I’m Homesick

Tags

momma bean, munkie, new forest, pagan, sunnybrook, uk

My Munkie is a lovely chap, he tries very hard to make me happy and content with my life in the UK. And this is good as the dreaded homesickness has hit me. I know I can romantasize about Canada and forget some of the frustrations I had whilst living there. But it was home. And I miss home.

What do I miss about home?

• Obviously my Momma Bean
• Friends – Parsnip, Jenn, Brian, Stephanie, Spiros, Lydia, Kari, Daniel, Krysia, Cat and so many others
• Friends – Parsnip, Jenn, Brian, Stephanie, Spiros, Lydia, Kari, Daniel, Krysia, Cat and so many others
• Going clothing shopping with Cat – always great fun, not only did she organize my wardrobe it was fun having girly days out
• Embolden – an open group started up by Stephanie and Spiros a couple years ago. There are a number of open rituals such as Imbolc, Beltain and Samhain if you’re of a Celtic persuasion and a number of Greek Rites to deities such as Athena, Dionysis, Apollo and Aphrodite
• The Wild Nights of Greekness – going to the Canadian Greek Communist Club for drinks and then carrying on the party to a local Greek Restaurant – with Brian, Stephanie, Spiros, Dominic and sometimes Maddy (before she left)
• Just being able to walk out my apartment building and be able to have a plethora of choices with regards to restaurant – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese, Thai, Greek, Napalese, Indian, etc
• The changing seasons – I miss snow. I know there was some sprinkling of the white stuff in Hampshire but it’s not the same
• I miss my 24-hr pharmacy and grocery store
• The fact that I did not have to speak to the pharmacist unless I was filling a prescription – I hate having conversations with regards to why I want to purchase Pepto Bismol or why I need some laxatives
• I miss my hospital – Sunnybrook. I was with Dr Herschorn for 22 years, his secretaries knew me and Donna in the Cystoscopy Clinic. She was so incredibly helpful to me

So Munkie is trying to get me past these feelings of homesickness. I am also feeling quite lonely and I admit I have been taking my social networking a little too seriously – because of this friendship void. I am by nature a rather shy and reserved creature. It takes me a while to trust and feel comfortable in any given situation. And unfortunately, with my working at Strawberry, I come home completely shattered without any energy to go out. So weekends is about the only time I can socialize, if I can. But every other Sunday is the Roast Dinner – which I am still trying to get used to. There I am quiet as well, as it is a self-defense mechanism for me – to crawl into my little shell.

So this past weekend we went to the Mitrofanoff Support Gala Dinner on Saturday. And on Sunday we went traipsing about the New Forest. What was sweet is that Munkie knows I miss some of my more pagany activities – so he took me to Burley which as three witchy shops and is the former home of Sybil Leek.

We did have great fun in Burley – picked up some low fat chicken sausages, I got some candles and incense and we got to meander. As well Eyeworth Pond – with Mandarin Ducks in the water. And sadly I cannot escape this – Canada Geese.

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My Surgery, Day After

Tags

catheter, dr herschorn, friends, gall bladder, momma bean, recovery, sunnybrook, surgery

This past Tuesday I went in to Sunnybrook for my surgery. To remind my faithful readers there were to be 3 procedures done:

• gall bladder removal (the major component of the surgery)
• perineum repair
• removal of a huge stone in my urinary bladder -every UTI I have the stone sucks up the infections and keeps “transmitting” to the bladder, so I was never infection free while this stone existed

Momma Bean accompanied me to the hospital and we got in early, as I needed to stock up on some extra gauze, paper tape and surgical lubricant — all of which I need every time I catheterise. We went to “Same Day Surgery” and registered. I was taken in, stripped down and put into a hospital gown. 3 different nurses tried to start an IV in me, but sadly my veins were very disobedient. The nurses complained that my skin was quite tough – to which I pointed out that I am dehydrated cos of being NPO since midnight.

Momma Bean was allowed to come in and sit with me while I waited to be wheeled upstairs. I had a little draped corner because I am still on the MRSA-dangerous list. This made it difficult if I needed to poop or leave for other personal reasons.

I was finally wheeled up 90 minutes past the scheduled time. Seems no one told the OR cleaners that the OR had to be scrubbed & prepped for an MRSA patient. I was wheeled in and then the two anaesthetists (Staff Doctor & Resident [trainee doctor]) tried to start an IV in me. After 7 pokes an IV was started. I was promptly put to sleep and woke up several hours later in Post-Op.

