Ice water, Omentums & lots of Love (long posting)

I got home this evening after two days at Swedish Hospital in Ballard.  What started with what I thought was a stress related stitch in my side (that actually stopped me from completing my derby practice on Tuesday), became a pain that I could barely tolerate, yet alone walk up right and turned to a quick trip to my doctor who sent me to the hospital with visions of appendicitis turned into an omentumectomy - or what I'm calling free "liposuction".  

I convinced my doctor that I would actually go to the ER at Ballard Swedish Hospital, I just wanted to go home first, get a night bag, put on my lucky bouting socks, pick up some mindless magazines, and have Lara take me so that I wouldn't have to drive or leave my car over night.  Lara drove me to the store to get US Weekly, Newsweek and Scientific American.  I don

't know much about hospitals seeing that the only time I had been in one for anything more than stitches was my birth - which I don't remember that much.  I do know f

rom all my experience with my mother being in the hospital - it's a lot of hurry up and wait.  Kind of like film too.

I try calling Pygmy on the way saying that I wouldn't be able to go swimming tonight because I was going to the ER.  She was trying to get a hold of me too to tell me she wouldn't be able to swim because she was taking her mother, who was visiting from WI, to the ER.   We had a series of very nice ER nurses.  One had never worked there and didn't know where anything was.  One came in real gruff and then relaxed once she realized we were rollergirls.  They did some blood work. No elevated white blood cells.  No raging infection.  They offered me drugs for pain (which I refused because I hate how they make me feel). When they did the CT scan, the night radiologist had concluded that my appendix had burst.  The resident surgeon didn't deem it an emergency  - get me hooked up on antibiotics (by this point I needed pain meds) and admit me into the hospital.  

My first night was not very restful as they wake you up every hour to check your vitals.  They were very nice people though and I was a "stellar patient" as I really had nothing to complain about.   Nothing had happen.  I had a synthetic morphine pain pump that would allow me to give myself a little juice when the pain became too much.  The doctor came and I told him story quickly.  I wasn't too keen on him at first because he was one of those doctors that will tell you what he thinks needs to be done as opposed to hearing you out.  However, his one conclusion was to talk to the radiologist a

nd maybe my appendix did burst and we could drain it (yeah!) and send me home with antibiotics.  But at this point, I was a mystery (which is not the first time I've heard this.) 

The doctor and the radiologist met and they found my appendix and my ovary (which was considered a possible problem) and were more baffled.  He scheduled me for surgery at the end of the day. He considered himself a conservative doctor.  He wasn't going to cut me open unnecessarily (AMEN) and was going to take a look around to see what they could find.  A mass was blocking the CT scan.  This was at 10 a.m.  Surgery would be at 5 p.m.  All of the sudden I wanted a glass if ice water - like a drug addict who needs their fix.  I became slightly obsessed and even more so since they said, I still couldn't have any.  So I brushed my teeth - like 4 times - to give myself some relief - but didn't drink the water.

Lara took time off from work and stayed most of the day.  Pygmy found me in the hospital and came by to visit.  At one point it was party central in room 426 overlooking Salmon Bay.  Pygmy and her baby niece would swing by.  Then Sonya (her sister) would stop in to check in on all of us.  Glitter Chicken (Danni) came by and brought me a lovely flower.  Kelli, from work, who had just had an appendectomy, (I kid you not) just two weeks ago at the same hospital,by the same surgeon, came by with a little note book.  We chatted about travel and language and other things while hanging out in room 426, over looking Salmon Bay in Ballard.  I send a gazillion text messages to my team, family and friends.  Talked to my parents.  Didn't answer enough questions.  Everyone left by 4 p.m. and that was just the time they came to get me.   

The surgeons were behind (kind of wish I could finish up that TB article in Scientific American) and I just looked at the ceiling in the waiting area of the surgery ward/department/theater - whatever it is called. I was freaked out about the bubbles in my saline line (which are not going to kill me I found out) when my doctor, now dressed in scrubs covered in clown fish and coral ref images (I was feeling really lucky) came by to round people up and get going.  I ended up talking about the band Snow Patrol with my surgeon who is older and heckling my younger nurse who didn't know how to use iTunes and ended up downloading the whole CD when they put the oxygen mask over my face.  The next thing I knew, they were pulling off cords and trying to get me to wake up.   

I was wheeled back to my room where Lara and Mona (my team captain and friend) were waiting for me.  They had been waiting the whole time and repeated essentially what the doctor had said them.  They pumped my belly full of gas and poked the little camera in. It wasn't my appendix or ovaries.  But my omentum - which is latin for "apron".  It is this fatty tissue that covers you internal organs - much like an apron or curtain - and had probably been useful at some point in our evolution - maybe when we spent more time running after our prey.  Who knows.  But mine was enlarged, twisted around itself (which is what caused the debilitating "stitch"), and full of cysts.  He had to pull this apron out a tiny hole and consequently I have an extra incision and a longer one to get this whole piece out.  They were sending to the lab for biopsy - though if it was cancerous - they usually see it evident in other organs and they all looked good.  He very rarely does this - remove the omentum.  In his words "it was quite laborious".

Mona left me with a vase full of beautiful tulips from my friends and dashed off to go to practice.  I was so grateful to have them there after surgery.  I took a drink of ice cold water (yeah! finally!) and that started me puking (all over myself) and then crying from the pain of puking which made my stitches hurt and then made me cry more.  They gave me something to stop the misery and gave me another pain pump.  I feel asleep.  I asked Lara to stay until midnight incase the doctor came by to tell me something, I needed someone to remember.  He didn't come by.  She left at 3 a.m.  

Renate (pronouced Renalta) woke me up to take vitals and make me pee (never had been so happy to do that) and cleaned up my bed, gave me a new gown, etc.  And I stayed awake for a couple of hours, watching the Today Show and CNN.  Texting a few of my EST zone friends who I might have missed in my flurry of texts.  I played with my iPod for a while and fell back asleep.  And woke up crying.  I was frustrated, exhausted, hungry and in more pain from laying on my back for the last two days then I was from the surgery.

Pygmy came by to visit with Sonya's chunky little baby.  I ate some french toast and then went for a walk around the 4th floor.  I couldn't wait to be checked out and the doctor would be in around lunch time.  The marketing consultants from work came to visit - I made a joke the the rebranding going on at work is killing us - they brought in some flowers and smuggled in an IPA. I visited Pygmy's mom who was getting discharged today.  And finally, my doctor came back, told me to limit my activity and though I usually ran a million miles an hour, I would have to get use to the slow lane and take it easy (which I completely understand).  And just make sure, on my check out slip they wrote "No Roller Derby until the doctor approves." He he he.

I went to the Bartell's to get my prescription filled and ran into a teammates boyfriend who could totally tell I was suffering and opened a check out line so I could scoot out quickly.   We picked up a couple of movies and curled up on the coach - with Monkey and took a 3 hour nap. (Kelli had left some soup and juices and dessert for Lara for taking such good care of me at the house.)  I ate some soup and toast.  I took a pain pill, watched America's Top Model and a documentary.  

I'll see the doctor again next week.  For now I'm laying low.  I'm looking at my omentumoctomy as my "free" liposuction.  I mean hell, I got rid of a layer of fatty tissue.  It just wasn't elective.

*photos of my lovely flowers.  Didn't think anyone wanted to see my stitches.  :p