Day 7 – worked out for a full hour! And I drank a good amount of water and my meals weren’t horrible. Turns out yesterday and today were false alarms which probably means that early tomorrow morning before going into work I’m going to feel like I’ve been hit by a Semi – and there will be no way out as my car is going into the shop first thing in the morning to get more break fluid put into it. Which is something I could probably do myself if I knew where and what kind of break fluid to get – as long as the lines don’t need bled or anything. Super frustrating!
But on a good note – I believe I have officially lost a pound and at least a half an inch around my waist! Woot woot!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Ooops!
I know its been a few days since I’ve reported but work and life have been killing me! So here it is:
Days 3-6
So day 3, I just did some major stretching due to the exercise set I’d done the night before, but otherwise I did well.
Day 4 was a nightmare. I worked a straight 12 hour shift – no lunch break. Three of our staff called in sick that day, we had a completely full surgery schedule that got complicated by a dog that had a bunch of stickers caught in it mouth (due to idiot owners!) and a dystocia dog who had been in labor for about 36 hours per the owners (another pair of idiots). So lunch was filled with finishing up our surgeries from the morning, digging stickers out of a dogs mouth, and performing a c-section/spay. Luckily four of the five puppies survived – the one who didn’t was the one that got stuck in the birth canal. We called in pizza for lunch – I had Mt. Dew for the first time in a very, very long time. When I got home that night I downloaded some soundscapes and walked for about 30 minutes. I had comfort food for dinner that ended up not sitting very well. I did not drink anywhere near my goal amount of water.
Day 5 still not all that great. Drank water with lunch and dinner, but only drank maybe an additional 8-12 ounces throughout the day. I did some very light amount of stretching, but that’s it.
Day 6 I drank water with all three meals, but no extra, and no exercise. It’s just that time, so I was kind of expecting it to not be a great day. But I did eat pretty well today so that’s good!
I will do better this next week!
Days 3-6
So day 3, I just did some major stretching due to the exercise set I’d done the night before, but otherwise I did well.
Day 4 was a nightmare. I worked a straight 12 hour shift – no lunch break. Three of our staff called in sick that day, we had a completely full surgery schedule that got complicated by a dog that had a bunch of stickers caught in it mouth (due to idiot owners!) and a dystocia dog who had been in labor for about 36 hours per the owners (another pair of idiots). So lunch was filled with finishing up our surgeries from the morning, digging stickers out of a dogs mouth, and performing a c-section/spay. Luckily four of the five puppies survived – the one who didn’t was the one that got stuck in the birth canal. We called in pizza for lunch – I had Mt. Dew for the first time in a very, very long time. When I got home that night I downloaded some soundscapes and walked for about 30 minutes. I had comfort food for dinner that ended up not sitting very well. I did not drink anywhere near my goal amount of water.
Day 5 still not all that great. Drank water with lunch and dinner, but only drank maybe an additional 8-12 ounces throughout the day. I did some very light amount of stretching, but that’s it.
Day 6 I drank water with all three meals, but no extra, and no exercise. It’s just that time, so I was kind of expecting it to not be a great day. But I did eat pretty well today so that’s good!
I will do better this next week!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Feel the Burn!
DAY 2
Ouch . . .
So I worked out pretty good this evening – I moved onto a new segment in the workout videos that I have, and let me tell ya: I am sooooo feeling it already!
I’m unsure if I will be capable of walking or moving my arms in the morning . . . Oh well, I’ll flop out of bed.
But on a more positive note, I managed to drink water with both lunch and dinner (running a little late this morning so none with breakfast) and drank my entire 32oz bottle of water: Hooray for me! I backslid slightly on my coffee consumption, but still kept my milk drinking under control. And I am learning once again that salad is my friend.
Have I ever mentioned that I don’t like celery? I mean, come on, who really likes celery? But I forced myself to eat some today. I did one of those peanut butter on celery things and I tried a stick with some ranch dressing just to see which I preferred. If you concentrate really hard on the taste other than celery, you almost – almost – can trick yourself into believing its not really celery.
I guess Hops may be getting to try a new green tomorrow.
Fun story of the week –
I’ve been having problems with my heater ever since I came back from California. The heater would work properly for awhile, and then randomly shut itself off only to not kick back on again at the appointed temperature (made for some very chilly mornings!), causing me to have to do any number of things to get it to turn back on. It eventually got progressively worse and so I called maintenance to come take a look. They did, and fiddled with some things, telling me that if what they did didn’t work to call them back out there. It seemed to work – for all of 8 hours. Unfortunately I worked all day the next couple of days and this past weekend so I did not have time for them to come out and try again. I called Monday morning though and they came out Monday afternoon and just replaced the wall unit. That seemed to work very well – until sometime in the middle of the night when the heater decided that it liked being on thank-you-very-much and was not going to turn off even though it was 86 degrees in my apartment at 5 o’clock in the morning! It would not even turn off when I kicked it over to AC!!!!! But that was this morning – I tried to give the thing the benefit of the doubt, but alas! It was not to be. When I got home at lunch, my apartment had cooled down (all to a nice, balmy 80 degrees) and once again when I just turned the unit to ‘off’ it just kept pumping out hot air – so I called maintenance again to have them come over. Unfortunately, they ended up calling me back to let me know that they were in the middle of a rather time consuming job and would not be able to get to my apartment before I left for work again. So I could either postpone until tomorrow, or have them come while I was not there.