I was told in Post-Op that they didn’t take out the gall bladder. I was not happy, to say the least, But I was also so woozy and high, coming off the anaesthetic I barely heard anything. I managed to wake up enough & be cognisant enough to be sent home. Momma Bean took me home and viola! There was my Stephanie waiting for me. Tarotcub let her into my flat. Stephanie spent the night, on my sofa, while I rested in bed. She watched a bit of Netflix and just made sure I didn’t need any emergency help while I was still coming off the anaesthetic.

In the middle of the night I got hungry so I nibbled on a caramel flavoured rice cake. Unfortunately I threw up, remembering then that I am to be on a clear liquid diet until my bowels start working. In the morning I was toddling about and tried to catheterise. Unfortunately a catheter couldn’t get in and I ended up with lots of bloody gauze in the bathroom. Woke Stephanie up and off we went to Sunnybrook. Fortunately Dr Herschorn has his clinic days on Wednesdays. I got in, spoke to Donna (cystoscopy clinic head receptionist) and helen (Dr Herschorn’s secretary) and got in with Dr Herschorn. He tried inserting a catheter but he wasn’t successful either. So I was wheeled into the Cystoscopy procedure room and via the cystascope a foley catheter was inserted into me. I’m attached to a pee bag now.

Afterwards met up with Dr Herschorn and we discussed the surgery and why the gall bladder couldn’t be taken out. When Dr Ross got in with the lapriscope there was so much internal scarring and adhesions that he couldn’t get a clear view of the gall bladder. It would have been too dangerous for him to continue. He didn’t just slice me completely open as it would have taken nearly 10hrs to clear up all the adhesions and then take out the gall bladder. A surgery that big needs to be discussed with me. I understand fully why, my last surgery I was under for 11hrs and I was failing towards the end. I ended up in ICU for about 4-5 days because I wasn’t doing too well recovering from the surgery. I am to see Dr Herschorn next week for an assessment and see what the next steps are.

After leaving the Cysto Clinic Stephanie and I met up with Brian. He’s a lovely friend and hospital chaplain (nowadays called Spiritual Care Provider) at my hospital. We had a little chat in the sunny hospital cafeteria. I had some 7-Up and a cup of jello for lunch, all very filling.

Got home and there was my lovely Jenn. Jenn took care of me yesterday, making sure I didn’t need anything while I was resting. I slept mostly while Jenn played on the computer and checked on me. Momma Bean showed up and regaled Jenn with stories of her childhood in communist Poland.  Jenn left close to midnight when her Fraser picked her up and Momma Bean spent the night. I believe my Momma Bean really likes Jenn as she calls Jenn “that lovely young woman” – I could tell cos my mom was quite the chatterbox with Jenn yesterday. I have never seen her that animated and that chatty with anyone speaking only English. She even shared her spicy saurkraut with Jenn.

I’m doing okay. Just really sleepy, which is good. I haven’t eaten anything as of yet today, except for 2 fruit popsicles which Chris bought a box for me.

I May Need Some Help

Tags

gall bladder, sunnybrook, surgery

I’ve been mulling this over during the weekend, trying to figure out how to work this without too much of a fuss or claim upon my loved ones’ time & energy.

I met with the surgical nurse on Friday to discuss the upcoming surgery, what I need to do to prepare, and suck gallons of blood out of me. One thing she did bring up and I never thought of, I need help when I get discharged. I don’t mean help getting home. I need to assure the hospital staff that I will have someone with me for the first 24hrs after I get discharged.

This has me a little scared as my last surgery, according to the surgeons, I was beginning to decline towards the end of the surgery. I did manage to wake up in my room on the ward, saw my dad sitting by my bed and we chatted a little. I fell asleep and woke up 5 days later in ICU. I really don’t relish the idea of going through that again.

So I need to find someone who can babysit me for 24hrs to make sure I don’t pass out and require emergency attention. I would ask my mom, but she’s a tiny little elderly lady. So who to ask? I really wish Munkie was by my side, he’d make sure I’d survive.

Soooo who wants to be my babysitter?

Pre-Op Tomorrow

Tags

gall bladder, sunnybrook, surgery

As the vast majority of the world does not regularly have surgery most are not aware that you don’t just show up on the day of your day surgery and viola! everything is ready for you.

I got a lovely email from Colleen, my general surgeon’s admin assistant, informing me that I am to come in tomorrow morning for the pre-op. What does this entail? Oh the delights of the medical system can be such a mystery to some.

