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Y&R Discussion Group
Hi Folks,
I've been in the hospital 3 times since Sept 12th. I was diagnosed with three blood clots, two were in my lungs, one in my leg. They kept telling me they were afraid the two in my lungs would travel to my heart and then I wouldn't make it. I said okay as there was nothing I could do but trust the doctors and wait it out.
They put me on two blood thinners, Loveaquin and Cumudin. When my levels reached between 2 and 3 points, they released me 4 days later.
Got my cumudin level checked 3 days after I left the hospital and it was up to 9.7, wayyy too high. They stopped me from taking anymore.
It was too late - On Sept 22nd I began to bleed to death in my liver. I called 911 and said I was having a heart attack because the electrifying pain going through my arms and chest and back down my other arm was unbearable.
By the time the ambulance got to the emergency room, my blood pressure was down to 60 over 30 and I heard them say, "she's bleeding internally, we're losing her." I was going in and out of consciousness and don't remember anything else.
My friend who followed the ambulance said they were giving me blood transfusions and frozen blood plasma and took me down for a cat scan and that's when they realized I wasn't having a heart attack, I was bleeding in my liver.
The doctors told my mother they were going to medo-vac me down to University of Pennsylvania in Philly for surgery because the hospital I was taken to didn't perform that kind of surgery.
I don't know when they took the second cat scan, but the liver stopped bleeding on it's own, however not without damage.
They kept me in the hospital for 9 days to stabalize me and decide if the liver was going to function okay.
I need an MRI in January because my liver now sits in a bubble of blood with a large blood clot in it. If it doesn't rejuvenate itself, I will need surgery.
I was released on Sept 30th only to go back in the hospital on October 2nd. I broke out in hives all over my body due to a reaction from Leviquin (an anti-biodic) as I developed a UTI in the hospital.
And get this- I also get a staff infection that just now went away with medicine. I HATE HOSPITALS and will never go back unless it's another life and death situation.
Today is my first day back to work since Sept 11th which was the last day I worked before all this happened.
If you've been in the hospital, how was your care? Did you develop a staff infection? Were the doctors and nurses nice to you? ALL of them?
The Respiratory doctor yelled at me twice because he wanted me to get up and walk around the hallways. I was on morphene for the pain in my liver and had 2 pic lines in me. I was too drowsy to walk. Morphene is strong and it was my first time being on it.
Then I had a nurse who said to me (this is kinda funny), she said, "You're not going to lay around in bed all day and watch TV like you're doing here at the hospital."
I said to her, "What else is there to do at a hospital when you're pumped up with morphene, having blood transfusions, two pic lines and you're so drowsy you can't even pay attention to the TV?
Anyway, It feels so good to be back at work. Anyplace is better than being in a hospital. Don't you think?
Have you had any bad experiences with nurses or doctors in a hospital? Did you feel you received top notch care?
Please share! It's great to be back living life again.
I am glad to hear from you. You sure went though (and are going through) a lot. Please keep us updated and know that we are here for you and are always sending you positive vibes/thoughts/prayers.
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Oh my goodness Donna... what an ordeal! People here were starting to post about you not being on so I sent an email to the email address you gave me to check on you. Did you get it? It may have been buried amoung many you probably received while you were gone?
Like everyone else I'm so glad you're back and that you survived that horrible ordeal. I'm not fond of hospitials either... I won't bother you with all that unpleasantness right now but I've been in twice and neither was a pleasant ordeal. Some of those nurses really SUCK!!!! They made me cry too. I think I'm just ready to die when the time comes... no operations, poking and proding for me... no mam' I'm gona live until I die... at least that's how I feel right now. Who knows how I'll react when that emergency hits? LOL
Welcome back Donna. There are better days ahead!
OT
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We've missed you, Donna. So glad you are on your way to recovery. I hope everything the docs put you thru was necessary and correct. When I had to have my gall bladder removed, before the laser technique, I spent 13 days in the hospital. Eleven of those days I had a nasal/gastric tube down that sucked out the "bad" stuff that had drained into my stomach. After I was discharged and my folks pulled out of the hospital parking lot, I started crying. My mom was so upset, she asked, "What's wrong, are you hurting?" I said, "No, I just didn't think I would ever get out of that place!" I was so discouraged, but things got better and better every day. I was well treated and my surgeon was the best, I just had a rough recovery period.
I wish you the best, Donna. Keep well.
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I had a good hospital stay when I had Lucy. By the time it was all said and done it was 7 days. The nurses were wonderful. One was a bit odd, but they were all kind and helpful. One was trying to lecture me on baby care right after they hooked me up to the morphine, and I told her she was wasting her time cause I couldn't even focus my eyes, much less follow what she said.
