LNNL EP#029 How to Survive an Extended Stay in the Hospital

How to Survive an Extended Stay in a Hospital

 

It was three days after Christmas, December 28, 2017.  I was just about to go to bed and I fell violently ill.   I started having severe pain in my abdomen and even though I had vomited, I was still in some serious pain.  I was also having trouble breathing and nothing was subsiding and I knew I was in trouble. 

My boyfriend had gone home to sleep at his apartment that evening.  Fortunately, we live in the same complex, but didn't want to wake him until he was up for work, which is unusually early, 4:30 AM.  I phoned him at 5:00 AM and told him how badly I felt and asked him if he would drive me to the emergency room.  Thankfully the hospital was a close ride from home.   I knew I wasn't going to get better until I went to the emergency room at the hospital to find out what was wrong with me.

I was so grateful that the emergency room was empty and I was seen very quickly.  They sent me in for a Cat Scan of my stomach and found I had Gallbladder, Gallstones and Pancreatitis.  They immediately checked me into the hospital.  My boyfriend Jesse was so scared.  I felt so bad for him.

The hospital I was checked into is only a couple of years old and beautifully done.  I had my own room and the staff was such a blessing. They were ever so pleasant and really helped me out.  This made for a much nicer stay than I feared.

The first thing I asked Jesse to bring me from my home were the following items (you might want to keep an emergency list in case you ever need to, I pray you never do, but, life is so unpredictable):

 

- iPad and charger

-Mini laptop bag including charger and mouse

-Message recorder (in case I had the urge to do a podcast-- which was how I thought of this episode)

-Cell phone charger

-My makeup face charts, sketch pad and colored pencils with sharpener

-All chargers for my electronics, cell phone, etc.

-Flip flops, nail file and clipper, hair brush, several pair of underwear, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner, hair brush and comb and skin moisturizer and a pair of tweezers

-A few copies of the latest fashion magazines and books I was in the process of reading.

I had a feeling I would be detained for a while and didn't know exactly for how long so I wanted to be prepared. 

I was only allowed to eat ice chips for the first 72 hours.  They couldn't operate on my gallbladder at this time because of the severe case of pancreatitis that I had.  After the fifth day, they had to transfer me to a different hospital.  This one had a pancreas specialist who specialized in pancreas surgery.  They weren't sure if they'd have to operate on my pancreas or not.  I wasn't thrilled about this move as I knew that the hospital they were transferring me to was not  as new, clean or nice as the one I was currently in.

 Sure enough, when I got to my room at the other hospital, there was a woman putting sheets on my bed and I noticed two holes in the sheet and asked her for another set.  Then I took a look at the old and dingy bathroom and saw in the corner on the floor there was this dirt and asked her to have someone in to clean it.  I was very afraid of getting Mercer as I knew a neighbor woman who lived downstairs from me, she went into the hospital for one thing and died because of contracting Mercer.

 

Another thing I did, was each time they took me out of my room, I made sure I put on a mask to cover to my mouth (ask the nurses for these).  This can help you out tremendously from picking up any other germs visitors or patients may have while they wheel you around the halls for testing, etc.

Well, that's all for today.   I wish you a very healthy life and that you will never have to endure an extended stay in the hospital.

Remember to live healthy, happily, lovingly, peacefully and successfully

 With much love,

 

Dawn-Marie

XO