Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Update to the woes.....

Saw my pcp today. Unfortunately she agrees that a lap is now warranted. I called and got an appt with her right away. She said hmmm, um I have to go back to my med school days for your gyn issues. You need to see Dr. E , but keep me informed. She said if it gets worse to call her and she will call something in stronger for me till I can get in to see him. She thinks there is now an adhesion and there and I think she is right. Today was easier on pain, but there is still quite a bit there. Enough to take meds around the clock. The lower incision from the lap in October has been pinching and pulling to the right. Unfortunately, there is pain and pressure on the right just like the old days. Except, in the old days it would let up. This is always there and has not really let up. It's not as bad as it was, but it is still pretty bad.

Called the ob's office for a followup appt and got mean nurse again. Turns out she is actually the office manager. Called for an appt and immediately the receptionist sends me back to the nurse. Grrr. She did NOT want to give me an appt. I didn't ask for it for the day he came back, just when he had an opening. I understand that he is a busy dr but I am busy too. Finally I convinced her to give me an appt. I actually had to tell her is there a reason that I don't know of, something going on with me not being able to make an appt???? She said ummm, no I am just checking his schedule. Finally she gave me an appt again at 145 on Friday. She said she will check with him and see if it was ok.

I was so steamed by this that I finally had had it and called the office back. Asked who the office manager was. Was told it was this nurse. Great, just my luck. I declined to hold. Then I decided that NO, this needed to be taken care of. So I called back. Got her on the phone and said you know this is the third time that you have tried to deny me an appt. Is there some issue I don't know about? Is there an office policy that I can't make appts? Is there something going on. Because everytime I try to make an appt you try to not give me one. Back in Aug, when I had an appt arranged to discuss surgery, you told me I didn't need that appt. We decided on surgery. Guess what, he found adhesions so I wasn't nuts! Then on Monday my pcp was soooo concerned she sent me to be evaluated for appendicitis. You told me to keep an eye on it and call back in a month. No way could I wait a month. Then you gave me a hard time about the follow up appt from the ER. What about today. I didn't ask to be seen immediately. Well patients from the ER need to follow up within 2-3 days. Ummm Ok, so that means I need to be followed up. Not that you will call me. Is there a problem I need to know about. No, everything is ok. Not a problem that I know of. Then why do you give me such a hard time? She went on to explain how he is really busy, etc. That they try to triage patients. That his schedule is jam packed even when he comes back from vacation. I said yes, but this is severe sudden onset of pain that started two weeks ago and has NOT let up. They say it is a ruptured cyst. We know that I am at risk for adhesions. The ER Drs are talking about that I need another lap. Not an appropriate conversation with a nurse!!! So if there are no problems, if I get pregnant at the end of the year and call and say hey, I got high bp, a headache that will not go away and gain 10lbs in 2 days. Are you with my history going to tell me to wait a month??? Oh no, we would NEVER do that. Then how would I know when you put me off all the time? Guess what I still have my appt and she better not change it. GRRRRRRRRR. She assured me that I could make appts.

So now it depends on what my ob says. He is pretty conservative. I don't know if this is something he will do. At first I was pretty shocked about needing another lap. But now, I am getting more used to the idea. A lap is not that bad. It just sucks for a few days. If he wants to get it done, I want to get it a move on it. Dh is going out of town for 5 weeks and I need to be able to function and chase after the girls. I can not deal with this pain for months on end. I am already scheduled off the first week of July for sil's wedding. This way I don't have to do any work that week. :) I either get it done before 7 July or I don't get it done till Sept/Oct. I don't want to wait that long if I have to. On one hand it's surgery with its own risks and benefits. On the other hand, we may be able to get an idea of what happened, they can get a look at my appendix and definitely rule that out, remove any adhesions that I may have, and take care of the issues. The other benefit means that he'll check my tubes and stuff for when we ttc. Get it all taken care of at once. I just hate the thought of a) infection - cause I got a uterine infection with the last one b) puking from general anesthesia - found out comapzene works well with this c) what if he finds nothing at all. I went into the last one on faith alone. Guess I will go on this one too.

Monday, May 28, 2007

A much better day!