They had me up walking the halls dragging the dreaded pole (and bassinet!) around. One nurse would tell me walk more, and the next nurse would tell me I was overdoing it. Being determined to get the heck out of there I followed the walk more, drink more water advice!
Glad you are getting back to your life, it sounds like you had a scary time there. I am so glad you are feeling better, I was worried about you.
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Oh Donna, what a terrible time you have been through. I'm glad to hear you are on the mend and back at work, but take it easy.
I've been in hospital three times and I can say without exception that the care I got was top notch. The nurses, in particular, were fantastic. What a mighty job they do. I also had to go to emergency once when I suffered a gall bladder attack (I thought I was having a heart attack) and again, they were wonderful. They were caring and reassuring, and I could hear they were that way with all the patients, even the ones out of their minds with pain or drunk or not taking their medication. I have great admiration for anybody who takes on nursing as a vocation. Ditto for doctors, but nurses have tremendous responsibility and are paid a fraction of what doctors earn.
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"Anyway, It feels so good to be back at work. Anyplace is better than being in a hospital. Don't you think?
Please share! It's great to be back living life again"
What a great attitude! I'm not sure I'd have so much fortitude!
I've had my fair share of hospital time and for the most part, I've been treated pretty well. I do remember after one surgery being told I should walk up and down the hall just a few hours following the surgery. I thought the doc was nuts, but I did start walking, hoping that one of the nurses would see me and decide that I should in no way be out of bed. Unfortunately, no one came over to hustle me back to bed and I kept wandering the halls! (I hurt a lot and was pretty drugged up for pain, so walking was quite the effort!)
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, but your positive attitude is far more powerful than anything I can do for you! Good work!
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People were missing you Donna7888. So glad you are able to be back here. Sounds like things can only go up from here on. Take care.
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Donna, we've all been wondering where you were! Thank goodness you are back with us after that ordeal. So many patients seem to come out of the hospital with complications from being in the hospital! So, yeah, stay out of those places! ;-)
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Wow, what a nightmare, I'm SO glad you're doing better!
Back in February of 07, I had to rush to the hospital with overwhelming stomach pains. After being there a week, I was diagnosed with pancreatis and sent home. I could type paragraphs about my treatment there, but let's just say I did not think that the doctors and nurses did not took my pain seriously at all.
I was released on Friday, was still deathly ill over the weekend, so my mom took me to my regular doctor on Monday. He ran some bloodwork, and my white blood count was extremely high so he promptly sent me back to the hospital. This time they figured out that I had an intestinal blockage so I had surgery the next day... on my 40th birthday. Turns out I had a major twist in my small intestine, and a good size portion had to be removed. I would have died if it had not been diagnosed and removed in time. I was in the hospital another nearly two weeks and YES, I did get an infection. It was nightmare, and I hated every second of being in the hospital. A few nurses were nice, but most were just pretty unsympathetic and kind of brusque. I was so glad to get home.
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Donna, I'm so glad you're okay! We missed you here.
Sounds like your hospital was pretty rough but it beats the alternative, if you know what I mean. Keep us posted on how you're doing. I know you must still be getting your strength back.
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Oh, Donna...welcome back! I hope that you continue to get better. Hospitals are some of the nastiest places in the world. I had a friend with lupus a couple of years ago. She was touch and go for a while but suddenly took a turn for the best. That is until she got a staph infection at the hospital. Dead at 30 years old. Hospitals are really something.
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Goodness, Donna, you've really been through it this fall! I don't blame you for not wanting to go back to the hospital after all that. I will definitely keep you in my prayers.
I've only been in the hospital for childbirth and a few day surgeries. I had excellent care every time, no staph infections. I know other people who got them, though. Occasionally I hear a report on the local news about how area hospitals rank on that stuff, and I pay attention.
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My word, what an ordeal! Hope you continue to improve.
The one bad experience I had in a hospital was when they gave me Demerol for pain and I was extremely nauseated; I asked them to discontinue it and they did quit giving it to me orally, but I got worse and then found out they had started putting it in my IV instead. (?)
However, my mother was in and out of hospitals for the last ten years (she passed away earlier this year) and I literally could write a book -- a big thick book -- about the ordeals she went through. My daughter and I took turns staying with her or visiting at mealtimes every day because the aides would just come in, set the meal down on the rolling cart, and walk out. A few hours later they would come back in, pick up the untouched meal, and walk out. My mom was a very elderly stroke victim and could not get out of bed. So the attitude was 'Tough. Can't reach the food? Too bad.'
These were supposedly nice hospitals here in Austin, Texas. The last time she was in the hospital (for two months), when I brought her home, she had bedsores from her neck all the way down her back. We struggled for months to heal them. The few nurses and aides that care about the patient's well-being are memorable and really stand out in my memory because they are few and far between.
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