I am to have some blood draws tomorrow morning – basically they need to suck me dry like a vampire and take oodles of vials of blood. This needs to be done within 30 days of any surgical procedure, and this will be within 12 days so I’m in the “safe window” so to speak. No concerns over this except I have some of the world’s crappiest veins and if I may dispense with the political correctness – the only people able to successful suck out more than a few drops of blood out of me are tiny filipina ladies and angry middle-aged jamaican ladies (or trinidadian). I have yet to have a lovely Irish lass or some no-nonsense german successfully draw blood from me. So I’m hoping I get the angry middle-aged jamaican lady tomorrow.

So blood draws? Yes. Those, and then the usual weighing me and measuring my height, asking questions about my diet and if I am on any medications – all very important as this will have some bearing on how well I’ll tolerate the anaesthetic. Then the usual script for citro-mag, a lovely lemony flavoured drink from hell…. a few teaspoons of this atrocity will clean out the innards of an elephant.

The most important to me is what time I need to show up on “slicing day”.

And what I am wondering about – what are the chances that I will be kept overnight? The last time I was under I did not cope very well physically and my BP plunged and I ended up in ICU for about 5 days. So I kinda hope that if I do decline that it be while I am in the recovery room. Thankfully my mom will be with me, so she can harrass the nurses if need be.

I don’t Like Gynecologists

Tags

cystoscopy, dr herschorn, dr patricia lee, gynecology, sunnybrook, urology

Today was my bi-monthly visit with my urologist, Dr Herschorn – for a very comfortable cystoscopy. I had mentioned in December, when I last saw him, that I would like him to perform a “perineal repair”. For those who follow the wacky world of ‘bladder exstrophy’ many of us ladies have problems in adulthood with coitus – in that we can’t have it due to whatever happened in our early childhoods with regards to our first few surgeries.

I have spent that last frickin’ 15 years trying to get a gynecologist to take care of this. I had my stoma “installed” four years ago with Dr Patricia Lee, from Sunnybrook, being part of the surgery – her part being to fix a prolapsing uterus and to fix my vaginal opening. The woman did not fix my vaginal opening, with the comment that I need to see a plastic surgeon. I have contacted 3 plastic surgeons, and not one of them would take me on.

Luckily I was emailing with a lovely lady in California who also has BE, and she told me that her urologist did her perineal repair and her vaginoplasty. Her urologist – not a gynecologist but a urologist. I asked Dr Herschorn in December and today he took a peek. It’s a simple snip but because he’s never done one before he wants to bring Dr Lee on board.

It takes up to a year to see this woman. And for the past 10 years I have been trying to get her to do something. Why can a urologist with a simple 2 minute examination say “oh yes, this needs to be cut” when a gynecologist lectures me on using dilators and using the services of a plastic surgeon. I need this done now! I am done being batted about. Last time was when trying to schedule my last surgery – and with all the back & forth and lack of communication I got fired from a position because my employer was tired of the doctors not getting together and just working out a plan.

I am afraid this will happen again. That woman’s secretary better get back to me by Monday with a date that is in the next month or heads will roll. She’s had a decade to fix me and she’s done f*ck all.

Surgeon has found my blog! Oh My!

Tags

health, herschorn, stoma, sunnybrook

Yesterday I was scheduled for a cystoscopy yesterday at Sunnybrook for 11:45am, but got in at 2:00pm.  My doctor was called away to the OR so there was a bit of a backlog building up due to this unforeseen situation. I sat, hopefully, patiently waiting to be “scoped”. I sat in an area populated by 3 other patients, and their husbands. I had to listen to conversations about net curtains, why it’s better to leave at 3am for a car trip across the border, and which restaurants in Florida serve such large portions that it’s best to just share one portion. To say I was bored is understating it. Luckily I had my ipod touch to keep me amused.

My doctor strolled into the examination room, while I was being setup for the “cysto” and he mentioned that he had been reading a certain person’s blog – mine. For certain people this would be embarrassing, but for me I was just pleasantly amused. I know I haven’t written anything bad about him, so I have nothing to worry about.

I also bumped into a certain Dr O’Malley, the young resident who took care of me last year when I was in the ER before my delightful sinking into unconsciousness. Oddly enough, I do remember quite a few of the Residents and Interns from my past – not all of them, as there must be hundreds, but quite a few .. atleast those who have made an impression on me.

The cystoscopy was uneventful for me. The scope was inserted, it was twirled about inside the bladder, and withdrawn. I was also to have a slight widening of the stoma. I actually thought Dr Herschorn forgot, but it appears that he did make a small slice, but I didn’t feel it at all. I appear to have a few little bladder stones, and they appear to be surrounding the surgical staples from the surgery 3 years ago. Nothing to be concerned about for now, but still something to monitor in case they become a problem.

