So far, this year has sucked.

[pippin]

Well, the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 have been ROUGH on me.

As some of you know I've got hardware in my back from a spinal fusion (not even 1 year post-op yet). Because of this, whenever I have any kind of dental work done, I'm required to take a pre-med - AKA antibiotic prophylaxis because there is a chance of infection and possibly causing problems around the hardware in my spine.

Well, about a week before Christmas I had a root canal done. I was prescribed 500mg of penecillin to be taken 4 times a day for 14 days. Day 8 of the treatment I ended up in hospital with severe diarreah, they did a CT scan, which showed I had colitis (inflammation of the colon/large intestine). They told me to discontinue the antibiotics, take pain medication and go rest it off. They took a stool sample because they were concerned about a possible C. Diff. infection (the one naturally occuring bacteria that isn't resistant to penecillin)

Next day I was back in there with bleeding. Was told there wasn't much they could do and I just had to let it work it out of my system.

Couple days later I was beginning to feel much better. I got a call from one of the doctors saying that a culture had come back and that I had an infection in my kidney from my kidney stones, and that I had to take cefnidir for the infection. I explained I was currently recovering from colitis and was just pulled from antibiotics. I was told I had to take them anyway.

We had been cleared by my Dr to go to AZ to visit relatives. I'd been taking the antibiotics, as well as pain medication because of my back and such, coming back to denver on thursday (after an early morning trip to Monument Valley - one of the last photos I've taken is below) I started to develop abdominal pain again. We got back into Denver on thursday evening, and friday I spent part of the day in bed. By this time the only thing I could stomach was mashed potatoes.

Saturday I spent all day in bed, aside from going to the bathroom. Sunday (jan 3) the pain was getting worse, and I was feeling faint. We called the ER, and they said to come in. I got dressed, and made it down one step on our staircase before feeling like I was going to collapse. Hubby called 911 - and I was taken via ambulance to the ER. They admitted me that night, after trying to find a vein, as well as blood pressure. Later that night I was moved from the general ward, to the Critical Care Unit. I was in severe pain, they had to get a life flight crew to find a vein (in my neck). The amount of saline solution that was given to me wasn't enough to counteract my dehydration.

(jan 5) I remember then when taken down to CCU/ICU they decided to put in a central line. It was painful. The first line leaked after they put potassium into one of the lines (it burned), so they redid the line again. They also put in a special monitor into a vein in my wrist that measures blood pressure as they weren't getting any readings using a cuff.

By this point I was in severe pain, they had me on a pain pump administering dilaudid every 8 minutes, but I was pressing the button repeatedly as I wasn't feeling any pain relief, so some is hazy, so I'm also showing the journal my husband had written:

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They performed some more tests and confirmed that the cause of her discomfort was an opportunistic bacterium that had taken advantage of the vacuum left by the penicillin. They kept her to monitor the situation.

On January 5 at 2:00 am, hospital staff moved Lisa to the critical care unit because the diarrhea had left her severely dehydrated. The nursing group had underestimated the amount of saline that they needed to administer intravenously to keep up with the fluid loss. I watched as they managed to get her stabilized that day. That evening, I spoke to Dr. Bernard Powers, a gastro-intestinal specialist who had seen Lisa. He said that the infection was particularly nasty and strongly suggested that her colon might need to be removed.

On the morning of January 6, I visited Lisa in the critical care unit. It was obvious to me that her condition had deteriorated. She was writhing in pain and grunting with each breath. Sharon, her nurse, theorized that the breathing problem was due to a pH problem with her blood. Dr. Young, the critical care specialist on duty that morning confirmed this and ordered that sodium bicarbonate in dextrose be added to her IV. Her breathing improved. Dr. Young cautioned me about jumping to surgery too soon due to the high morbidity rate of ileostomy patients. I visited again that afternoon and it seemed to me that, if anything, her condition had continued to deteriorate. She was partially awake, writhing and rolling her eyes, uttering incoherent phrases and experiencing delusions that were partially connected to reality. For example, I mentioned that I had spoken to her mother. About a minute later, she handed me an imaginary telephone and insisted that I talk to her mother because she did not want to. I took the imaginary phone from her and told her that I had it. She looked at me with hardened eyes and told me that I did not have it. Then, I grabbed her mobile phone off her tray and showed it to her. She turned away and closed her eyes. Cindy, the attending nurse, told me that the delusions and incoherence were most likely side effects of the pain medication.

