I'm Not Dead

Not up to anything more than to copy and paste email health updates. This first one was written by my mom on July 18th:

This is Mollie, aka Becca's mom, with the medical news. Becca had surgery yesterday to laparoscopically remove ovarian cysts and any endometriosis that appeared. That went as planned, and areas where endometriosis was evident were cauterized. There was endometriosis on the bladder, and there were adhesions on the right cyst and bowel. Both ovaries were saved; icky stuff was not.

The resulting pain has been from the ovaries, the tiny incision sites, and pressure from the residual gas used to inflate the abdomen during surgery. She stayed overnight because of pain and lightheadedness, and because the extra oxygen was helpful.

This morning the doctor decided to keep her in the hospital for blood transfusions since her hemoglobin is low. She is also checking her clotting factor and looking at the abdomen for possible internal bleeding (CT scan or ultrasound). Becca just developed an area of swelling, so the doctor will be looking at that; oddly enough, the pressure and breathing problems have improved since the swelling has appeared. Becca's eye was irritated during surgery, but she has been using saline drops and an eye patch (wooden leg not included), and that has improved.
Now she basically feels like crap but she at last has a morphine pump. She feels like a human pincushion because she has had four blood tests just today, and an additional IV is being inserted to keep the morphine separate from the blood infusion (otherwise I suppose it would be an inconsistent sort of intravenous Bloody Mary).

The hospital needs electric heating pads, more spa-like amenities and little paper umbrellas, but otherwise is ok, especially in staffing and pink Coban. Natalie will be checking Becca's email for her. Cell phones are all on. Maybe tomorrow Becca will go home, and Velvet can get on with her life.

Written yesterday:

Hi everyone, it's Becca. The morphine isn't making me so sleepy today, so I'm gonna try and write out a better update for ya'll. An email was sent out by my mom on the 18th and then another one yesterday by my sister. Most of you have been updated between times because you've been calling and texting or getting the news from others. I know there are some, however, who haven't gotten any updates except these emails. I'll try and make things a little clearer with a time line. Keep in mind, this could all be so much more detailed, but I don't remember most of the details...If you have further questions, email them to me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Even better, you can text or call either myself or my mom.

July 19th- I get surgery to correct the internal bleeding from my first surgery. This surgery was done using a "bikini" incision, an incision that runs about six inches horizontally, about 4 inches below my belly button. The surgery lasts about 2.5 hours and it was very hard to stop the bleeding. After surgery I was put in ICU where my condition wasn't looking so great. They decided to have me transported to UNMC in case any more bleeding went on (because it would need to be overseen by my liver doctors). I was transported via ambulance. Man, was that painful. Good thing I was half unconscious the whole time. I was admitted to the ICU at UNMC and watched there for the night.

July 20th- I was moved to a regular room in the hospital with the most horrid roommate ever. My mom complained because I'm not supposed to be sharing rooms with patients, much less be in a high-traffic area. It's part of being immune suppressed. The doctors didn't think it mattered. We didn't like any of the doctors at UNMC. They never really did anything to try and help me, they just tried to get me walking again after surgery. Anyway, I digress...

This also must have been the night that Gina came to visit me and I ended up having the worst pain ever, no matter how many times I pressed the morphine button. I was so glad she was there because I got no sympathy from the doctors. My mom left in the middle of playing in the pit orchestra for Music Man at Pinewood Bowl to come back to Omaha.

July 21st- I'm suffering from having to live with my extremely loud, gross, inconsiderate, 12-hour-TV-watching, redneck roommate. I have to be on oxygen constantly and can barely breathe from all the fluid in my lungs. My tummy is still puffed out as much as it was prior to the surgery on the 19th.

July 22nd-Rayne, her family and James, Gina and Aprille come and visit me. It was so cool to see everyone and they all brought me such cool presents. We all had to talk kinda loud, though, because my roommate was playing her soap opera with the volume at 100.

I also had a bowel movement for the first time since the 16th. Ever since that event, I begin to have more pain.

July 23rd- I get to come home in the afternoon! Despite still having some breathing problems and being in plenty of pain, I wanted away from those brainless doctors and my awful roommate. When I got home I was greeted a a wonderful recliner to live in given by the Tidballs, a snazzy walker, a grab arm and a shower chair. And you wouldn't believe the balloons I'd accumulated.
I slept until Gina came in the evening to clean rat cages and also ended up rearranging my room so that it all worked with the recliner. It was a good thing she was there, probably, because I kept having to super medicate myself because my pain was getting worse and worse. It felt something like it had to do with constipation, but I couldn't be sure since my whole tummy still hurt and was big enough for me to be 5 months pregnant.

July 24th- I spent the whole night in bathroom agony. I felt mildly improved in the morning and figured I'd be fine while my mom and sister went to the store. Apparently they got as far as the gas station when they got my tearful phone call that they needed to come home. I felt like I was having one of my episodes, only I'd been living with episode-esque pain (on a milder scale) for the past 5 days or so. My endurance was pretty much shot. Mom was able to find some more painkillers I could safely take with my other ones and gave me other things like extra stool-softener, muscle relaxers, etc. I was able to lightly fall asleep after about half and hour or so, but she woke me up not long after to say she'd talked to my gynecologist and we were to go to the ER at Bryan East and get a few tests done, get some morphine, and then I'd be admitted into a room.

It took a few hours for the morphine to really kick in, but boy was it nice when it did! I hadn't felt relief like that in days. While we were in the ER Staci, of all people, came in to visit! When we were headed out the door to go to Bryan East, Rayne had called and my mom told her what was going on. Apparently Rayne told Staci and Staci got her butt over to where we were.

I spent the night at the hospital enjoying a comfortable bed and morphine.

July 25th-I finally, for the first time in over a week, got to take a shower. Boy was that ever nice! I'd had sponge baths and I'd gotten to shave my legs during the short time I was home and someone had washed my hair in Omaha. But nothing beats a real shower.

I also got a CT scan which showed a partial bowel obstruction and possible abdominal adhesions. The bowel obstruction would explain some of my pain and my not being able to have a bowel movement. Some of the pain is from all the leftover blood and fluid in my belly being reabsorbed.

I was taken off food and liquids (I get adequate nutrition and hydration from my IV fluid) to give the obstruction a chance to right itself. It sounds like an obstruction is when a part of the bowel sort of folds over on itself. I had been complaining for a couple days of this feeling on the left side of my belly button (where the obstruction is) that I described as, "like a bit of some sort of organ rolling over on itself."

July 26th (today)- I had x-rays taken on my tummy today. They're going to continue to watch the obstruction today and tomorrow and keep me off food and liquids. Hopefully, the obstruction will smooth itself out. If it does not then on Monday I'll have to be transported to UNMC to be operated on there.

Totals for the past week and 2 days:
Number of blood products: 2 units blood, 2 bags platelets, 4 bags fresh frozen plasma.
Number of blood tests: Somewhere in the 30s. One day at Bryan I had 7 or 8 blood draws.
Number of IVs (not counting numerous failed pokes): Somewhere around 6.
The good news: I may be getting a PICC line!

Becca