So my mom drives me to the ER, the wait wasn't too awful long I guess but then I was pretty out of it for a time so I guess my memory's a bit off. :-/ The last flare-up I had sent me to the ER too, because urgent care said they couldn't help me. They hooked me up with an IV because I was dehydrated and had some kidney involvement to the flare up. They did an EKG because of my fast heart rate (average of 130), and when the IV was done, they gave me a script for a z-pack and a course of prednisone and sent me home. That was the first time (that I'm aware of anyway...) that I've had any kind of organ involvement with my MCTD. Its kinda scary to think that something so important can be affected so easily and how fast things can go downhill.
I was really hoping that this time would be like the last. Yes, my symptoms were more intense, I had ridiculous swelling of my legs, feet and hands, and I hurt so bad EVERYWHERE, that I could barely move, and when I attempted it I think I even whimpered a little. Drinking water made me feel nauseous (I even threw up a few times, which is totally not normal for me) and the only thing I could keep down was tea, and I thought I was drinking a lot. Turns out, not so much. When I got in to see the Dr, I was somewhat encouraged by the fact that she was at least familiar with my disease! That almost never happens! Turns out, she's the sister of one of the other Dr's in my Rhuematologist's office. She ran a few tests, we discussed my symptoms and how I was feeling, etc. When the tests came back, we were all shocked at my kidney issues. Can't remember what the levels were, but they were desperately low. My mom said the only time she's ever seen anything worse was from dialysis patients, which-you know- is encouraging...(insert sarcasm here).
I was also having sharp pains when taking deep breaths, so I was breathing with short slow breaths to keep from pain and coughing. I think this is when I got sent for chest xray #1, but again, I'm a bit foggy on the details. I also had a lovely visit from respiratory during which they made me do a breathing treatment that tasted like crap and made me cough but produced nothing, fun thing was, couldn't really stop coughing after, awesome!
Some time later someone came back in and informed us that I was not going home, but that they were admitting me. Fantastic....
Monday, May 16, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
An update to recent events...Part one
The last three weeks have been more than a little crazy. As I've mentioned on here before, I've been feeling like a flare has been waiting in the background to pounce for the last few months. I've been doing everything I could think of to keep it from hitting, getting extra sleep, not overdoing it, in general, I've been curbing most anything that would push me beyond normal everyday activities, hoping that the feeling that it was coming would pass. Sadly, that dream was never realized. I woke up that Saturday morning, ready to help my sister move, and I had the horrible feeling that this was going to push it past my defenses and really hit me hard. I woke up feeling tired, and a bit achey, but knowing that the feeling had been coming for a while, and I couldn't stop it, I headed out anyway.
We worked all day, packing the truck and moving her stuff across town to our place, and moving it all in. We returned the truck and headed home. It was a long day. There were only a few pieces of heavy furniture, most of her things were just boxes, but it was an all day event, and we were exhausted.
The next morning was Sunday, I woke up feeling like crap. I knew instantly that I had a fever, and I ached all over. Stayed in bed for the morning, took some tylenol and was feeling better in the afternoon, but by late evening the fever was back. Next day was worse, higher fever, achey and in general feeling like crap. It was a "typical" flare for me, much like those I've had in the last two years, until Wednesday that is, when I actually threw up. THAT was not at all normal in my past flareups. Not sure where it came from, but as I'd just taken my medications, it tasted especially like crap and I was not happy to have them out of my system when I was feeling so crappy anyway. That was right before bed, and the next day I threw up two more times. Thought maybe I just had the flu. Wednesday my temp had hit 103.5, which is astronomical, but again as I've mentioned before, high temps have been "normal" for me when I get sick. Nobody's really sure why, and its one of the things my old Rhuematologist had been really concerned about. On Thursday, my temp hit 104.3, and had even me worried. Each time my temp went over 102, my eyesight seemed to get worse, on Thursday, even with my glasses I was having trouble reading my computer screen. It was like I didn't have them on at all. Tylenol finally brought my temp down to 101, and I felt a bit better. (how sad is that?)