Today was a much better day. Still have some pain, but easily managed with the meds they gave me in the ER. I am making an appt to see Dr. L tomorrow. Time for a heart to heart talk. I am really really worried about having another lap. I know that it is probably indicated. I can't can't can't go through what I went through last summer. I am really worried that I have developed an adhesion where the cyst burst. The nausea is gone. I was actually able to do something other than lay in bed today. I powerwashed the house and deck. Still waiting for the wood on the deck to dry out. Then I am going to paint the floorboards. They were in desparate need. I'll also call and make an appt with Dr. E. They better not give me any grief over it. I also worry about if I do a lap (which I have done before and is not nearly as bad as the fear from it), what if they don't find anything? So many decisions and so little time. Too much is going on this summer to be tied down to endo, cysts, and adhesions. My sil is getting married 7/7. I will be glad when that is done and over with. We have been avoiding the inlaws because they are driving us crazy. I'll have to update with what the docs say. I was hoping to have some quiet before ttc again.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

More Woes

Ugggh, where to begin. The last time I posted I had been in the ER for suspected appendicitis or a ruptured cyst. Well I saw my obgyn on Friday and he thinks it was a cyst. They are so hard to confirm. If you have a cyst, get in for a US right away, otherwise they won't be able to see it. I have now had 6 doctors say they "think" this is a ruptured cyst. Last night things got worse. I started having pain up the center right and to my ribcage too and tmi things south of theborder got worse. The big D word started up. This was after my obgyn's appt. Anyway, he scheduled me for an US. Then put appts as needed. Take that MEAN nurse. I don't need your permission, so kiss my butt. She wanted me to wait till June for this.

So I get home and it is getting worse by the hour. I start to get really concerned. Go back and look at my sheet for things to return to the ER for. Of course, now I have even more symptoms of appendictis. So I head back in. I was sitting in the waiting room just praying that I would not puke. Couldn't get by the bathroom because ONE family took up all the chairs in the Er part. So I had to go and sit all the way by fast track. They take me right back and first thing start an iv. Dr comes in and talks with me and he says this really sounds like appendicitis. Or it could still be a ruptured cyst. I got there at 945 last night and did not leave till 10am this morning. I spent the night. They did a contrast ct (fun drinking for that stuff and injecting your body with radioactive dye!), pelvic and transvaginal US, bloodwork, urine work, pelvic exam (yes again, doc said you have BTDT). They loaded me up when I got there on dilaudid, zofran, reglan, pepcid, iv fluids, etc. I got to do it again at 7am.

I have to say the drs, nurses, staff, were extremely nice. They would not let me do anything whatsoever! I told them I could walk across the hall to the bathroom for the US. First one required a full bladder, the second one required an empty one. She wouldn't let me do it! She said after everything you have been through, you deserve to be coddled. The same with the CT guy. He got there at 11pm the night before and was still running at 10am when I left. All night long he was running patients to the CT scanner. I felt so bad for him. He looked so tired. He kept checking in on me. He was so sweet.

It ended up that everyone says this a ruptured cyst and not appendictis. My lab work and scans came back normal. We think the cyst either ruptured fully on Weds or Friday. Or maybe ruptured partially on Weds and fully on Fri. The dr I had for most of the night said it was common to have severe pain for a couple of weeks with this. They said that they wish I had gotten an US on Monday night and we might have been able to see the fluid. I didn't get an US until 11 days after the initial rupture. The US tech said that this happens all the time. Women in severe pain from a cyst rupture and then they don't get into their docs right away (some wait and call like me and some call but can't get in), and they don't get an US right away. But they say I had the classic signs. So everyone is going with the cyst rupture (my obgyn, my pcp, and 4 ER drs). I hope that I NEVER have one again. It was worse than my pe pregnancies and child birth. I will take an induced pitocin delivery with a failed epidural any day over what I have been through in the last 11 days.

