It was a day of high drama. It all started normally until my nurse came up to me and said, they were going to do a procedure on me, in my room at that very instant. “What procedure?” was my reaction. A colonoscopy apparently. The GI doctor walked in and said, he was talking to the other doctors and they were wondering if they really had to wait until later in the week to do the colonoscopy. With all the diarrhea I was having, they were sure, my colon would be clear, and they can go in and do a few biopsies and resolve this faster. They brought a few computers and some tubes and scopes. They had the anesthesia ready, and they also explained all the risks and made me sign a waiver. I was asked to lie down on my side and slide my pants off under a blanket and they were just about to sedate me, when the GI doctor came back and asked them to stop. Apparently one of my stool tests had come back positive for C. Diff, and the infection was something that had to be treated for, before they could do the colonoscopy. “Thank Goodness”, I thought. I wasn’t too excited about the idea of getting my bottom probed.
I was under the impression that people were allowed to walk around in hospitals, but not me. I was on enteric isolation. Apparently, the C. Diff infection can spread very easily in hospitals. I was not allowed to leave the room and the nurses and doctors were wearing isolation gowns and masks when they entered my room. A week long state of house arrest. I was allowed visitors, but I tried my best to avoid physical contact with them.
After four days of antibiotics, they decided that it was time to scope me, and this time they were gonna do it right. I was asked to drink a gallon of a preparatory solution. I managed three quarts before giving up. Have you hit the restroom 32 times in one night? Well, that is what this stuff does to you. It is supposed to completely clear your digestive system so that it can be probed. It is like cleaning your insides with liquid soap.
I wasn’t allowed to drink water the next day. I was thirsty and hungry. They were supposed to scope me at 9 am in the morning, but the doctor was busy with another patient. I had to wait till 12. The nurse asked me if she could get me anything. I asked her if i can get some water. “Sorry, the only thing I can offer you right now is a warm blanket”, she said. I wondered why she bothered to even ask me then. I had ECG probes monitoring my heart rate, a blood pressure monitor that periodically measured my BP and heart rate, an Oxygen meter measuring the O2 levels. I asked her if she can unplug me, so that I can go to the restroom. It took her three minutes to pull all the wires out. After i was done with my business, she had to hook me up again. That was no easy task either.
Finally it was my turn, they gave me a sedative, which would help me relax, but i would still be responsive. They struck a tube down my throat. I could feel the tube press against m throat, and I almost threw up. Breathe through your nose, said the doctor. i tried, but i think, i was still trying to force something out occasionally. The tube then went in the other direction, and finally, my entire digestive system was on video tape.
With my diagnosis complete, it was time for treatment options. They found a few ulcers in my colon, so it was a little serious. The doctor told me that it was important to treat the ulcers, but the treatment for ulcers would weaken my immune system, so it was not recommended until the bacterial infection had cleared up. One option he said, would be to surgically remove my colon. That meant that I would have a bag attached to my waist, which would collect the wastes from my stomach. Even though a part of me was shouting “No Way”, there was a part of me that just sunk into a depression so deep, I think decided i’ll stop eating for the rest of my life.
Fortunately for me, the infection cleared up in the next two days and they didn’t have to take any such drastic steps.
The next day, they started treatment for the ulcers, and in two days I was responding and feeling better. Finally, after 11 days of hospitalization, on July 4th 2011, I was discharged, and yes, there were fireworks to celebrate my discharge
Minneapolis celebrates my discharge, and that independence thing
July 15, 2011 at 3:04 am |
Thank god u r safe ..
July 18, 2011 at 3:39 am |
I completely agree, treatment in US hospitals is never less traumatic. Happy for you for it was a happy ending!
July 19, 2011 at 1:32 pm |
Hospitals are not resorts, they are not trying to make anything comfortable for you. They want to cure you as soon as possible, and throw you out. I think the overall experience with Fariview was good. It was Boynton that was hopeless.