the CT (I couldn't taste anything but the Sprite Zero).

And then came the best part...Dilaudid...with some phenergan mixed in so I wouldn't get sick. She put that stuff in the port and within seconds I was feeling so much better.

Then I felt like I had had 2 bottles of wine...or 4 very strong margaritas...without all the nasty side effects....I started laughing for no reason...I felt giddy...and for the first time in 24 hours---no pain.

I guess I am sensitive to those kinds of drugs...it must be a family thing because Ke$ha Barbie acted the same way when she was given Versed...actually, she was even "drunker" than I was on the Dilaudid. You see, when she was 13 she tore her ACL (yes, she tore her ACL in her left knee at 13) playing soccer. So she had to have surgery to repair it (we went with a graft from her hamstring). Her doctor is a great knee surgeon who just happened to have a daughter on the same soccer team. He also did my 2 arthroscopic knee surgeries. If you have knee issues, I'll give you his name.

Ke$ha Barbie had surgery on Good Friday in 2007 at St. Joseph's Hospital. Being that St. Joe's is a Catholic hospital, it was pretty empty on that day. She hates hates hates needles so getting her to let them put the iv in was horrible. And they had to try twice. Thankfully the second time the anesthesiologist did it and she got it in quickly. Then she hit her with the Versed. Within seconds my child went from screaming to laughing hysterically.

And when I say laughing hysterically I mean it...

She couldn't stop laughing and was just amused by everything. I wish I had known that my little cell phone I had at that time could take video because I could have won some good money on the funny video show.

She was laughing so loudly that the nurses started leaving their stations and patient rooms to see what was going on. They wheeled her out of her room and soon we had an entourage of nurses following us to see what she would say/do next because she was still laughing and smiling. She was the happiest little drunk you ever saw.

When the time came for them to take her into the surgical suite they stopped the gurney for her to kiss me goodbye and because she was laughing, I didn't cry (that is until she was safely behind the doors...then I wailed...).

They opened the doors to the surgical area and she sat up in the bed, raised her arms overhead like she was on a roller coaster and said:
WWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

According to the doctor this behavior didn't stop until they put her under. Apparently she kept trying to grab the "pretty lights" (the surgical lights) and treated them to a few songs (which he said were remarkably good and that she had a great voice...which she does...).

When my son TCBITW (The Cutest Boy in the World)was given Versed he didn't have this reaction. In fact, it just mellowed him. His problem was AFTER surgery when he turned from TCBITW into The MADDEST Boy in the world. He had to have his adenoids out and tubes in his ears (second round) when he was 2, so the anesthesiologist gave him Versed pre-op so keep him calm. It did the job. But apparently AFTER surgery some people (mostly male children) have a bad reaction and become mad as hell---something about their chemistry and Versed and anesthesia. So for almost 2 hours I had a snot-flinging, iv-pulling-out, crib-climbing, screaming boy. The nurses at Texas Children's Hospital have never been so happy to see a kid leave post-op. None of that could have been good for his adenoid removal...so when he want back a year later to have the tonsils out (and the third set up tubes put in), they gave him NO VERSED (when the anesthesiologist asked if we wanted him to have a pre-op, me, hubby, and the surgeon all yelled "NO") and let me hold him while they knocked him out. I got to hold the gas mask over his face (you don't know how badly I wanted to put it over mine and take some deep breaths) and he just went limp in my arms. As I was holding him I could smell a bit of the strawberry smell from the gas (they put some scent stuff on it so the kids will breathe it) and I leaned in closer and looked up to see the surgeon, Darling Doctor Dan, and the nurse making "no" motions with their hands and faces...so I sat back and kept holding my baby. After he went under I told Dariing Doctor Dan if we ever had to do this again I wanted a pre-op of some sort...

So back to me...and my diverticulitis episode...so I had my Dilaudid and was feeling much better and then I had to drink a very large (2 cans) drink of the Sprite Zero and dye stuff. I was able to do it slowly...thank goodness...because I had no appetite and didn't really want anything.

I got it down...Dilaudid helped...

And then they took be to CT and that was quick and easy...and the tech guy said he could see that it looked like diverticulitis.

Sure enough, diverticulitis...

So they sent me home with 4 prescriptions (2 antibiotics, Vicodin and phenergan for nausea) and gave me a little bump of Tergol for the pain before I left. I love those little bumps...they make the road bumps not so bad...

I got home, hubby sweetly went for the prescriptions, and I rested. I had a baked potato for dinner and took all my drugs and then passed out for the best night's sleep I had in a very long time.

I'm up this morning in mild pain. In comparison, what I felt yesterday was like about a "5" on a 1-10 pain scale all the time with waves of cramping that felt like pitocin-induced labor contractions. Yeah, it was that fun. Today I it is more like horrible menstrual cramps all the time made worse when I walk around or move too much. But I refuse to spend all day in bed. I will rest, and take the day off from the gym, but I cannot just lay like a slug in bed all day or I will go crazy. I am uncomfortable, but I am not sick...

The sad part for me, other than missing Spinderella's class and the gym, is that I may have to give up my movie popcorn addiction. I know it isn't good for me but I love love love my popcorn at the movies. With jalapenos. And that, sadly, is what set this whole adventure off. At least I can save the calories and fat...

There is a lesson in here my friends...you need to listen to your body. You need to listen to your pain.

I could have blown this off and my intestines could have become so infected (they were just mildly so) that a rupture could have occurred and I could have (worst case) ended up having to have some sort of surgery. The nurse told me her best friend's husband ignored it and ended up with a tear in his intestine that resulted in surgery and 10 days in the hospital.

So as much as I want to stay on my program and keep going to the gym and eating perfectly, for today (and yesterday) I have to eat soft food and not work out. I hope I can tomorrow, even if all I do is take a walk. And a couple of baked potatoes aren't going to hurt me...and I can get back to my beloved veggies and fruit by the end of the week---right now they will be too hard on my system.

So I'm going to take it easy and make TCBITW, Ke$ha Barbie and my hubby wait on me hand and foot (I even got a food rub last night from TCBITW) and will let my body heal and let the meds to their job.

And tomorrow...well, I will listen to my body...

Inspiration song: "The Word of Your Body" from the incredible musical "Spring Awakening". The soundtrack is awesome---Lea Michelle of "Glee"! Along with Jonothan Groff who starred as "Jesse" in Glee. They make gorgeous music together. The songs are written by Dunkan Sheik and are just wonderful. If you ever have the chance to see "Spring Awakening" I highly encourage you to do so...it is really wonderful and different and the music is the bomb....

bye darlings...