They sent me home with the same scripts as Monday. Seeing that I have Lortab and the Reglan. I am just hanging onto those scripts for now. I also have to see both my obgyn and my pcp in 2-3 days for followup. My obgyn, I think, is out of town. So I will see him when he gets back. I will make a double appt for K and me (her allergies are really bad right now). I asked why and he said BOTH drs need to be involved on this. For the bad news, the ER dr has suggested another lap as the next step to see exactly what is going on. He went into that my ob can take a look with a laprascope. I said hey I know what that is, I had a lap for adhesions in Oct. He said well I really think you need another lap. I don't know what my ob will think about that. I am not thrilled about the possibility of surgery. However, if my ob says lets do it, I guess I will. I am already scheduled the first week in July to be off, so I'll just do it that week if he thinks it needs to be done. While he is in there, take out my appendix so that there can not be any mistake again, lol. Can obgyns take out an appendix while in there??? Don't know that is a question to ask him. On one hand I would like to make sure that everything is ok for when we ttc. On the other hand, it's ANOTHER surgery and I don't like surgery. I especially hate general anesthesia because I puke so bad. But maybe if this continues, we may need to take a look. And it is very possible that because of the cyst bursting, I have developed adhesions. It would also get a good look at my appendix to make sure. If my ob goes for this suggestion, I think he is going want to do it asap. We are going on vacation in three weeks! So much to talk about. I am really worried.

I am glad that the er dr wants both drs involved. I really like my pcp. Trust her with my life. She explains things so easily. She is a really really good sounding board. So I am hoping that we can discuss this and I know she will tell me her opinion. I believe her own sister has had three laps.

Dh and I have talked tonight about a lot of things. I really think get rid of the parts and end of the problem. However, we really want one more child. We will be trying at the end of the year. I think I have pretty much decided that after that baby, I will go to my ob and just do a partial hysterectomy. I want the uterus out (cause it causes me to many bleeding issues) and I want the right ovary and tube gone. No ovary and tube and hopefully it will be better. I do want to keep the left ovary because I do not want to be in menopause at 34-35. Dh agrees. I guess he was so happy because no uterus and that means no vasectomy for him. He's a big chicken. I am just so shocked over possibly having a lap again. But I know it is the only way. Grrrrrr.

Wow so much to think about in a short period of time and we are already so busy for the summer.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Well an update to my previous post

I broke down and called the obgyn's office. It was a no go. My ob is in a solo practice. Has two midwives and a NP. I am not really comfortable seeing the NP or the midwives. I feel they are uncomfortable seeing me. Especially when pregnant. I called and talked with the nurse. She was nice but she was one that I have run into problems with before. Last August before I had a lap, I called for a refill of Darvocet. She totally went off on me when I called. Said I didn't need an appt. That I had just seen the dr two weeks before and my followup was for 4 months not two weeks. How many sample packs did he give me, 4, well that's when he wanted you back. Why did you make this appt? Um NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. Told me that even if there was someone who could write the rx (doc was out of town), no one there would. Now, I had never abused the Darvocet that I was given. I took it exactly as my ob prescribed. He never wrote for refills so I had to call in each month. Please, who exactly gets high off of 15 darvocet a month. I was extremely upset because I was in pain and I was treated horribly by her. She used to be my favorite nurse when I was pregnant and well she fell off that pedestal when this happened. In case any one is wondering, I had the appt because I discovered I had an option of having a lap. The appt was to discuss with my dr if he would do it. He did. Anyway, by the time I picked my daughter up from daycare, I was doubled over from pain and in tears. They called dh on his cell phone and off we went to the ER where I had a compassionate nurse.

Which leads us to yesterday. I called the office and the receptionist said that he was booked and going out of town. She said I am going to let you talk to the nurse and I got this nurse again. While she was nice on the phone. She listened to the whole story. Then she told me that it was my body resetting itself, track the symptoms, and if it was still a problem next month call in a month and she would get me a spot. WTH??????? You have a patient call and say she has had severe pelvic/abdominal pain that started all of a sudden 5 days prior, with a small gush of vaginal bleeding, followed by constant lower right back and lower right pelvic pain that required lortab and motrin round the clock. Also bright red to brown to no bleeding and back again the same way? Realize I havn't had this pain since October when I had a lap. You tell them to call back in JUNE????

By the time I was on my way home from work I was in tears and doubled over. I really did not want to visit the ER. They would put me through a zillion tests and certainly a pelvic exam (God I hate those). So I broke down and called my pcp (Best damn doc), they got me in right away. Cried even harder in her exam room when she pushed on my stomach. She said PE Mommy, I am extremely worried that you have appendicitis and you need to get the tests to rule it out. You need to go to the ER. Which made me cry harder. She said I might need surgery. She called the Chief of Emergency Medicine. Told him she thought I had appendicitis and was sending me over. She told him I also had pelvic issues that this could be but do not do anything with that till he ruled out appendicitis. She promised me. She said that it was a) appendicitis B) ruptured ovarian cyst C) endo/adhesions are back. She said if it was GYN that she would be personally calling my obgyn so I could be seen.

