Never Ending Storm Pt 1

 Hi Friends! I honestly didn't know if I was going to be able to post anything due to the uncertainty about what all was going to transpire today. I'm here, after a long day in the ER. I barely escaped the ER yesterday and I must say, it's unnerving and exhausting feeling like a ticking time bomb never knowing what each day will hold, if I'll have to go to the hospital, etc.!!! The Doctor I had and nurse were both phenomenal and gave me everything I needed, moving quickly to get my pain and nausea under control. I had blockage issues today with my catheter and urine was leaking around my Urethra. I could tell there was blockage and I was having some renal reflux issues. When that happens, the pain is a 9-10 on the pain scale they use from 1-10. When urine is trying to pass, it hurts really bad up my back, and my right kidney and ureter were a hot mess. Am okay now and home resting.

Okay, onward!!! Going back first to January of this year another "storm" was brewing and getting ready to explode. Mine and my husband's birthday are two days apart [ we are one year and two days apart ]. Our birthday plans in 2023 got postponed because I was bedridden with my back. Well, I got COVID in January for the fourth time and it's the worst bout of that, I have had this far. I couldn't even speak a whole sentence without wheezing and trying to catch my breath. Suffice it to say, our birthday getaway once again was postponed. I got over that after being down for 10 days and then I had a bout of kidney stones and was also dealing with yet another UTI. On top of that, I was struggling with endometriosis so we went to Indy to see my OBGYN and that day he scheduled me for surgery to remove the endometriosis, do a bladder biopsy, and a few other things. They weren't sure if I had bladder cancer or not, so I was a little on edge about that. Speaking of cancer, I have had 4 scares with that now, and they are currently closely monitoring some findings in the breast......so, more wait and see. Anyways, surgery wasn't until March 20th of this year, and we had a trip planned in February to go to Clearwater Beach in Florida for a few days. My surgeon was fine with that, thank God!! We've had enough plans ruined because of my health, many of which I am not getting into as I am not going to bore you with every single detail. When I was at the OBGYN appointment, he also rechecked my urine, and found another infection [ eye roll ]. We went on our trip and then my husband surprised me with a trip to Vegas with one of my best girlfriends who is also in the AA program with me. Two days after returning from Florida I was leaving for Vegas. I'd never been and it was soooooo much fun!!!! Her and I are definitely going back :) On the last day of our trip, I started getting super nauseated and kidney stone pain was setting in again. Low and behold I was still passing stones / gravel. We were in and out of the hospital for that up until my surgery on March 20th. 

All went fine with the surgery and I was excited because FINALLY it was going to be something simple and the type of surgery I was having was a cake walk compared to all the others. WRONG-O!!!! Oh no, crap was about to hit the fan. Two weeks after my surgery I went into anaphylactic shock and it was both scary and horrible! I ended up having four of those attacks in six days! Each time was more intense. After the fourth episode, I got admitted for four days after the second Epinephrine shot didn't work. I needed to see an allergist / immunologist down in Indy and thank God I got out of the hospital that Sunday night because we had to be in Indy the next morning. I felt horrible and completely wiped out. It took me a month to come back from that. While all of those shannanigans were going on, we were still contending with this stubborn UTI and still passing a lot of sediment and small stones. That still has not stopped and has been a constant ever since it started. My now former family Doctor wouldn't listen to me and prolonged my care greatly by months!! It's pretty bad when you have other nurses and ER Docs telling you that if it were them, they'd be getting a different Doctor, which I did. He's absolutely wonderful and I am so grateful!! What makes me even more mad is the fact that all the tests he ordered without me having to even ask are the exact same tests I asked her to put in orders for!!! I'm not a Doctor and I don't know everything, but I know my body VERY well and I know what I am talking about with a lot of things given my long history with health battles. The ball finally started rolling in July [ another eye roll lol ]. This whole time, I kept getting pushed off on the ER and it was making me mad and also scared because we all know that's one of the things "frequent flyers, " i.e drug seekers do and I was NOT about to get that label slapped on me. Thankfully, the ER Docs and nurses at Parkview Regional know me and my history so I have always been treated very well, except for one night........and that's where we'll begin tomorrow. I'd love to keep going, but am exhausted from being in the ER all day. I'm tellin ya, pain really takes it out of you! I'm home now and our fun tonight, my fav, watching football with my husband :) Love and blessings to all and I hope your Monday went better than mine lol!!!! Today's pictures are from surgery, hospitalization, anaphylaxis, Vegas trip, etc.