Last friday 8/21 around 6pm I felt the stomach pain again, that same pain I felt 5 month ago in California that eventually got me into a hospital. The stomach had been feeling funny the entire afternoon, not sure how to describe it, just funny. I didn’t feel like eating or drinking anything because the stomach feel bloated and just feel like putting more into might “pop” it. By 9pm I sort of know it’s not stopping but the pain hasn’t gotten as intense as the last time and I have not feeling like vomiting yet. I was debating if I should go to the emergency room but was still hoping it’ll recover by itself. Plus I had some things I was working on that will need me to have access to the computer. I told my parents my stomach is not feeling so we started “treating” it with home remedies. My mom made me little bit of plum juice, applied this Chinese green liquid thingy, and my father did some longevity and point pressure thingy on my back. I felt better but stomach pain is still there. I tried to lay at different places, on bed, couch, chair, etc just to find a more comfortable position but it gets bad after a while so had to keep switching. I vomited about twice I think and then out of exhaustion, finally I fell asleep at around probably 4am in the morning. I woke up next morning feeling much better. The pain is still there but less intense. However after moving around for a while, the pain came back stronger and threw up again. (I felt better every time after throwing up) My bro came and he drove me to ER.
Waited for about 45 mins in the waiting room after “signing in” to get called to check in and taken to ER and placed on a temp bed (around 1pm). The doctors and nurses came and asked the same question over and over again. I felt like recording it onto my phone and play it back for each one of them haha. Basically they ask you what happened, where’s the pain, from 1-10 how painful is it, what time it happened, are you allergic to anything, any medical problems, any medications, etc. They told me a ct scan is needed to determine if it’s appendicitis, bowel obstruction or others (cancer). They gave me morphine to ease the pain but I had an allergic reaction to it this time. The left arm veins all popped up and turned reddish from where the IV needle entered. They had 3 doctors came to look at it and all of them said they have never seen it before. I felt an itch on the arm in the very beginning morphine is administered. I found myself scratch the left arm and then I was like hey I think I am having an allergic reaction and show the nurse Chris the itching area. The vein started blowing up and turning red. They gave me Benadryl to stop the reaction. The popped up vein last for quite a while. The result from the ct scan came back and they told me it is bowel obstruction and it’s serious. They were already talking surgery and checking me into the hospital. They said they will have the surgical team look at the ct scan and talk to me about different options. I called my other surgeon’s office they said usually these type of obstruction they will apply a “conservation” approach which is to insert a tube to suck out food and liquid and wait to see if the bowel recovers itself. If it doesn’t, then surgery will be considered. The doctor here came back and inserted a tube through my left nostril down to the stomach so it’s the same as last time. By around 8:30pm I got a room in the hospital and began my “vacation” there. I bumped into a friend who worked at the hospital. He saw my name on the computer but wasn’t sure and checked with my info on faceboook. He came and I was surprised to see him. He helped with some things and I am grateful for it. Thanks!
While in my room, 2 doctors came and told me the ct scan is showing a 5cm dilation of the intestine and that’s pretty big. I think in their mind they were thinking surgery already. I was like no no no. At the end of their visit, I had passed gas, a small one and I told me about it. They said it’s good, keep it up. I had my bro go home it was 9ish because sil and kids still at my house waiting. I recorded my gassing time on the phone. 10pm 2 ba-ba-bas. 10:20pm another ba-ba-ba. lol I fell asleep maybe 11pm or so and woke 2 hours later at around 1:30am because the need to go to the bathroom. I was excited but wasn’t sure if anything is coming out. Went to the bathroom and voila, some came out (harder ones), and then some more (softer) and then some more (liquidy). That was a huge load of it. I told my nurse immediately and she was happy about it. I went back to sleep and feeling really good.
Next morning a doctor came and I told her about last night’s bowl movement. Another doctor came and removed the tube from down my stomach. It was a quick pull out but the acid from the stomach stung the nostril when the end of the tube passes through the nose. I was tearing like crazy. I think they should offer us some water first to wash down the tube before pulling it out. They did that when inserting the tube they should do the same when extracting it. What a relief for the tube to come out but my throat was hurting from all that friction when it was inside. It almost feel like being sick with a swollen throat. The pain went away after about a day. Liquid diet was finally ordered for me for dinner. It came a bit late around 6ish I almost thought it wasn’t coming. I enjoyed it and drank everything. I spent the night playing with my G1 phone and the apps on it. It’s awesome to have a phone with web access! I downloaded a few games for the phone and they kept me busy for a while. Also finally checked out sharing photos and videos from the phone.
Monday morning a whole bunch of doctors showed up and one asked me a few questions and told me that they will give me solid food and see how it goes. They said if everything goes well by late afternoon then I should be able to leave in the evening. Around 9am breakfast came. There were scrambled egg, potatoes, oatmeal, banana, tea, and a piece of bread. Yums haha The nurse also gave me the liquid diet my roommate couldn’t eat because he was going to be operated the same morning. An hour later another doctor came, a surgeon, that I met 3 years ago at the same hospital. He remembered me and said he didn’t operate on me 3 years ago. He saw that I was doing good and had passed gas and told me I can go home soon. Later a nurse came and said I can be discharged just waiting for papers. My sister came “pick” me up and we walked home. Sweet~
