Black Friday Hospital Visit!

My last article talked about the reasons why I had to go to the hospital. Remember, I was very dehydrated, and dealing with lots of symptoms that made me feel really crummy. I kept running to the bathroom and having two accidents on myself. I found myself in the emergency room. Suddenly, I felt like the walls were caving in. I was having really bad flashbacks of when I was in the hospital a few years back. The triage nurse really wasn’t happy with my numbers and put me as a “priority” so I did not have to wait long in the waiting room.

Thoughts going through my head in the hospital

It felt like an eternity until they brought me in the back. I started to put thoughts in my head about what goals I was trying to accomplish while in the emergency room. 1) Pain relief- My head was killing me, and my face felt like someone was sitting on it. 2) Get the IV in to get some much-needed fluids in me. 3) Get antibiotics started so I don’t have to stay overnight. The third goal was going to be a stretch.

Because of all my prior hospital visits, it was very hard for them to get an IV in. The nurses had to call a special IV team to find a vein. Finally, after a few tries, they finally were running fluids. Thank gosh!

The doctors really were fascinated with my stomach history. Even though it was a trauma center, it was not a teaching hospital (university hospital). Soon I had a few nurses listening in to my saga of a story. On a serious note, they determined that they would not consult GI unless I requested. My team was at another hospital, so it would be pointless to have people who were “in the dark” to determine it was a stomach bug. I was told to follow up with my GI team (which I did this week).

Different tests and samples

I did develop a fever, which prompted them to culture my blood. I really thought they were going to make me stay a few nights. I also heard them talking about testing for C-DIFF. This is an infection that is common in patients with IBD. They would test my stool. C-DIFF does have a distinct smell to it, but I did give them a sample anyways.

Finally able to go home

After about five hours and three bags of IV fluids, the doctors decided that they were going to send me home. My fever broke, the pain went away, and my pulse came down to a normal number. Now the next question was going to be: What oral antibiotic are they going to send me home on? IBD patients have to be careful about what antibiotics they take. It does get rid of the good bacteria in the GI tract which causes terrible gas, bloating, urgency and increased bowel movements. On the other hand, I needed the medications. I was to go home to deal with the antibiotic symptoms. That was my hospital visit in 2019!