Hospital Holiday

There is so much I wish I had written about the experiences of the past few months. How I was tricked into thinking I was well enough to attend my daughter on her trip of a lifetime to Florida for the Miss America Outstanding Teen pageant. My days were taken with sleeping, finding food I could/should eat, and going to her events. Physically, it was a miserable time, exasperated by the intense Florida summer heat which made my illness burst into flames. Otherwise, it was wonderful.

I stopped by Auburn University on my way to go help my daughter in Arkansas, who was having her 5th C-section, and give me a chance to connect with my grandkids whom I'm lucky if I see once a year (and that's been hugely by grace!). Veronica has the opportunity for an Auburn scholarship due to the pageant, as long as she stays academically qualified. At 3.9 GPA, she's close ;) It was a beautiful campus that I wish I'd had longer to explore, but what a blessing that I could even see it!

Arriving in Arkansas, I was a mess. Pain had become nearly constant. The time became a blur. I went to their chiropractor, who made it survivable by going to him twice a day. I know now that the muscular pain was due to the starvation mode my body was in, as I was losing a size every other week. By the Thursday before I was to go home on Sunday, the excruciating pain was beyond my ability to take anymore. I knew there was no getting on 4 different planes and getting home. Stupidly, I drove myself to the Emergency Room. It made sense at the time. I wasn't there to be needy, but to help... and I wasn't being helpful by being sick!

Expecting a pill or a shot - basically to get the spark plugs changed - instead I was admitted with a litany of problems that stunned me with the thought, "wow, I really am sick." Apparently I thought I'd been overreacting and just being a baby.

I got my first blood transfusion - which totally grossed me out - and I'm now told I'm part Arkansan :D Double tanked with IVs in both arms and bottles & bags and miles of lines, I spent the next 8 days going in for one test after another. Three of those days to stabilize me, 3 to explore my heart problem that developed, and then finally for the final testing. A bleeding duodenal ulcer was found, as well as many other ulcerations that are initially indicative of (along with all the other indicators) of Crohn's Disease.

In spite of the apparent inconvenience of all of this, it was extremely clear the whole time that I was EXACTLY where I was supposed to be. Our insurance plan worked MUCH better in Arkansas than it was working in Alaska. I had top notch doctors and their teams. My experience has helped me to understand first hand things from having diabetes (while normally on the hypoglycemic end, I was on insulin for high blood sugar while there) to heart problems (both bradycardia and running tachycardia arrhythmias [hope I got that right, I'm not exactly a doctor ;) ]

Being in Arkansas allowed my husband to deal with life on the farm without having to fit in time to stay with me too. Work increased his hours (yay! any other time), there was football coaching, and then, of course, the water heater had to die the second day I was in hospital. Things to keep him running so fast, he didn't have time to dwell. He's going to need some TLC when I get home. God help me to give it.

I haven't seen my kids in over a month. That seems so wrong on sooo many levels. I cannot wait to get home early Wednesday morning and find my way back into my life.