Sunday, March 30, 2008

My trip to the hospital.

Well I thought this weekend would be a good one, but it did not turn out that way at all.

Friday was a beautiful day I spent the afternoon with my sister, who was home for the weekend, and as a family we awaited the arrival of my aunt, uncle, and three little cousins.
Saturday arrived filled with plans. My aunt and uncle were in town to attend a birthday party, and we had the task of entertaining the kids while they were out, we decided to take them bowling. My aunt and uncle left for the party around 1 pm, and that is when all the chaos started. My littlest cousin Riley (1) was having trouble going down for her nap, and her brothers were going crazy in our family room. Around 3pm I made my first mad dash to the bathroom, just as Riley started wailing from her crib. As soon as I finished up I went in to check on her. She hadn't been sleeping for much more than an hour, so I tried to get her to lay back down. It didn't work. I wasn't feeling well and I had to ask my mom to come help me. She took over and I went to lay down. We decided to attempt taking the kids bowling, even though Riley hadn't had a full nap. So my mom got the kids in their coats and shoes, while I went to the bathroom again. By the time she had all the kids in the van, I came to window of the van and told her I couldn't go. I felt terrible, and all I wanted to do was sleep. So I stayed home to wait for my sister to come home from a doctor's appointment, in the hopes that by that time I would be feeling better and we could meet my mom at the bowling alley. No such luck. I only continued to feel worse, so I tried calling my mom and sister to get some help. No one answered. At this point my blood sugars had been running low never reaching over 80, even with a 50% temp basal rate. My dad was around, but he wasn't of much help. He ended up leaving to go somewhere while I laid on the couch feeling like utter crap. When my sister finally arrived around 5pm I had already been to the bathroom several more times, and yelling at her for not picking up her phone made me vomit (literally). She helped clean me up and soon my mom and the kids arrived home. My mom had me move from the couch to her bedroom. I spent the rest of the night running the bathroom (things were coming out of both ends if you catch my drift). By 7pm my blood sugars started to climb into the high 100's and I had small ketones. By 9pm my blood sugars were still in the high 100's, I was still vomiting, and I had large ketones. The whole evening I kept telling my mom, "I'm not going to the hospital," but when we saw that dark purple square we knew we had to call my doctor's emergency number. When he returned our call about 15 minutes later, he said he thought it would be best if I went to the hospital for an IV since I couldn't keep anything down and because of the ketones. He thought it would be best if I went to the hospital he works out of in Baltimore, even though he wouldn't be there because he could call ahead so I could be seen quickly. I wasn't happy about going, but I knew it was best. So my mom, sister, and I got in the van. Trash can, water, and blankets in hand for the 30 minute trip. I made it about half way and then vomited again. We were seen within a few minutes of arriving. I had to give a urine sample, which showed +1 ketones, and I had blood work done. After the blood work I thought I was going to pass out so I was allowed some ice chips. I spent the next 2 hours on an IV to rehydrate. By 1am we were on our way back home. I still don't feel great. I've spent the entire day in my parents room sleeping and eating jell-o, but I feel much better than I did yesterday. The ER doctor said that she was glad I came in before things got out of hand. So I suppose if this ever happens again I'll have overcome my hatred of all things medical and go to the hospital early. The last time I went to the hospital for something like this I was 7 years old, so I'd be very happy if it didn't happen again for another 9 years! Buy hey, at least I didn't have to stay over night.

I'm still kind of delirious so if some of the story doesn't make sense, I apologize.

13 comments:

Shannon said...

What a terrible weekend it turned out for you.

I hope you feel better ASAP!!!!!

Minnesota Nice said...

Oh good grief! In situations like these you can't be too careful.
Feel better soon.

Penny Ratzlaff said...

I'm glad you decided to go to the hospital.

I hope you feel better soon.

k2 said...

Sorry to hear that you had to go to the hospital, but you were wise 2 do so.
Continue to get better.
k2

Donna said...

Jillian - I hope you're feeling better soon. The flu season has been terrible this year! And it's even worse for people with diabetes. I'm glad you went to the hospital. Ketones aren't something to be messed around with. (That last sentence was a grammatical nightmare. Sorry. But you know what I mean.) Feel better soon!

Scott K. Johnson said...

Oh man - major suckage J!

I hope you are feeling better.

Naomi said...

Oh Jillian, that sucks so much! We've been there. I'm so sorry you went through that, but also very glad that you went to the hospital and that they saw you quickly.

I hate jello. There was a time when my guts were so bad I had to live on it for 3 weeks. I really hate jello. I hope you can get off the jello soon.

Give us an update when you are feeling better and (((hugs))))!!!

meanderings said...

Jillian,
Please feel much, much better very soon!

Anonymous said...

Get well soon, Jillian.

Araby62 (a.k.a. Kathy) said...

Oh gosh, what a nightmare. Hope you're feeling better soon!

Anonymous said...

ugh - that was so not the weekend your beautiful friday photo predicted! i hope you are feeling better soon. big hugs to you!

Caro said...

Sorry to hear you've been so sick. It's bad enough getting this kind of bug without diabetes to deal with too. Glad the hospital was ok though, and hope you're soon fully mended.

Jillian said...

Thanks everyone! I'm feeling much better today and I think by tomorrow I should be close to 100%.

Naomi, I love jell-o so I had no problem eating it!