Off to the ER. They gave me two bags of fluid, some dilaudid, and a bag of Reglan. They ran a cat scan and blood tests (only got two tubes). My tests came back normal. I did get a pelvic exam. GRRRRRRR. The dr said that they thought because of the way this presented that I had ruptured an ovarian cyst. The other possibility was that my previous problems were back. So they sent me home on Lortab, motrin, and reglan. I was told to follow up with my obgyn in 1-2 days for a re-evaluation.

Called the obgyn's office today. Got the SAME nurse. Darn. She was nice again, but she was like well who told you it was a ruptured cyst. Umm two er drs (one being chief of emergency medicine!) and my pcp. Well I have your cat scan. It's normal. I said yes and all the drs told me that it may not show up on cat scan which is one of the reasons they wanted me to follow up with my obgyn. They said that he will probably send me for an US. Oh. Well are you feeling better. Some but it is still bad. She really did not want to give me an appt. EVEN THOUGH THREE DRS SAID I NEEDED ONE. She finally gave me an appt. Unfortunately as crappy as I feel, I still have to work. I HAVE to be in a city three hours away on Thurday. NO OPTIONS cause this is for work. I was wondering how I was going to swing that if I had to have an appy. So I told her no, I am going to be in XXXX on that day. Could tell she was getting mad that I could go to XXXX but needed an emergency appt. (In case you are wondering I typically still go to work if I am dying. Had knee surgery, was supposed to be off work 6-8 weeks. I went back after a week with the bandages still on and bleeding. When I was pregnant, I kept working till my obgyn kicked up the bp meds so high that I couldn't function and I had to take off. Just going to his office left me exhausted for hours and he is less than a mile away!)Friday morning, no I don't have leave, it needs to be in the afternoon. Fine 145. SOLD.

What the heck is her problem? I am so upset with this nurse. One nurse could make me change practices if there was another practice to go to in town. But the nearest next practice is an hour away. I really dislike university hospitals. I have no desire to have a dr unfamiliar to me dealing with me. I have a hard time trusting doctors as it is. I will be talking to my dr about this. I wonder if he knows about the bully on the nurse line. She didn't sound surprised that I went to the ER. I told her that Dr. L sent me. This is the second time that she has done this with me and I want it to stop. I am going to ask my dr if there is a reason that I am not allowed an appt that I don't know about. God I hate calling the office. It doesn't make sense. My ob says call me anytime for any issues, questions, concerns and this nurse is like Ft Knox. If I call and say hey I need an appt, it should be when is a good time. Not call me back in FREAKING June. How dare she try and diagnose me over the phone. My pcp said that it was a crap response. The ER dr raised his eyebrows. BOTH were not happy that I was told to wait a month and call. They said a month was not appropriate and neither was what this nurse did either.

So I have an appt on Friday. Well see what happens.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

I'm am disappointed, endo is back I think

I had a lap in Oct 06 for endo. While my dr did not see active endo lesions, I did have adhesions that were new, they were thin and filmy. Ever since I had my S, my periods had been seriously whacked. I WAS a 28 day cycle girl, never had inbetween bleeding, and while I had some pain, motrin easily took care of it. I did bleed heavily, but not nearly as heavy as after S was born. All that changed. I should have known something was up back then. I mean 5 days after she was born I was seen in the ER for a severe uterine infection oh and I also got a lovely ecoli infection from the hospital too. I was on massive massive antibiotics. I had IV antibiotics in the ER, started on Lortab which I hated taking. Then I had massive massive oral antibiotics. I got the biggest dose of Augmentin one could take. Then 3 days later when it was determined I had ecoli as well, my obgyn added in the biggest dose of clindamycin that you could take. I spent about a month on antibiotics. While in the ER, the Er dr did a pelvic exam (very unpleasant at 5 days pp), but they had to check if I was hemmoraging. Apparently a urine sample full of blood brings up huge signs of something bad. While in there he pulled out huge huge clots that were near the outside cervical opening. One was the size of my hand. I saw it off the side, I felt him pulling it out and I heard the plop when he put it in the bin, and I saw the nurses eyes get as big as saucers. I had heavy bleeding but was not hemmoraging. Just bleeding a lot. They gave me a lot of drugs in the Er, pain killer, potassium, convinced me to take the Lortab, and bedrest again. I also got lots and lots of fluids.

