Re: home from my second home (hospital)

[Guest guest]

Hey guys,

I went to the ER late Tuesday night and was admitted. I got home Saturday

afternoon. I decided not to fool with the local hospital and I didn't want to

call my pcp and have him do a direct admit because I really hoped that IV

fluid and pain meds might settle things down. I did call the GI on call for

my GI. There are about 10 GIs in the practice and most of them know me well.

He told me to go to the ER and have them call him if the IV fluids and pain

med didn't settle things down. My panc enzymes were normal but liver enzymes

were pretty high according to the docs. I didn't even bother asking what they

were. The GI doc on call admitted me since my GI doc is out of town til

August. I was taken care of very well. Even though I'd been on two rounds of

antibiotics (the second time two antibiotics at one time) I was still having

some problems voiding and pain in the area of my bladder. Also right after I

got to the ER I had a few episodes of pain in my lower left side. I'd had a

urinalysis done twice in the last few weeks. They both had bacteria, blood,

protein, etc. but they said they were probably contaminated because there were

multiple types of bacteria. This time they did a cath urine specimen because

I was so dehydrated I had not urinated in several hours. I figured a cath

specimen was best anyway since there was no way it could be contaminated. The

urinalysis did show a UTI so they put me on IV levaquin. Since I was still

running a fever off and on the GI decided to do blood cultures on Wednesday.

One of the blood cultures came back positive so they called in an infectious

disease specialist. He stopped the levaquin on Thursday after I'd had 3 doses

IV. He had them do blood cultures Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. He

also ordered an echocardiogram of my heart and ct scan of my abdomen and

pelvis because the bacteria that was in my blood on June 29th can damage the

heart valves or kidneys. All the tests came back fine but the ct scan did

show a hemoragic cyst on my right ovary so they called in my GYN. He said the

cyst was likely nothing but for me to come to his office in a couple of weeks

and he'd do an ultrasound to make sure the cyst is gone. The infectious

disease doc saw me again on Friday and said since the last two sets of blood

cultures were negative and I was no longer running a fever, I could go home on

Saturday and there was no need for any more antibiotics.

As far as my panc goes, it's doing great right now. The couple of days of

being NPO obviously did the trick. I even went out to eat Saturday night and

had a small grilled chicken salad. However, around 9 p.m. Saturday I was hit

with this horrible pain in my left side. The same place I had the pain when I

had the original blood culture done the end of June. At that time, I had pain

on both sides in addition to having my panc pain under my right rib. Anyway,

the pain just hit like a knife in my left side right at my waistline. I could

barely walk. I took some pain med and after a while the pain went away. I've

had some pain off and on since then in the same area but nothing really

severe. I've also started back running a fever. So far it's only 99.4.

Also, I'm having this really weird pain in my left leg. It feels like the

pain is coming from my bone. It's on the outside of my lower left leg and

it's a throbbing sort of pain. It hurts more when I walk but it hurts no

matter what I do. I've taken pain med but it doesn't seem to have even

touched the pain in my leg. My husband asked if I'd called the doctor and I

told him I really wasn't sure who to call. My pcp knows I was in the hospital

in Huntsville but he wasn't involved in my care since he's in Athens. The

infectious disease doc saw me Thursday and Friday, did the tests and then

released me from his care on Friday. I doubt he would think a temp of 99.4

was anything to be concerned about. However, my normal temp is often slightly

less than 98.

Oh, well, at least my panc is doing well and I am able to eat and drink

without any problems. I figure I'll just keep an eye on my temp and if it

goes over 100 then I'll either call my pcp or the infectious disease doc. I'm

probably being paranoid but I'm wondering if the three rounds of IV levaquin

they gave me in the hospital were enough to knock down the bacteria enough to

keep the last two blood cultures from being positive but now maybe it's come

back. Or maybe I just still have a UTI. However, I have no clue what could

be making my leg hurt so friggin' bad. The leg doesn't look swollen nor is

there any redness or bruise. Oh, I forgot that last night right after the

pain in my left side started, my right arm was killing me when I laid down in

the bed. I figured it was just my shoulder flaring up. I've had surgery for

torn rotator cuffs and when the rotator cuff is inflamed it always made my arm

like crazy. I used ice because that always helps if the pain is from my

shoulder, but the ice didn't help at all. Then I remembered that they had

started an IV in my left arm for the CT scan contrast (they can't use the port

a cath for that) and the IV blew as soon as they started putting the dye in.

I had a large knot for a day or so. So, I figured maybe heat would help my

arm if the pain was from the IV blowing. I used moist heat and the arm quit

hurting and hasn't hurt since.

Anyway, that's the latest on me. I guess I should be thankful (and I am) that

the GI on call took such good care of me and that my panc is behaving itself

for now!

Hope this finds everyone doing well and having a pleasant weekend.

Weston

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

Yes, taking the levaquin before having blood cultures taken can cause the

test to be wrong. My infectious MD told me that. They still do it because if it

is a real resistant bug it may still show up. Now that you are off the

antibiotics, if there is a bug, it will show up. Please watch your fever and if

it keeps going up I would call the ID Md. My thoughts and prayes are with you

that you start feelng better real soon. Talk to you soon.

Love,

w

Wisconsin

---------------------------------

Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page