On January 7 at 12:30 am, I received a telephone call from Dr. Richard Tillquist, a surgeon, informing me that the infection was not improving and that he recommended removing Lisa's colon because it might rupture and spill bacteria into her abdomen. At his suggestion, I immediately called Dr. Buttes who said that she had "never seen anyone this sick before" with C. Diff and that, if she had a family member in this state, she would argue for removing the colon. I also spoke with the anesthesiologist and then verbally consented to the procedure. At 5:00 am, I received another call from Dr. Tillquist informing me that the procedure had been successful, that when the colon was removed, it was clear that it had been in very bad shape, and that Lisa was showing signs of improvement already.

On January 7 at 8:30 am, I visited Lisa in the critical care unit again. Dr. Young met me in the hallway and voiced his approval for the procedure given the way that Lisa's numbers had changed after he had left for the day. I found Lisa heavily sedated with a breathing tube down her throat and looking much more comfortable than she had the previous day. I also met Dr. Carolyn Tillquist, an infectious disease specialist, who also expressed approval for the procedure and sounded positive about Lisa's prognosis now that the infected colon had been removed. She told me that she would continue to monitor Lisa's blood for signs of infection but thought it highly unlikely that she would find anything.

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I was pulled out of sedation and restraints and woke up on January 10. I now no longer have a large instestine, instead I now have an ileostomy that I empty and change daily. Not something I'm particularly proud about.

I was released from hospital on january 16, I'm now at home, basically bedbound still as my stomach and abdominal muscles have been brutally ripped open. I have a nurse that visits every couple of days, as well as a physical therapist.

Mentally, right now, I'm in a bad place. I'm depressed, frustrated (I was meant to start school on January 4, but obviously being in hospital messed that up - now I'm hoping I'm recovered enough to start next quarter - end of march). The nurse essentially has said that people that have this go through a grieving process. I'm now forced to change my diet, there's certain foods I'll never be able to eat again, and start an entirely new life over.

So, I've not been able to pick up my camera since this trip - this is one of the last photos I had taken. Aside from slapping on my watermark, there's no editing done - I've just not had any kind of motivation to do anything. I'm essentially hiding in my room wallowing in self pity playing Need For Speed Shift.



Maybe once I feel a little better (right now I'm feeling like my life won't ever be the same - which I'm told is normal considering what I went through) I may edit some more - I'm just not feeling it right now.

[danchez]

Need for Speed Shift rules, which unit are you playing on? I have a 360, if you want to race sometime, just let me know. I don't mind kicking a person when they are down. LOL. Just kidding of course, seriously though, if you want to play, just let me know.

[pippin]

I'm playing it on the PC, but since the team racing pack is for the PC also, I'd be curious if you can't team up/bully other platform users. If not, that bites :/

[danchez]

yeah, I doubt that we could meet up and play online.... I've played a lot of games online and never heard of anyone using a different platform...

[newtune3]

Lisa, I don't know you but your story brought me to tears. You will be in my thoughts and prayers. I am nearly 3 years post op on the spinal fusion and they did not tell me about the antibiotics for the dentist. Time is wonderful medicine as is photography. May you heal quickly.

PS: I love your last image.

[L Stegall]

Wow - you have had quite a rough time. I wish I had some words of wisdom here, but really I can't begin to imagine what you've been through. it's just very tough stuff and you'll need time to heal, both physically and mentally. Know we're all pulling for you. A lot.