Well, so much has happened. I was doing pretty well with the no tube and eating liquids on Saturday. Sunday they tried me on full liquids (meaning tomato soup and pudding). I started to not feel very well Sunday night. My belly stayed too full and got kind of hard like things weren't passing the way they are supposed to, even for me. So we found out that it wasn't all my imagination and that I have a bowel obstruction. They don't think I will need surgery for this. They think it will work itself out and pass. It has been very uncomfortable for the last three days though. On top of that, I have been having pain in my ribs that wraps around from back to front for the last few days. I told several nurses and doctors over the last few days that something was really wrong and they all listened to me and decided that it was quite possibly either gas or just muscle pain from being in bed so much. I wasn't convinced but I did what they said and kept walking. Yesterday, I finally got one of the residents to listen to me and examine me and she ordered chest x-rays which showed fluid under my right lung and prompted a whole pile of tests to be performed on me STAT. At midnight last night I went through a CT Scan that showed I have a blood clot in my lungs. This is a very serious thing. It is very scary and now they are shooting me full of additional blood thinners and hooking me up to oxygen. I may have to take the blood thinners for a year. I hope that they work. This morning they sent me down for an ultrasound of my legs to try to find the source or additional blood clots and the tech didn't find anything. I hope this is the only one. I also hope that it doesn't hurt me. I have to have the fluid under my right lung taken out with a needle and cathetar. I am scared to death to have that done even though the doctor says that it won't hurt any worse than the pain I am already having from the fluid pressing on everything. It is making it almost impossible to breathe unless I am sitting up at a 90 degree angle. I was supposed to go home sometime between yesterday and tomorrow. I don't think I will even make it home for Thanksgiving now. I can't believe it. I hope I make it home for Christmas.
Posted by gwendolyn on November 26, 2002 at 09:11 AM