Bladder appears delightfully clear, which is good. I have been drinking lots of fluids, trying to flush my system fairly regularly .. I do not want any urea to be sitting stagnant in the bladder for too long. I have also found that doing a gentamicyn-flush of the bladder works as well. I have also been taking my vitamins – I started taking them regularly 3 years ago when my homecare nurse, Beulah, suggested that for the healing process that getting as much of my daily recommended dose of vitamins & minerals that I take a multi. I have been doing that ever since.  As well, Dr Lee suggested that I never get constipated, as that could cause havoc with her portion of the surgery .. so I also monitor my fibre intake, aiming for atleast 20g per day though the ideal would be 25g.

Appointment at Sunnybrook

Tags

catheter, herschorn, rosebud, stoma, sunnybrook

This morning I made the arduous journey up to Sunnybrook, the hospital I tend to run to when I need help. But this time I had an appointment. Yay!

My appointment was at 8:15 in the morning, a most ungodly hour. But having an appointment this early means I get to see my surgeon in a timely manner, instead of sitting around for several hours in the waiting room. My last appointment with him was in May. The secretaries know me, so I just need to wave and say “I’m here” then I can sit down. My doctor was walking past and just took me in, without referring to the official list.

How do I manage to get these “sweet” spots? I am polite. I have been with Dr Herschorn now for 20 years. I know he overbooks, there’s no arguing with that. Because of his speciality (he’s a urologist specialising in urinary tract reconstruction) he’s a very popular fellow. Reasons for why he tends to fall behind include him deciding that an ultrasound is necessary for him to make a decision, or he gets called in at the last moment to an emergency. Or he’s squeezing in as many patients in as possible so that they are not waiting close to a year to see him.

The secretaries have no control over him. Yelling at them achieves nothing, they report to Dr Herschorn and he calls the shots. So I know that getting forceful with the secretary is not going to work, and what can happen is that you lose the ability to get really good timeslots for appointments. So I am polite, quiet and am patient. My reward for being such a model patient is I get decent “service”.

I walked in, the secretary told me to go into an examination room – no point in waiting in the waiting area. 10 minutes later a medical student came a long to have the initial conversation with me. Then my doctor. For the most part I am okay, but he’s not happy with my having a UTI nearly every 2 weeks. And he’s not happy with “rosebud” (my stoma) – saying it looks constricted. So I am to return to Sunnybrook on October 29th for an ultrasound and a “minor” surgical procedure. Basically he’s going to cut into the stoma to make it wider. I suspect (though he hasn’t mentioned this) that I will have a little bag again with an indwelling foley, so my stoma has a chance to heal.

And on November 17th I am to go in for a cystoscopy. Basically, a scope is inserted into the bladder via my stoma (and for those of you with fully functional urethras, the scope is pushed up through your urethra .. and it isn’t small .. I usually need some mild sedation). Last year I had 2 tiny bladder stones. Dr Herschorn wants to check out to see if there are any more stones, and to check on the interior of the bladder … to see if there is any scar tissue that may need to be burned away.

Joy!

ERs can be so Interesting

Tags

er, infection, iv, needles, sunnybrook

I haven’t been feeling the greatest for the last little while, and as some of my faithful readers have been rather forthright with their opinions I managed to drag myself to the ER on Thursday. I got the help I needed, but that wasn’t the fun bit.  I can’t really describe this in cohesive paragraphs, so I’ll point form. Needless to say it was an eventful evening/early morning for me:

