What a week!

Well, most of you may have heard that I was in the hospital and to help save my hands from retyping what happened I will blog about it.

Last Sunday, May 10, I noticed that I was having some issues with stomach but thought it was because I was being more strict about what I was eating. I was spending a lot of time over at Erin and Drew's because my Aunt Pam and Uncle Ken were in town helping Erin with her first week back at work. Little did any of us know what a blessing having them here would be! By Tuesday, May 12, I realized that I was not just having some little stomach issue as I begin throwing up and having a fever that reached 102.5! By around 5:00 AM, I called work and left a message that I wouldn't be coming in and waited another two hours before calling my boss to let him know I was going to the clinic. I was a little nervous as thoughts of swine flu were dancing through my head!

At 9:00 AM, I called and was told to go right into the clinic as I had been unable to keep anything down for hours. By the time I was at the clinic, I was so dehydrated that it took four people and a lot of needle pokes to get an IV in and working. By 4:00 PM, Erin came and picked me up to drive me to Holy Cross's emergency room. At this point I was still able to walk and there were short periods where I could live outside of the bathroom. I went to the emergency room and there Aunt Pam and Uncle Ken joined us as I was getting pain and nausea medication to help thing get better. At this point, everywhere I went I had to have a bucket as my nausea was more than I could handle. Later that night, I was admitted into the hospital and attempted to get sleep.

Thursday, May 14, Erin stayed with me at the hospital all day and my friend Merry stopped by to cheer me up! At this point it was all I could do to get out of bed and the pain and nausea was beyond anything I can describe. Friday, May 15, I aspirated and ended up needing to be on oxygen as my oxygen levels were around 80. Saturday, May 16, I could barely get out of bed and much to the relief of my sister my mom flew into town to come stay with me. Sunday, May 17, I couldn't get out of bed and the vomiting was still continuing... I was so sick that I remember telling my mom to just take me out back and put me out of my misery! Between throwing up, my roommmates constant Court TV going 24 hours a day, not being able to even take care of myself, I was not a happy person to be around. My sweet VT, Stephanie, came to see me after church and I couldn't even make it the 15 minutes of her visit without getting sick. Sunday night I was informed that the Doctor wanted to have an endoscopy/colonoscopy done Monday morning to figure out what was going on...

Sunday night was the WORST night of my LIFE!! Already being unable to keep anything down they wanted me to drink this nasty tasting drink that would clear my insides. My mom was a real trouper and kept by my side always making sure that my pink bucket was never out of reach! My mom left at 1:30 AM after promising to be back at 8:00 AM - it was hard to have her leave me there that night... I was so sick.

Monday, May 18, morning dawned - Judge Judy yelling in the background and my brains about ready to burst. My mom showed up right before they were getting ready to wheel me down for the scopes and I was there with bucket in hand. They wheeled me back to the room and there was a small discussion on my need to still be on the oxygen, I then was informed that they were getting ready to put me to sleep. I was grateful for the chance to be out for a few shorts hours and away from my current situation. Too good to be true... All too quickly I was awake. I was staring into the eyes of one of the assistants and noticed an oxygen bag sitting on my chest. I was then informed that I had stopped breathing during the endoscopy; therefore, they weren't going to continue with the other procedure. Needless to say, my tears of anger weren't held back! I was a wreck! Those of you who have gone through that prep know how awful it is and to find out that you have to go through that again ended up being a bit much for me.

I was wheeled back to my room where I had absolutely no strength to even slide from the transport bed back into my hospital bed. A new doctor made rounds that day and after discussing my situation with my mom the decision was made to stop all pain and nausea medication and get a soft food diet. She said that by the end of the day she wanted me to be up and walking by myself... In my head I thought she was nuts!! My lunch of applesauce, pudding, and chicken soup arrived and my mother literally shoved it down my throat. Slowly, the waves of nausea passed and the need for oxygen was gone. It was probably 2-3 hours later that same day that I was able to walk to the bathroom and I even walked down the hallway! The nurse that started her shift when I was taken for the scopes, couldn't believe how quickly I had turned around. I was doing so well by that evening that I asked if I could leave! I couldn't wait to leave and get to a place where I didn't have to hear the sounds of Court TV, my roommate complaining about mean nurses, and waking up to nurses wanting to draw more blood. Watching my mom leave on Monday night scared me half to death.. I was afraid that once she left I would get sick again and they would tell me that I was unable to leave the hospital. Needless to say, the already rough nights I was experiencing were nothing compared to that night.

Tuesday morning dawned and I was up and ready to leave by 5:30 AM!!! My mom showed up around 9:00 AM and then it was a waiting game for the doctor. I was finally released!!!!!!!! I was so relieved that it was all I could do to hold back sobs of relief while we were leaving. My emotions were on quite a rollercoaster for the next couple of days as my body was adjusting to actually sleeping and recovering. I learned a lot about myself during that week and I also learned how much love my family and friends have for me. My dad sent gorgeous roses and my work also sent beautiful flowers that really brightened up my dull room.

My home teacher, member of the Bishopric, visiting teachers, a boss, and countless emails, phone calls, and voicemails from people in the ward were there for me while I was in the hospital and even when I left. I missed out on going to the yearly Duck Beach trip, but I was able to spend time with my mom (who left everything to be there for me). I was also able to go to Drew's graduation and watch him walk, it was pretty much awesome. But the week was not over yet...

Saturday, May 23, my mom and I were leaving Erin's after Drew's BBQ and doing minor shopping. I was driving and on the way home I was stopped at a red light waiting to turn left and BAM - we were rear-ended. My mom immediately called 911 and I went between hysterical crying (hey, I just BARELY got out of the hospital) and trying to figure out what to do. We finally moved to the side of the road as the cars behind us where losing the no patience that they had. The driver in the car behind us approached and told me to come and look at the damage. I got out and to my amazement there was little damage to either car. I had some scratches and my bumper was a little bent at the ends. His car, Cadillac Escalade, had was appeared to be no damage. He went on to say no damage, let's just leave and be done. I then informed him that I had already called the police and I wanted to exchange information. Well, three cops and the fire truck showed up... It turns out that he was driving drunk and was carted off to jail! So, now I am working on having my car checked out and getting things with that squared away!

All I can say is... What a week!!