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My January has been quite interesting to say the least. One lovely Thursday evening after work, I suddenly had a small stitch on the right side of my upper abdomen that would not go away. I slept terribly, but went into work on Friday thinking it would work itself out. It didn't. The pain got worse and worse until I felt like crying... Especially after lunch.
I finally told my supervisor that I couldn't take it anymore and the pain was so unusual for me that I felt like I should go to the emergency room. My other supervisor offered to drive me there, but I was stupid and drove in myself. I got checked in and was called in about five minutes. By this time the pain felt like knives in my belly and I was pretty much having a panic attack thinking an organ was going to explode or something.
I was in triage sitting with a nurse and when she checked my vitals my heart was going wicked fast and I was having a hard time remembering things like my birthday and what I was allergic to. I was brought back into a room right away as apparently my heart rate was 150...
I got an EKG, then an ultrasound, then a CT scan. All signs pointed to my gallbladder. They took blood (after being given two Ativan 'cause I am deathly afraid of needles) and an IV which freaked me out a bit more. By the time all of this was done, it was inevitable that I was going to stay overnight. I almost had to stay in the ER room as the hospital was full of people with the flu.
Very late that night I was moved into a room that was considered overflow from another ward. No bathroom. That was not fun since when I woke up there was barely any room to get out of the bed and over to the sorry excuse for a commode. I was being so pumped full of fluids from the IV that I was needing to go every hour.
That first day I was sent for another test... I think it was an MRI. Still under the impression it's my gallbladder. More blood work and more screaming from me (again with the phobia). Spent the whole day sleeping, my family visiting, and being promised food only to be denied just in case I needed surgery.
Late in the day I came to the realization that I would be spending another night. I was still in some pain so I asked the nurse for some pain relief. What I wanted was Tylenol. What I got was about half a dose of dilaudid that fucked me up. I passed out at one point and the feeling was just like if I cracked my head on the underside of a counter (which I have done). The nurse that gave me the stuff was mean. I was having a very bad reaction to some powerful meds and she wanted me to stop gripping the side of the bed because I was trying to get the room to stop spinning. I don't smoke, I don't take recreational drugs, and I drink only rarely. I only take small doses of OTC meds as I am over sensitive to anything particularly strong.
During the time I was basically tripping my ass off and not liking it one bit (didn't help the pain either), I was moved to a proper room. Slept terribly again because some people in the hallway thought it was 3 in the afternoon instead of 3 in the morning. Spent about half the day there. Still no food, not even water. I convinced the day nurse to get me ice chips by pleading with her.
The doctor showed up finally and diagnosed me with right side diverticulitis. So much for the gallbladder idea.
So I was discharged Sunday afternoon. Put on antibiotics and pain meds and was told to take three days off. I stayed at my parents' house because mom wanted to keep an eye on me.
Two weeks later I'm on a high fiber, low carb, lean meat diet and I'm healing the best I can. I never ever ever ever want to go back to stay at the hospital again!! I still have some pain but it's managed with Tylenol and very sparingly with OxyContin (only at night).
With that long tale, does anyone have any advice for foods that go along with the diet the doc recommended? I've been eating lots of whole wheat, oats, fresh fruit, salad greens, and fish. I've been ok with strawberries and sunflower seeds. I've heard conflicting reports about eating nuts and seeds. I've been drinking nothing but water with the occasional morning coffee and tea.
I finally told my supervisor that I couldn't take it anymore and the pain was so unusual for me that I felt like I should go to the emergency room. My other supervisor offered to drive me there, but I was stupid and drove in myself. I got checked in and was called in about five minutes. By this time the pain felt like knives in my belly and I was pretty much having a panic attack thinking an organ was going to explode or something.
I was in triage sitting with a nurse and when she checked my vitals my heart was going wicked fast and I was having a hard time remembering things like my birthday and what I was allergic to. I was brought back into a room right away as apparently my heart rate was 150...
I got an EKG, then an ultrasound, then a CT scan. All signs pointed to my gallbladder. They took blood (after being given two Ativan 'cause I am deathly afraid of needles) and an IV which freaked me out a bit more. By the time all of this was done, it was inevitable that I was going to stay overnight. I almost had to stay in the ER room as the hospital was full of people with the flu.
Very late that night I was moved into a room that was considered overflow from another ward. No bathroom. That was not fun since when I woke up there was barely any room to get out of the bed and over to the sorry excuse for a commode. I was being so pumped full of fluids from the IV that I was needing to go every hour.
That first day I was sent for another test... I think it was an MRI. Still under the impression it's my gallbladder. More blood work and more screaming from me (again with the phobia). Spent the whole day sleeping, my family visiting, and being promised food only to be denied just in case I needed surgery.
Late in the day I came to the realization that I would be spending another night. I was still in some pain so I asked the nurse for some pain relief. What I wanted was Tylenol. What I got was about half a dose of dilaudid that fucked me up. I passed out at one point and the feeling was just like if I cracked my head on the underside of a counter (which I have done). The nurse that gave me the stuff was mean. I was having a very bad reaction to some powerful meds and she wanted me to stop gripping the side of the bed because I was trying to get the room to stop spinning. I don't smoke, I don't take recreational drugs, and I drink only rarely. I only take small doses of OTC meds as I am over sensitive to anything particularly strong.
During the time I was basically tripping my ass off and not liking it one bit (didn't help the pain either), I was moved to a proper room. Slept terribly again because some people in the hallway thought it was 3 in the afternoon instead of 3 in the morning. Spent about half the day there. Still no food, not even water. I convinced the day nurse to get me ice chips by pleading with her.
The doctor showed up finally and diagnosed me with right side diverticulitis. So much for the gallbladder idea.
So I was discharged Sunday afternoon. Put on antibiotics and pain meds and was told to take three days off. I stayed at my parents' house because mom wanted to keep an eye on me.
Two weeks later I'm on a high fiber, low carb, lean meat diet and I'm healing the best I can. I never ever ever ever want to go back to stay at the hospital again!! I still have some pain but it's managed with Tylenol and very sparingly with OxyContin (only at night).
With that long tale, does anyone have any advice for foods that go along with the diet the doc recommended? I've been eating lots of whole wheat, oats, fresh fruit, salad greens, and fish. I've been ok with strawberries and sunflower seeds. I've heard conflicting reports about eating nuts and seeds. I've been drinking nothing but water with the occasional morning coffee and tea.
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