Trip to the Hospital

My adorable niece and nephew and brother

This post is mainly for family/friends that are asking...HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU END UP IN THE ICU?! Some of the medical terms mean very scary things but I am okay and medical terms are broad anyways. I won't be offended if you don't want to read this! I will also try to throw in some random pictures to break up all the text.

Let's go through the beginning stages fast...
1. Felt a UTI coming on day before Thanksgiving, went to Minute Clinic in AVL, they said since I was taking AZO tablets already that they didn't need urine culture and could just write me a Cipro prescription. Cipro is what cured my Kidney Infection 2 years ago so I was like sweet.
2. Sunday after Thanksgiving start experiencing back pain.
3. My absolute favorite regular doctor was booked solid so saw the PA in her office Tuesday. She saw blood in urine but guessed UTI was still lingering, said back pain was stress and to take 4 advil.
4. Wednesday still in major pain, called Dr, they made me a 9am appt Thursday. Got much worse, almost blacked out in kitchen, started dry heaving...Max drove me to ER. (Had to drop me off  b/c we have a 20 month old)

ICU Rooms at Pineville are actually very nice. But the beds are miserable. Its like an air mattress and keeps inflating in weird spots.

This is when things start to get fuzzy. They pumped me with Morphine which took the edge off and I got a CT Scan. I laid in bed and watched Nashville waiting on results...my money was on a kidney stone (I had one when I was 8...shut down my kidneys and missed 3 months of 3rd grade)
Sometime around 11pm the Dr's started freaking out. My Blood Pressure was 70/40 and my Heart Rate was 148. Those are BAD. Turns out it was Sepsis. Love this one..

Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection. While sepsis can happen to anyone, it's most common and most dangerous in people who are elderly or who have weakened immune systems.

Sepsis occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight the infection trigger inflammation throughout the body. This inflammation creates microscopic blood clots that can block nutrients and oxygen from reaching organs, causing them to fail. If sepsis progresses to septic shock, blood pressure drops dramatically and the person may die.

Early treatment of sepsis, usually with antibiotics and large amounts of intravenous fluids, improves chances for survival.

I hate IV's

 Dr. G said that I could go into Organ failure and sent me to ICU...I start crying.
All I remember from ICU was bawling....I had 6 nurses in the room hanging fluids...putting on monitors..etc..I had a really AMAZING experience at CMC Pineville, every nurse I had was absolutely spectacular.

Hotness in the ICU. Just keeping it real.

Thursday I felt better (morphine) and was getting lots of fluids but BP and HR were not where they needed to be...I was also on Oxygen and still in ICU.

Facetime with F! (This was Saturday when I got to shower!)

Friday I didn't feel so good, I couldn't breathe but they did remove my catheter (HATE) but probably a bit too early b/c all the fluid was giving me Atelectasis (partial lung collapse). They gave me Lasix to get rid of fluid which meant I had to get up to use the bathroom non stop...try doing that short of breath.
B/c I was so out of breath they ordered an Xray to check for Pneumonia. I honestly just wanted to go home.
I ended up having some fluid in my lungs and then my heart rate FREAKED. I had Afib b/c all my potassium was gone from peeing so much. So then I got put on blood thinners (that shot hurts) and we had to watch my heart and oxygen.

My cutest visitor!!!!! 

Long story short I got moved out of the ICU Friday night and came home Saturday night. I'm still on antibiotics and going REAL slow.

Things I learned from this experience:
1. Stop being stubborn. I wasn't going to go to the hospital that night until the dry heaving started. My nurse friend Abby pretty much yelled at me.
2. Write down all my stats. I have no idea if I have low BP normally, my blood type, or the mg's on all the meds I take. That info is now stored in my phone.
3. Have an emergency plan. If Max had to take me to hospital in the middle of the night, who would we call?

Best Gift Bag ever. Thank you Abby! Blistex, Magazines and an illegal snack. She also brought lotion, shampoo and conditioner. Girl is a nurse and knows her shit.

I want to thank all my friends and family for all the texts, calls and visits. I'm very stubborn sometimes and don't ask for help (well except our Rockstar neighbors who do everything for us). A special thank you to my Dad. He will always be my knight in shining armour! Love you Mom & Dad!

Daddy bought my tree AND put my lights on. 

My entire Sunday was spent watching movies & football and staring at my lovely tree.

I don't know what to do about my annual Ornament swap this week. I look forward to this party so much. I LOVE entertaining and I Love my girlfriends and besides F's birthday we don't really have a big bash during the year. I'm going to see how I feel tomorrow.

Take care of yourselves!

xoxo

Thank the Lord for Friends Reruns

Oh, and this post is brought to you by Philips. Thanks for employing M!!!!