Kathy S WLS Journey - Chicago ER Hell
ER Hell, Am I Going To Die?
Oct. 1, 2004
The in-home nurse didn't like what she saw and also my vitals were not good. She called the doctors office and by the time we got the call to go to the emergency room it was 4:00 Friday (they were concerned the infection was in the blood stream). The last thing I wanted to do was go down town Chicago on Friday to the ER, I just knew this was going to be a nightmare. I tried to call my family doctor in hopes of going to my local hospital but it was getting really bad so we left.
We checked in and waited 2 hours before my husband asked how much longer, they said 3-4 hours. My husband said that was ridiculous and went to get the car. He got me in the car and said he was going back in to get Dr. Nagle's number and call to leave a message as to why we were leaving to go to our local hospital. Well the next thing you know my husband said to come back in they were going to get us in right away. The explained there were so many shootings on Fridays they have to keep bumping those that are not going to die on the table. Sigh, I felt bad.
They wanted to do a scan to see what was going on. They brought 3 bottles of stuff to drink and I just laughed. I only can drink 1/2 cup. After the test they were waiting for the blood test. They moved us out into the hall as this was a big city hospital on Friday night and trauma's were coming in left and right. Lord give me my suburb home any day. To make a really long story short, it took us 8 hours before I got a room and they said the test results show the infection in my blood stream and the pocket of infection seems to be contained. I got to my room and they started antibiotics on me every 6 hours.
The next morning the doctor came in and said they need to do a leak test to make sure this was not coming from my pouch due to my history of leaking. I took the test and everything was ok. They then said the specialist was concerned this may be coming from the intestines. This hospital sees hundred of WLS patience a week so they know all the complications that can go wrong. They said if this was the case my two options would be to have a pic line in my main vein and not eat for months and or anther surgery. I just cried the whole night. Finally that morning the doctor said (this was Sunday) my surgeon had looked over the test and feels this is not attached to my intestines and if it was it was not very bad and said I could eat. Finally some good news.
Dr. Nagle came in Monday morning and he said if everything looked ok tomorrow morning I could go home. I saw him the next day and he was pleased with what he saw. I looked for the first time at my wound it was looking much better. He sent me home, yippee!!! He wanted to see me in a week. Oct. 6.
The in-home nurse didn't like what she saw and also my vitals were not good. She called the doctors office and by the time we got the call to go to the emergency room it was 4:00 Friday (they were concerned the infection was in the blood stream). The last thing I wanted to do was go down town Chicago on Friday to the ER, I just knew this was going to be a nightmare. I tried to call my family doctor in hopes of going to my local hospital but it was getting really bad so we left.
We checked in and waited 2 hours before my husband asked how much longer, they said 3-4 hours. My husband said that was ridiculous and went to get the car. He got me in the car and said he was going back in to get Dr. Nagle's number and call to leave a message as to why we were leaving to go to our local hospital. Well the next thing you know my husband said to come back in they were going to get us in right away. The explained there were so many shootings on Fridays they have to keep bumping those that are not going to die on the table. Sigh, I felt bad.
They wanted to do a scan to see what was going on. They brought 3 bottles of stuff to drink and I just laughed. I only can drink 1/2 cup. After the test they were waiting for the blood test. They moved us out into the hall as this was a big city hospital on Friday night and trauma's were coming in left and right. Lord give me my suburb home any day. To make a really long story short, it took us 8 hours before I got a room and they said the test results show the infection in my blood stream and the pocket of infection seems to be contained. I got to my room and they started antibiotics on me every 6 hours.
The next morning the doctor came in and said they need to do a leak test to make sure this was not coming from my pouch due to my history of leaking. I took the test and everything was ok. They then said the specialist was concerned this may be coming from the intestines. This hospital sees hundred of WLS patience a week so they know all the complications that can go wrong. They said if this was the case my two options would be to have a pic line in my main vein and not eat for months and or anther surgery. I just cried the whole night. Finally that morning the doctor said (this was Sunday) my surgeon had looked over the test and feels this is not attached to my intestines and if it was it was not very bad and said I could eat. Finally some good news.
Dr. Nagle came in Monday morning and he said if everything looked ok tomorrow morning I could go home. I saw him the next day and he was pleased with what he saw. I looked for the first time at my wound it was looking much better. He sent me home, yippee!!! He wanted to see me in a week. Oct. 6.
Updated thoughts - It is key to find out ahead of time where is the most experience professionals concerning weight loss surgery.
If they do not have the knowledge by the time they get around to what may be the issue, you could be in more trouble. This is especially true of intestine blockage. If you don't have anything near, work with your PCP to have a back up plan in case of emergencies. It could save your life.
HW:330 - GW:150 - MW:118-125
RW:190 - CW:130
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