Friday, December 11, 2009

The other day

So i guess I owe a kind of update thing on this. I meant to do it yesterday, but im sure judging from my post you figured I wasnt in the best place for updating. But ive been out today and im a little more chilled once again.

I last gave a proper update on Monday after having been ill sunday but magically got better. Well Tuesday morning came and I thought if I get out for a few hours again, I will take my mum and dad out to dinner and then visit my sister. All well and good but me and plans dont mix.

They woke me at 7:30 to do my obs and everything was normal (well normal for me) at 7:45 they came to flush my line and take some blood (why they have to do it so early I will never know) anyway, they didnt manage to get any out of my line but said that the doctor would come and do it shortly.

At 8:00 the doctor came in armed with a syringe ready for an easy task of taking blood out my hickman line. However, she found my just getting up to get my dressing gown, as I felt cold, within minutes (and this is before she touches me) I start violently shivering and curl up in bed. The doctor takes me line and proceeds to flush it read to take bloods. Suddenly I get this horrible intense throbbing back pain, which pretty soon moves to my head and neck to. All this while being supervised by the doc. She orders the nurse to take my obs and my heart rate as shot up and temp had gone up to 39.5. (Remember that this is all in less than 20 mins)

She was with the doctor last time when I arrested on the ward so she keeps asking me if its my breathing and if i think my throat is blocking up again, to which I say no its just pain and coldness. Oh they also strip me of sheets, blankets, dressing gown, socks and open the window as wide as it will go, all the while im violently shivering still and trying to curl up into a ball.

They run some iv paracetamol through as quick as they can, and then a high dose anti bioitc and some other pain med that I wasnt really listening to as I was grinding my teeth trying not to cry. So yeah she called in another doctor who said to just monitor me for the time being. And oh so slowly the pain began to pass. I felt so weak afterwards that I had to ask a nurse to escort me to the loo.

So they decided that it was my line that was infected and that I would have to go to surgery (so had to stop drinking and become nil by mouth) to have it removed and cleaned and a new line put in. I would be needing anti biotics for a few days so i would need some sort of IV access. My bloods came back and my white blood cell count was like 1.4 (which is dangerously low) it bascially meant that there where no cells in my body to fight any infection that I might have. So I was put in isolation and everyone had to put a gown on to come in and see me.

Went to surgery to have my line removed and the anesitist refused to put another semi permeant line in while my cell count was so low as he was afraid I would just get sick again so he just put a cannula in. Its odd going to theatre with a trachy in. They dont bother with the whole IV meds to put you to sleep, they just attach you to the breathing circuit and pump you full of foul tasting gas, but it worked just as quick as the IV stuff would and I dont remember a thing about it.

So I think it was the anti biotics that made me moody yesterday and have since been taken off them and placed on oral ones instead. Which is lucky as my cannula was about to tissue, I could feel it becoming painful. And my latest blood count says my white cells are upto 4 now which is much healthier.

I was even allowed out this evening so I went to surprise me sister and see her new house and we had tea at the nice pub by hers. Now im shattered, but looking forward to getting out again for a few hours tomorrow.

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