Update on My Dad

After my dad was admitted to the hospital, I spent the night and next day with him, keeping him company, making sure he had everything he needed, listening to the doctors to make sure we knew what was going on, advocating for him. It was a long couple days, first in the ER, then in the hospital the next day. Last night I came home and slept. I just showered and I feel refreshed.

My dad’s infection spread into his muscle. The doctor said if he’d left it much longer, it’d be in his bone, and he’d had lost the leg. I’m relieved and so thankful that my family ambushed him and made him go to the hospital. He’ll need several surgeries and lots of strong antibiotics. He goes in for his first surgery today.

My sister is taking today’s shift. I wish I could be there for him, but I also know I need to rest today. I’m very sore, my fibromyalgia is flaring up from the hospital chair I spent the last couple days in. Even with my frequent walks I didn’t escape its cruel consequences.

I talk to my dad via Facebook messenger (because it doesn’t use his data since it’s over the hospital’s wifi) often. He’s, naturally, bored and restless. The next time I go up to see him (tomorrow) I’m taking cards and we’ll play cribbage.

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Back home again

I’m so glad to finally be home. I had to stay longer than normal because I was really dehydrated and they wanted to give me extra fluids.

I was still quite nauseous when I left, so the nurse gave me extra vomit bags.

He called them “vomit dream catchers”. Tasty…

I still feel really sick, though considerably less dizzy. My goal for tonight is to drink water and not take more laxatives.

My doctor was really mad that the eating disorder center keeps pushing my admission date back. (Oh, yeah, I haven’t told you about that yet. I’m not starting PHP next week.) She called them, but the person I’ve been dealing with had already left for the day, so she left her a message saying that I need to be admitted as soon as possible and that she was sending me to the ER again and that they need to call her and explain what’s going on.

I love my doctor.

Ok, I’m going to bed now. Goodnight!

Another day, another ER

Sigh…

What a long couple days

Yesterday, I woke up with a migraine. I also awoke with high levels of anxiety. The two of them together meant I was NOT going to my appointment with the behavioral health guy. I called him up and explained and rescheduled for next week. He again urged me to go to the hospital.

I spent the rest of the day engaged in either lying in bed or binging and purging or exercising, or taking pills. I tried to sleep last night but couldn’t. Then, in the early morning hours, my brain started telling me I needed to get up and exercise and I needed to do it right now.

So, I got up and exercised for 3 hours. When I finally went back to bed, I was exhausted. “This is good,” I thought to myself, “maybe now I can sleep!”

Nope. I didn’t get any sleep last night.

Finally, this morning after my parents got up, I asked my dad to take me to the ER. He dropped me off on his way to work. I spent most of the day there, my migraine was being stubborn, and they wanted to give me lots of fluids.

I considered, after the getting up in the middle of the night to exercise this, asking to be admitted for a couple days just to give my body a break and maybe help break the cycle I’m in. However, since tomorrow is Father’s Day, I decided not to.

After I got home (around 5pm), I went immediately to bed. The 4 rounds of pain killers made me very tired, especially with not sleeping last night. I slept for a couple hours. I got up with every intention to write letters to my fellow bloggers, but was just too tired and out of it. (I promise, I’ll try to get them out in Monday’s mail.)

I’ve taken nearly a whole bottle (1,000 pills) of laxatives in the last too days. Needless to say, I’m not feeling the greatest despite the fluids and pain killers today. I do, however, feel waayyyyy better than this morning. I’m really hoping to sleep tonight. My plan now is to go workout, then sleep. I hope, hope, hope I can sleep.

Tomorrow, at some point, we’re having a family dinner. I think that’s all that’s planned because my dad works tomorrow. Though, I do have a feeling he will want to play a game of Risk if we can find the time.

Wish me luck with tomorrow. Have a good night. Hopefully I won’t see you again before tomorrow morning.

Guess what I found in the toilet?

That’s right, the potassium pills they gave me at the ER yesterday. Intact enough for me to read them.

I’m sure they did me a TON of good…

Good morning!

What do you mean it’s 10:00 at night?

I came home and slept allllll day. It was magical. After sleeping an hour a night, and some nights not at all, my body and mind so needed this.

I’ve been trying to be gentle with myself today. I haven’t taken any laxatives or diet pills since I got home. I also listened to my body and slept instead of getting up to exercise like my brain kept telling me to do.

I haven’t been able to eat today, a combination of the nausea that still won’t go away and just being very weak earlier today. I have managed some water, though.

In the ER, they gave me 3 different kinds of medications for the nausea, but none of them worked. I took one of my own when I got home this morning, no change.

The reason I was in the ER is because last night, while getting some water in the kitchen, I felt like I was going to pass out. I sat down, having trouble breathing and seeing, chest pain, severe nausea, pain in my left shoulder blade and down my left arm.

After the worst of it passed, I told a nurse friend what was going on and she said to call an ambulance, which I did. On the way to the hospital, I had a “cardiac event”. I never did find out what that meant, I was too out of it to ask.

So, anyway, I spent about 10 hours at the ER altogether. I was hooked up to a heart monitor the whole time. They determined that my symptoms were the result of low potassium and magnesium.

So I’m home now. I exchanged emails with the intake coordinator for the eating disorder clinic this morning while still at the ER and she said that this trip to the ER is likely to help get me covered for PHP as it shows I have a medical need for it. She said that my insurance is supposed to cover 100% of the PHP if it’s shown to be medically necessary.

I had to sign a release of information for the hospital I was in this morning so she can use that in my case, and she also requested a letter from the behavioral health guy who suggested inpatient in the first place. In the morning I am going to the doctor for medical clearance to do the PHP, and afterward is my intake evaluation with the ED center.

Things are rolling along nicely. The intake coordinator made it sound like I might be able to start the PHP in the next few days, which is great because I thought I’d have to wait until next week.

Last night scared me. And I think I needed that. I am determined to fight this. I want to go and get the support I need and get past this so I can have a real life and a future. I know it’s not going to be easy, but I have found the will to fight.

Emergency Room Visit

 

In the hospital with low potassium and magnesium. I’ll post details later.