Even with the d&c 8 days pp, I still bled for 8 weeks like a stuck pig.

Then was put on Seasonale and that just made me bleed worse.

Then another bcp and still break through. I began to have pelvic pain, lower right side. With my pcp's permission, I used leftover lortab from after Sara was born till I saw my obgyn for an annual exam. Each month more and more bleeding, and more and more pain.

Guess what? I think it is back. After many months of misery and constant bleeding, I had a lap. It showed adhesions. No I did not have a csection, nor PID, nor any infections, or surgery, or sexually transmitted diseases that caused them. I had no risk factors. But I had adhesions. Endo causes adhesions. Just because you didn't physically see a lesion doesn't mean it is not there. The little endo buggers are easy to hide and unless you have advanced disease are hard to find. I bled for over a month with the lap. But I was ok. If I had some pain, motrin killed it. I was good for several months.

In March, I broke through on my Loestrin that I take continuously and my prometrium. It was my fault. Mil was admitted for strep pnuemo bacterial meningitis and in all the hoopla, I forgot to take my pill. I paid for it with 4 days of bleeding and pain that was easily controlled with Motrin.

In April, I broke through again. BUT, it only lasted a day. Was a small gush followed by spotting. Pain was easily controlled with motrin. Not sure why I broke through. Take the pill every day at the same time. But I did as my dr told me and stayed on the prometrium.

May, For the last week I have been bleeding. Was a small gush followed by spotting. The first day it happened all of a sudden. I was fine during the day. Then all of a sudden I felt ill, sweating when it was cold outside, really bad lower right pelvic pain and lower right back pain. I took motrin. Didn't work. I took Lortab left over from the knee and foot. That helped. I went to bed. The first time since October I have had to go to bed from the pelvic pain. Dh had to put the girls to bed because I was unable to move due to pain.

The pain lessened considerably the next day, and I still spotted. I took motrin only the next day. Then Friday I got walloped again. Really bad pain, same area. Back to bed and back to Lortab and motrin. Same on Saturday. Still spotting. Same today.

So as much as I hate to do this, back to the obgyn again. I guess I will be calling at 8 tomorrow morning for an appt. I really hate going to the office. I really hate pelvic exams. I just had my annual exam almost 4 months ago. I don't think he will do a pelvic, I can't be too sure. Maybe he will up the prometrium, I seem to be breaking through the last 4 days of the pill pack. This totally sucks. I was hoping not to deal with this problem till I stopped taking all pills in October. I remember asking my dr what if it comes back when I stopped the pill. He said we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I am also worried that this may be an ovarian cyst that has ruptured. Maybe that is why I am bleeding. I didn't break through while on antibiotics for sinus infections over the winter. I didn't break through when I had knee surgery. Why now?? Why all of this pain. This is awful. I am really really considering just having my uterus taken out after the next baby.

We are going on vacation next month. Right around the time I have been breaking through. Who wants to be stuck in a cabin while everyone else is having fun. Not me. I don't want to spend a bunch of money to just hang out in a cabin.

This sucks. Now I am worried that I am going to be dealing with all of this again. If I am having bleeding and spotting now. Does this mean when I get pregnant again I will have spotting like I did with S?

I'll update when I see the doc. I doubt I will be able to get an appt quickly as I am not pregnant and this is a known problem. Quite frankly if I didn't have the pain killer that I had for my knee/foot, my butt would be in the ER cause the pain is that bad. I am just worried it is back again. So please pray that there is a reason for this.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Fat Doctor's Blog

I am really disappointed. I have been reading Fat Doctor's blog for some time now. I discovered today that it is only open to invited readers. Blogger says to contact the author of the blog to request access, yet doesn't provide a way to do that. So if someone knows Fat Doctor, Can you please request access for me??? I really really love her blog and check it every day. I even posted once in a while to it in the comments. Usually under anon before she changed it to register. I assume something happened for her to change it to invited members. Can I please be a part of the club??? So sad.