Paging Doctor Stanko, Paging Doctor Stanko???

Well, the week started out pretty good....

But dang! By Wednesday afternoon, the old belly troubles started creeping up on me.  By Thursday morning, I was writhing in pain and needed a trip to the hospital.  Steve hauled me off in the car about 4:30 a.m. ... only to discover the highway was coated in black ice, there were accidents all over and the highway was shut down for miles on end.  

We were re-routed along frontage roads, around flashing cop cars, and ambulances, and tow trucks, back and forth over the highway.  What should have taken only 25 minutes tops, ended up taking over an hour!   

Did I mention, yes, with me writhing in pain in the back seat?

Whew!  Paging Doctor Stanko, Paging Doctor Stanko....      oops too early for my own gastro doc.... so I get a Doctor Zifferblatt !~!!!   And no, I am NOT making up that name... it's REALLY a Doctor Zifferblatt!

I have been down this road multiple times before for severe gastric distress, due to the complications of some past surgeries.  So they have all my files on hand and they know what to give me to get me stablized. 

They got me in, had me chug a purple cocktail with lidocaine in it to numb me as it went down, then a lovely shot of morphine.   Yes, Morphine Is My Friend!   Ahhhhhhhhh   It flowed right down my body from the shoulders to the toes.  Once that hit the old body, I could relax and stop spasming. Then it was tests and more tests and hauling me down the hallways for some xrays and cat scans....

I was wheeled along on that narrow gurney through the halls in my barely there open-backed gown.  Aren't those lovely?   But I insisted that I take along my fuzzy blankie I brought from home.   They parked me in the cold drafty busy hallway for half an hour waiting for the Xray room to be ready....   and they plug in a little cord into the wall and hand you the other end with a tiny push button like on Jeopardy!    "Can I have Medical Science for $200, Alex?"   

So there I lay, in a morphine haze, with people flying by my little cart, where my butt could be hanging out for all the world to see, for all I know.   Remember those black ice and car accidents I mentioned on the way in?  Yes... they were overrun with accident victims too!  Oh joy!  So I had to wait my turn while the seriously injured folks got their stuff done.  I didn't care, I had my morphine!  

Then I had to gulp 2 big glasses of orange barium and wait an hour for the CAT scan!   Back on my little cart, parked in the hallway, with my little jeopardy button in my hand----  "Can I have Scientific Inventions for $500, Alex?" 

I was finally returned to a glazed and dazed Steveio, waiting back in the little room at the ER.  I rested and he watched me sleep.  They determined the previously diagnosed bleeding section of my smaller intestine is now infected, swollen and closed off.  Fun, huh?   So now I get loaded up with some IV drugs to fight infection and swelling and I got to sleep on that tiny gurney cart... cuddled in by my blankie.   After five hours, they stabilized me enough to send me home again.  Whew. 

Clear liquids, yummy jello and soup broth, then followed by bland diet, and now some followup appointments next week with my good gastro doc,  Doctor Stanko.  Who, by the way, was OFF on Thursday so he let the good Doctor Zifferblatt handle my case.   Oh boy, my little leprechaun Doctor Stanko, whom I adore, are you gonna get an earful from me on Tuesday!   LOL 

I came home and slept all day and all night and into the next day....  I guess I needed it, huh? And I am feeling much much better now. 

Today (Saturday) my folks came down to see me from Michigan... so I got some good Momma Hugs and Lowell Kisses and I got to see them before they head back to Florida on Monday.  Crazy folks, going south this time of year?   Hope they will be back up soon with the motorhome and we can go camping!

So things are going fine here, and our family Easter gathering is still on schedule.  Luckily, we had shopped ahead of time and had all we needed to have for the big meal we are hosting.  Today Steve and I made calico beans and made lists of all the things to bring to the rented hall for tomorrow.  We only have to toss in the hams to the nesco roaster and whip up the mashed potatoes in the morning.  The rest of the family is all bringing dishes and the girls are coming early to help with last minute stuff.  All I have to do is rest and enjoy my little grandkiddies.  

Soooo my next blog should be all rainbows and sunshine and grandkids and laughter and NO more bad bellies! 

In the meantime, my darling Steveio stoked up the fireplace and made it comfy cozy here at home for me to relax and rest.