Wednesday, February 3, 2010

headaches and spinal taps there is a story in everything

i could probably write a book about all the things that happen during a hospital stay but i'll stick with blogging for now. i don't think there is going to be real order of how i list these experiences i'm just ramble (and then number them so it seems like i'm organized) i will tell you now i don't feel 100% better (i couldnt even finish the easy sudoku in the paper this morning!) so forgive any spelling and grammar errors. i just had to pause for like 15 seconds on whether or not i was supposed to write "there" or "their" in the previous sentence. haha.

1. spinal tap. NOT cool AT all. they now call it a "lumbar puncture" which is totally bullshit trying to trick you like that, the nurse started to explain it and i said "wha-wha-wait! is that a spinal tap?!" and i said "i've had a bone marrow biopsy, which is worse?!" and she said the bone marrow is WAY worse. well it wasnt, the spinal tap was HORRIBLE i was crying and shaking and they had to give me more novacan during the middle of the procedure (which only takes 10 minutes total or so) but you're really actually wide awake for it you just ball up in the fetal position in your hospital bed and they go to work lol

although, i did realize/find out later that when i got the bone marrow biopsy i was freaking out so bad about getting it that they first gave me a valium before and then started with two shots of novacan (sp) and this time they just did one shot of novacan and that was it.

2. MRI. so i had two cat scans this week, no big deal those arent even that awkward you just lay there. and MRI is basically a better version of a cat scan but once i got in there it was HORRIBLE i HATED it, it was 35 minutes and it sounds like a jackhammer going off the whole time! which definitley didnt help the horrible headache i had been having, and you do feel clausterphobic, in the cat scan you can actually still see outside the machine and see the room. with the MRI all you can see is a sea of white which turns into a blur and makes you feel weird like you've lost your vision. its nothing like on TV, although they do intercom to you "keep staying still, 5 more minutes" or whatever.

3. dog hair brush my mom gets into total "mom mode" whenever im sick, the last time i was sick i was dehydrated and she was trying so hard to make me drink gatorade which i did NOT want since i was so sick and had NO appetite she started making slushies and slurpies and icecream. this time she didnt get as crazy but she would help me brush my teeth in bed and get my cold wash cloths for my neck and head when i got too hott. well we were trying to make me look a little better so she started brushing my hair while i was brushing my teeth and i look over at her and shes brushing my hair with the dog brush!! of which the handle is all chewed up!! she still doesnt seem to think it was all that wrong lol

4. underwear on the same note, not planning on being in tacoma that long i didnt bring extra clothes with me so i had to start wearing my moms underwear in the hospital - which is a story in itself but then she found a pair of my old underwear that i had left at the house that she brought to the hospital but when she pulls them out they were the underwear we tied on my sisters dog as a diaper when the dog was on her period!!!! Mom still said "well they've been washed!"

i should put an exclamier now, that my mom actually does have excellent hygiene these stories just are a small exception apparently lol

5. unique giftsmy cousins came to the hospital the second day or so i was there and i see Brian walking in with this big bag but he doesnt say anything and its not wrapped so i didnt think anything of it but then all of a sudden he pulls it up and its this HUGE (really soft) blanket with tupac on it! it was hilarious, my dad pulled it up and hung it from (that thing that holds your limbs up over your bed if you were in a body cast lol) and it hung in the corner in all its glory lol i found out later that he was on Pacific Avenue and was going to get flowers and it was right next to a smoke shop, so he went in there and got the blanket instead lol

6. my grandparents (jojos parents) are always a kick, we had more stories last time (getting stuck in the elevator, getting lost in the hospital and having to get paged, going to the wrong hospital) but they did show up one day with a big box of chocolate ho-ho's, waffle chips, juice boxes, the list was endless and mostly stuff that i couldnt or didnt want to eat. the juice boxes, although they were good were really high in sugar and carbs and totally not worth it lol - it was the thought that counts though : )

7. oxycodine one night when jojo was hanging out with me while my parents and sister could go to dinner, the nurse suggested 1mg of morhphine to walk the halls (prevent blood clots) and maybe shower - it worked GREAT. i didnt feel loopy and high i just felt normal my headache was completely gone! it was amazing. i got to shower and everything, so yesterday morning i wanted to try and stop taking things intravenously i wanted pill forms of things so i could take them at home if needed so they gave me oxycodine - OMG i FREAKED out, it didnt set in for about 30 minutes but i was SO high and not in a good way, i was scared! i was sweating and having a panic attack and i was like frozen and lethargic - it was horrible! i dont know how rush limbaugh is addicted to it - he's freaking crazy! but i guess we didnt need to know he was hooked on oxycodine to know that.

8. oliver. i like to end on number 10 but i think these stories have been long enough. for anyone who was worrying, although a few complications of oliver being left alone in the house to long at my parents (a whole nother blog to explain) he is doing quite well, he is happy i'm home (and my grandma bought me a dog training book thats excellent to help overcome the seperation anxiety) my mom did take him to the groomers today as a ploy to have him babysat but he is pretty nakey he is no dust mop anymore, i'll post pictures of him soon. but it has now confirmed that he is not as chubby as everyone thought he is kind of lanky! lol

3 comments:

  1. Glad to see you back...you had us worried there!

    Hospital experiences generally suck. There's not much to recommend them, other than getting well enough to get-the-hell-outta-Dodge.

    I don't really like people around when I'm sick...but I'd probably be pretty hurt if people didn't care enought to try to visit - even if they brought weird stuff to make me feel better. It's an interesting view into someone's heart.

    I can't ever have an MRI, for which I'm kinda thankful. I have internal metal that would turn part of me into a pretty painful refrigerator magnet. But MRIs do show things that CTs and other scans could miss, so they do serve a (quite noisy) purpose.

    I don't like oxycodone at all. How people get addicted to Vicodin and Oxycontin totally escapes me. They are awful drugs. Gave me cracking bad headaches. I preferred the pain they were trying to mask to the pain they created.

    Glad you're better, hon. Take it easy and don't try to do so much at one time. Pace yourself.

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  2. yeah the only thing nice about hospital stays is the immediate relief of drugs if i need it.

    oh i would get too bored if i didnt have enough visitors, the first time i was in the hospital (since it was much more severe) i litterally never had a minute alone so my dad and i came up with a little code if i wanted people to leave and they would hang out in the lobby lol

    there is something really cool about people who visit, especially the people you wouldnt expect or maybe someone you didnt give a lot of credit too and they are at the hospital every day - it definitley shows something.

    omg yeah MRI is NOT fun i think its mainly just how long it takes! i'm kinda pissed i had to have that and the spinal tap all because THEY messed up on the cat scan! (i had a cat scan on wed and then they did a second one on friday and they thought there was pressure around my brain but it was because of the placement of my head - which THEY placed lol)

    omg yeah i dont know how people get addicted to it! i havent tried vicodin but i did have diolated (sp?) after the spinal tap, and that made me happy high i could see how people could like that (its apparently 10x stronger than morphine) and the 1mg of morphine i had just made me feel normal again, so i could see people being addicted to being pain-free

    but the oxycodine seriously freaked me out - they did give me a prescription in case i really need something stronger than tylneol (cause i cant take ibprofuen or any of those ones that are bad for your kidneys) but they gave me 2 pills in the hospital so they said to cut one pill in half and make sure im with someone - i doubt i'll ever use it, we'll see.

    i'm glad i'm back too! i missed the blogosphere!

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  3. Please tell you NEVER used that secret code on your dad to get ME out of the room! LOL.

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