• There was the inevitable requirement to go through triage. I got that glazed look from the triage nurse when asking me why I was in. I could tell they thought I was attention seeking. When asked where my pain is, I said it was just below my stoma, circling round my right flank. The word “stoma” perked him up right quick. All of a sudden I moved from the category of attention seeker to chronic medical patient. There was the inevitable set of questions of what sort of stoma is it, where did i get it done, why do i have one. As I’ve been in out of hospital since the day I was ripped from my mother’s womb I’m use to this.
• Mike went off to visit IKEA, I left him with instructions to get me some dinner.
• Cat showed up while the nurses, in their foolishness, tried to take a blood draw. After 4 pokes and 2 nurses they manage to draw 4 vials of blood and setup a saline lock for me. I freaked out the peeps in the waiting area, cos of my screams. I may be use to it, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy the pain, and painful it was .. what with all their digging. And I had the toddler-sized needle.
• They also put a ridiculous mask on me, cos I’m all dangerous and shit cos I had MRSA nearly 3 years ago.
• Cat kept me company and the hilarity ensued.
• We were checking the paramedics and police officers – discussing which ones were hot or not. LAB would be so proud.
• There was an elderly gentleman joined by two of his sons, with very questionable fashion taste. Seems the wife was in Acute Care in the ER being tended by 20 medical professionals. One of the sons got a wee bit high-strung when told he could not come in to check on his mother. A few minutes later 3 police officers came out asking the family if they could go somewhere private to discuss the little old lady. Because she fell down a set of stairs this automatically triggers a police investigation (of elder abuse). One of the sons was very belligerent saying that he’s calling his lawyer. The police officers were very patient and explained that calling of a lawyer was his perogative.
• Another lady came in with what I assume was her father. She was carrying also 4 pieces of something that I can only assume is luggage. She was shaking all over the place, constantly moving about. Cat said she must be a crack addict; and this reminded me of that incident at the Post Office near Archway Tube Station this past June where a fellow kept yanking his trousers up and down.
• After a little while I got fed up waiting and started asking the triage nurse when am I going in. After 6hrs I truly got fed up so I paged Urology. I got taken in within 20min of my call. I don’t like using the Urology Department as a big stick, but I was getting annoyed .. they were waiting to get me into an isolation room because of my MRSA and yet they felt comfortable leaving me in the waiting area amongst all the other patients.
• In that 20 minute interval some doctor waltzed in announcing rather loudly that he was there to perform an autopsy — said rather loudly to the registrar, over the head of a young lady being registered  (who Cat and I thought was in for a cyst that she may have been passing) — that just evokes great confidence in a hospital.
• In the meanwhile, the crackhead – her father got taken in and she disappeared into the toilet. After half an hour someone asked the triage nurse if someone could check her out, as she had locked herself in there. This particular triage nurse, I’ve dealt with her before, is pure laziness. She suggested we knock on the door. Someone did and 30 minutes after that she came out .. even more shaky. We believe she was doing crack in the hospital toilet.
• Was finally taken in and put into some odd little room. The ridiculous triage nurse never told the Blue Zone ER nurse that I was in there .. she was waiting for me!
• Finally got some delicious meds, Keflex, as a mega dose IV. I fell asleep.
• Cat had to leave me at 3am cos she had to work in the morning and one Tarotcub waltzed in after getting mouthy with some jewish granny.
• While the IV was dripping into me Tarotcub stood watch while I dozed. I heard something about how he envies my  natural narcolepsy – I can fall asleep anywhere, rather easily too.
• Seems the ER doctor who was taking care of me was quite the hotty, so Tarotcub and I were discussing his merits from the perspective of a gay man and a straight woman.
• I was tweeting the whole time .. thank the stars Sunnybrook has wifi
• Got home at 4:30am and had a banana before going to bed.
• So there, I went to the ER, all you blasted nags!
• 🙂

One Year Ago Today I Nearly Died

Tags

dying, father, mother, sepsis, sunnybrook

It was one year ago today, July 17th, that I rang for an ambulance to rush me to hospital – specifically Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where my surgeon is located.

Normally, when I go to the ER I take a taxi as I’m usually mobile enough to get myself into one. But this time round the pain was so excruciating I could barely walk across my livingroom and it took me half an hour to go from my bed to my phone (I live in a tiny apartment, 448 square feet). I managed to ring, and got through dispatch pretty quickly. Told them I am having chest pain, am shivering so hard that I am having a hard time staying upright and my pain was excruciating — radiating all the way around my torso.

While in the ambulance being rushed up to Sunnybrook the paramedic tried to get an IV started, he couldn’t. Luckily got to the ER at Sunnybrook and I was immediately rushed into the acute care section, where 5 nurses were working on me. Seems I had a heart rate of 175bpm, and my blood pressure kept climbing. I was barely getting in enough oxygen, and at one point they put me on 6L/s of pure O2. I had a lot of blood draws — don’t ask, I just remember being poked in my arm, my wrist, my ankles and the tops of my feet. An IV was started up, and I was put into an isolation room in the ER. Urology came down, to assess me, as I am a urology patient. The resident told me that I would be admitted as a urology patient .. I remember at that point feeling relief (not physical, it hurt to move and I was trying my damndest to lay still) with the knowledge that I would be taken care of. Managed to get hold of a telephone and left a message on my parents’ answering machine … a rather pathetic “I’m in the hospital, alone, and I’m scared. Please, someone, come here quick.”

