Monday, April 1, 2013

Chapter 12

I had been having a lot of pain in my side and back and after numerous tests and doctor visits I was told that I had gall-bladder trouble.  After several full-blown attacks I was scheduled for surgery.  Mom agreed to come down for a few days to look after Josiah and Elizabeth.  I was much more comfortable knowing she and not Gary's mother would be caring for them, but I was definitely on edge about her and Gary in the same house for several days!

I was told that I should be up and out of the hospital the same day.  I awoke to nurses turning me onto my side in the recovery room...I had just been sick.  I had been told before the surgery that they weren't sure if they could do the operation the new way, with the scope, or if I would have to be cut open.  That was the first thing on my mind when I woke up.  I was thinking clearly but I couldn't seem to get the words to come out of my mouth! All I could manage to ask the nurse was, "What did they do?"  She told me that I'd had my gall-bladder out.  I tried again, and she gave me the same answer...again.  After I spit out the question for the 3rd time she got a little put out with me and said, "I already told you!"  I took a deep breath and managed to say, "But what way?"  That was when she clued in and told me that it had been done with the scope.  It took awhile for me to get back to my room because I got very sick.  I learned later that not only did I have a lot of gall-stones, but my gall-bladder was black with rot!

I didn't get to go home that day, or the next.  I started running a low-grade temperature.  I kept pushing myself to get up and walk, I thought I should be feeling better than I was.  In fact I was feeling so miserable that I didn't even care that mom and Gary were together longer than expected.  Mom brought the kids in one evening to see me.  They were only in the room a few minutes when I just started to cry and asked mom to take them home.  They weren't being bad or noisy but my nerves just couldn't take their chatter.

I was finally released to go home but still didn't feel like I thought I should.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to start back to work when I had told them I would, so I had to call and tell them that I wasn't sure when I could start again.

Over the next week it became increasingly harder and harder to breathe.  My fever started inching up a little higher each day.  Gary's mother had to take the kids because I just couldn't take care of them.  I moved into Josiah's bed, eventually having to sit up to even breathe.  I went to see the surgeon but in his brusque manner he waved off everything and said that I was just over-reacting!  That did little to help Gary's frame of mind!

A couple of nights later David's wife Edie called to see how I was doing.  She got very upset because of the hard time I was having to breathe, I could hardly talk to her as I had to gasp for each breath.  She hung up and called her mother-in-law, Esther.  Esther called and only tried to talk to me for a minute and then she called Gary at work.  She told him to get home and take me to the Emergency Room right away.  By the time I got to the hospital I was gasping for breath and in terrible pain.  I was started on an IV and oxygen, given an interjection for pain and only allowed ice-chips because they thought I was going to be rushed into surgery.  In the morning I was taken by ambulance to another hospital in Halifax for a lung scan.  I was told I had a severe lung infection and was started on strong intervenous antibiotics.

By the 3rd day the fever had started to come down and the pain was subsiding enough that they cut back on the pain medication...then in breezes the surgeon.  He still laughed everything off and ordered the antibiotic stopped.  That night the pain came back so quickly and hard that they called a code on my room!  I was immediately surrounded by lots of people each doing something to me, they thought I was having a heart attack.  Within an hour I was back on oxygen and antibiotics and pain meds.

I was in the hospital for a week and 1/2.  Shortly before I was released I mentioned that my right leg was beginning to really hurt, they just put hot compresses on it.

After I had been home for 3 days I had an appointment with my own family doctor.  While there I mentioned the pain in my leg which had been getting worse.  He immediately sent me back to the hospital for an x-ray.  Right from the X-ray department I found myself being admitted once again into the hospital, this time for a blood-clot in my leg!  I was put on complete bed rest, not even being allowed up to the bathroom.  I was two more weeks in the hospital!  I had to have blood drawn every three to four hours;  I built up so much scar tissue on my veins that after a while I couldn't even feel the needle going in.  They were able to draw blood during the night without even waking me up! 

By the time I finally got home again I had been off work for 6 1/2 weeks.  I was to find out only years later that a piece of my lung had been sucked out during the surgery!  No one thought it serious enough to tell me.  I did learn that the surgeon had multiple malpractice suits over the years...I wonder why!!

When I finally was able to return to work I found my nerves a complete mess.  Being around so many kids and so much noise left me sitting in the staff room in tears every day.  I tried to stick it out for the remainder of the school year but I just couldn't.  Because of the circumstances Josiah was allowed to finish out the school year at no cost to us.

Gary was very upset and blamed me for Josiah not being able to continue at that school.  I felt so guilty.  What kind of mother was I not to do all I could to provide the best for my children!  The list of my failures continued to grow.

1 comment:

  1. You are an amazing mother! I just thought I would mention that

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