On Friday, my temp stayed around 103 most of the morning, and I was so swollen and in pain that I could barely get out of bed and move in general. I tried calling my Rhuematologist to get in to see her. I was pretty sure I had a sinus infection, I had been having sinus drainage coughing and all that fun stuff, and I was in serious need of a medrol dose pack to curb the swelling. She was out of the office however and they wouldn't schedule me to see any of her partners. She was going to be out until the end of the next week. They suggested I call my PCP. They office girl "suggested" that my symptoms did not present as "rhuematology related" and so fitting me in was not a priority. She also inferred that by waiting so long since it started (from Sun to Friday when it was progressively getting worse?) that it couldn't be too bad. Thanks so much...
Called my PCP's office who also stated that they couldn't see me, and that my rhuematologist should have to fit me in. They wouldn't make my appointment because I'm uninsured and they "don't take self pay patients". Also told me that because I'd never seen him before, they weren't even listing me as a patient and he wasn't accepting new cases. I frustratingly assured them that yes, he did accept me as a patient, about 8 months ago in fact, and that he'd even called in prescriptions for me. She told me he wasn't there to confirm and they couldn't schedule without it. They suggested I go to urgent care, who I knew from the last time would tell me they couldn't help me and send me to the ER. Which was an extra expense this uninsured girl does not need. Needless to say, a frustrating runaround... Finally decided I couldn't take it any longer, and headed to the ER.
We worked all day, packing the truck and moving her stuff across town to our place, and moving it all in. We returned the truck and headed home. It was a long day. There were only a few pieces of heavy furniture, most of her things were just boxes, but it was an all day event, and we were exhausted.
The next morning was Sunday, I woke up feeling like crap. I knew instantly that I had a fever, and I ached all over. Stayed in bed for the morning, took some tylenol and was feeling better in the afternoon, but by late evening the fever was back. Next day was worse, higher fever, achey and in general feeling like crap. It was a "typical" flare for me, much like those I've had in the last two years, until Wednesday that is, when I actually threw up. THAT was not at all normal in my past flareups. Not sure where it came from, but as I'd just taken my medications, it tasted especially like crap and I was not happy to have them out of my system when I was feeling so crappy anyway. That was right before bed, and the next day I threw up two more times. Thought maybe I just had the flu. Wednesday my temp had hit 103.5, which is astronomical, but again as I've mentioned before, high temps have been "normal" for me when I get sick. Nobody's really sure why, and its one of the things my old Rhuematologist had been really concerned about. On Thursday, my temp hit 104.3, and had even me worried. Each time my temp went over 102, my eyesight seemed to get worse, on Thursday, even with my glasses I was having trouble reading my computer screen. It was like I didn't have them on at all. Tylenol finally brought my temp down to 101, and I felt a bit better. (how sad is that?)
On Friday, my temp stayed around 103 most of the morning, and I was so swollen and in pain that I could barely get out of bed and move in general. I tried calling my Rhuematologist to get in to see her. I was pretty sure I had a sinus infection, I had been having sinus drainage coughing and all that fun stuff, and I was in serious need of a medrol dose pack to curb the swelling. She was out of the office however and they wouldn't schedule me to see any of her partners. She was going to be out until the end of the next week. They suggested I call my PCP. They office girl "suggested" that my symptoms did not present as "rhuematology related" and so fitting me in was not a priority. She also inferred that by waiting so long since it started (from Sun to Friday when it was progressively getting worse?) that it couldn't be too bad. Thanks so much...
Called my PCP's office who also stated that they couldn't see me, and that my rhuematologist should have to fit me in. They wouldn't make my appointment because I'm uninsured and they "don't take self pay patients". Also told me that because I'd never seen him before, they weren't even listing me as a patient and he wasn't accepting new cases. I frustratingly assured them that yes, he did accept me as a patient, about 8 months ago in fact, and that he'd even called in prescriptions for me. She told me he wasn't there to confirm and they couldn't schedule without it. They suggested I go to urgent care, who I knew from the last time would tell me they couldn't help me and send me to the ER. Which was an extra expense this uninsured girl does not need. Needless to say, a frustrating runaround... Finally decided I couldn't take it any longer, and headed to the ER.
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