After that it is all blank for me. Seems I was in the ER for two days before I could get a bed in C2 (the urology ward) and in the meanwhile my friends were frantic, not knowing where I was. On the day I took the ambulance Mike was suppose to drop by with some groceries for me, and he knocked on the door but no answer except for the pathetic meows of my cat. He and Tarotcub were trying to get through to my brother, asking if he knew where his sister was. Seems the answering machine went unchecked for nearly 2 days.

When my mom heard the message she rushed to Sunnybrook (my father, at the time, was in Lithuania). She missed me by half an hour. The day my mom was rushing to my side the Medicine Department (a real live “Dr House” team) was called in to look me over. I was under the care of several departments — Urology, as the primary admitting department, Infectious Diseases, Respirology and Medicine. While being checked out I turned blue, vomitted blood, passed out, and stopped breathing. I was rushed to CrCU (Critical Care Unit, one of two ICUs at Sunnybrook.. this one being the truly acute one) and intibated. I was on a ventilator for over a week. I woke up a day after the breathing apparatus was removed.

I woke up with an NG tube, a central line in my neck (IV in my neck) and an ART line in my left wrist (IV in the artery .. seems I had several units of blood for transfusion cos at one point my hemoglobin dropped to about 62).  I was on a little machine constantly taking my vitals — monitoring my heart, oxygen, pulse, blood pressure, temperature. I had some physical therapy that day (don’t ask me which day, all I know is that it was towards the end of July) but I was so exhausted the most I could do was stand for 15 seconds before nearly collapsing to the floor.

Recovery was brutal and slow. I could barely stand. Towards the end of my hospital stay I could walk with a zimmer and/or a cane, but not unassisted.

I was lucky that I had a lovely private room in C2, when I was returned there. Normally I would have been bored, being by myself, but with all the sleeping I was doing I was just thankful that there was no one to disturb me.

It was a painfully slow recovery.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

During all of these adventures in medicine my father found out I was in hospital, nearly dying. He tried his damndest to get back to Canada. According to my aunt Emilija he kept his mobile on his chest at all times (even when sleeping) waiting for news about me. He tried to rearrange his flight so he could leave immediately to get to my side as fast as possible. My father was a wreck when my sister died, and he was terrified that another one of his sprogs would die. He managed to finish off his hols in Lithuania but it wasn’t much of a finish … the old egg was terrified for me, and I do truly believe this was a contributing factor towards his very swift decline in health and eventual death.

My mother hasn’t fared much better either. She had a heart attack a couple of weeks after I was released from hospital. Instead of telling me, she chose to protect me .. thinking I would have a relapse over the stress. She had actually decided to lie down for a bit, instead of getting medical attention .. telling herself that the pain she was feeling was probably similar to what I felt.

The other effect of my time with sepsis is that when I do leave a message on the answering machine I get a very quick ring back asking if I’m okay. My father was doing that right up until the end, freaking out whenever I’d leave a message.

My Body doesn’t love me

Tags

health, hospital, ruthie, sunnybrook, surgery

I woke up this morning at 2am with sharp & intense abdominal pain. I rang for a taxi and on the way to Sunnybrook I cried out of fear – fear that the hell of July was coming back.

Got to Sunnybrook and it seems there was a huge backlog. There were people getting care in ER who needed to be admitted, but there were no beds available. So, they all had to stay on their stretchers in ER. This meant that all of us in the Waiting Area were triaged and got taken care of in the assessment room in the  waiting area — all of our blood draws, IV insertions, cultures taken etc.

Not once during my 14 hours did I actually get a bed. I spent the whole time in the Waiting Area. I am home now, by the way.

Anywho, why does my body not love me? It’s simple, I have a gall bladder full of little stones, there’s a slight inflamation of the lining of the gall bladder, and during an ultrasound they also detected a cyst on one of my ovaries. General Surgery was called in for a consult. By the time they showed up the pain had subsided and it appears that one of the stones that was blocking a duct had loosened, which is all to the good.

While waiting for treatment I was texting with Kari like crazy, listened in on the conversations of the security peeps, chatted with other fellow inmates, and marvelled (and agree with Brian on this) at how all the Paramedics I’ve ever seen are just so HOT.

So, what is the next step? SURGERY! I have to get the blasted gall bladder out. This also means, to Ruthie’s great joy, that my diet has to change … no fatty foods. So no bacon, extra lean meat only, boiled eggs (not fried) only, and other fun stuf.