Have I mentioned that technically speaking I have too many animals in my apartment? I thought so.
But I went ahead and gave the okay. Because there is no way I could have done anything in my apartment this evening the way it was. And I came home to work with my apartment at a bracing 66 degrees! Oh well – at least the heater turned off!
Ouch . . .
So I worked out pretty good this evening – I moved onto a new segment in the workout videos that I have, and let me tell ya: I am sooooo feeling it already!
I’m unsure if I will be capable of walking or moving my arms in the morning . . . Oh well, I’ll flop out of bed.
But on a more positive note, I managed to drink water with both lunch and dinner (running a little late this morning so none with breakfast) and drank my entire 32oz bottle of water: Hooray for me! I backslid slightly on my coffee consumption, but still kept my milk drinking under control. And I am learning once again that salad is my friend.
Have I ever mentioned that I don’t like celery? I mean, come on, who really likes celery? But I forced myself to eat some today. I did one of those peanut butter on celery things and I tried a stick with some ranch dressing just to see which I preferred. If you concentrate really hard on the taste other than celery, you almost – almost – can trick yourself into believing its not really celery.
I guess Hops may be getting to try a new green tomorrow.
Fun story of the week –
I’ve been having problems with my heater ever since I came back from California. The heater would work properly for awhile, and then randomly shut itself off only to not kick back on again at the appointed temperature (made for some very chilly mornings!), causing me to have to do any number of things to get it to turn back on. It eventually got progressively worse and so I called maintenance to come take a look. They did, and fiddled with some things, telling me that if what they did didn’t work to call them back out there. It seemed to work – for all of 8 hours. Unfortunately I worked all day the next couple of days and this past weekend so I did not have time for them to come out and try again. I called Monday morning though and they came out Monday afternoon and just replaced the wall unit. That seemed to work very well – until sometime in the middle of the night when the heater decided that it liked being on thank-you-very-much and was not going to turn off even though it was 86 degrees in my apartment at 5 o’clock in the morning! It would not even turn off when I kicked it over to AC!!!!! But that was this morning – I tried to give the thing the benefit of the doubt, but alas! It was not to be. When I got home at lunch, my apartment had cooled down (all to a nice, balmy 80 degrees) and once again when I just turned the unit to ‘off’ it just kept pumping out hot air – so I called maintenance again to have them come over. Unfortunately, they ended up calling me back to let me know that they were in the middle of a rather time consuming job and would not be able to get to my apartment before I left for work again. So I could either postpone until tomorrow, or have them come while I was not there.
Have I mentioned that technically speaking I have too many animals in my apartment? I thought so.
But I went ahead and gave the okay. Because there is no way I could have done anything in my apartment this evening the way it was. And I came home to work with my apartment at a bracing 66 degrees! Oh well – at least the heater turned off!
Monday, February 14, 2011
1 of 1
Today I have done very well. I exercised for 35 minutes, drank a glass of water with each meal, and cut back significantly on both milk and coffee! I didn’t get my full extra 32oz of water, but my meals were better balanced than they have been for a while.
I had to run some errands today, and since today was Valentine’s Day there were many guys out at Walmart buying last minute flowers. Walmart has lots of last minute flowers! I even got some cheap ones that are sitting pretty on my coffee table – I just have to keep Hops and Wicket from chewing on them!
I have also discovered that Hops prefers to drink from my water fountain and the cats water bowl rather than her water bottle. It’s very cute - after she has drank out of the fountain, she sneezes – the fountain is not very conducive to being drank out of by a bunny!
I had to run some errands today, and since today was Valentine’s Day there were many guys out at Walmart buying last minute flowers. Walmart has lots of last minute flowers! I even got some cheap ones that are sitting pretty on my coffee table – I just have to keep Hops and Wicket from chewing on them!
I have also discovered that Hops prefers to drink from my water fountain and the cats water bowl rather than her water bottle. It’s very cute - after she has drank out of the fountain, she sneezes – the fountain is not very conducive to being drank out of by a bunny!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Accountability
I have decided that I am actually going to do it. It’s a daunting task, but it has to be done. And, I believe, I will feel so much better for having done it.
Losing weight, that is.
I keep starting to try and then this stupid stomach issue rears its ugly head, leading to a week or two of me just trying to function and keep everything going. This of course, brings about lots of stress causing my body to keep as much stored up as possible leaving me sitting right where I was at the beginning. And thus, I have to start all over again.
So that is what I am doing – starting all over again.
But this time, I’m telling everyone. Nag me please – send me emails, texts, call me and ask: have you been good today?
The past three days I have exercised okay (20mins) – my goal for this week is 30 minutes a day and drinking an 8oz glass of water at every meal, and 32oz on top of that. And starting to cut back on both coffee and milk.
I can already hear the drum beats of a death march in the back of my head. NOOOOOO! Not my milk and coffee!!!!!!!!
But I comfort myself in that it will only be for a little while, then I can go back a little bit once I attain my goals. But I already gave up caffeine and soda, and I don’t really feel their lack in my life – so who knows? Then again, I’ve never been a big fan of drinking water . . .
But this is about accountability. And I have to be honest.
So, my first goal is to get back to my high school graduation weight: that’s 20 pounds to lose. And I am going to succeed!
Losing weight, that is.
I keep starting to try and then this stupid stomach issue rears its ugly head, leading to a week or two of me just trying to function and keep everything going. This of course, brings about lots of stress causing my body to keep as much stored up as possible leaving me sitting right where I was at the beginning. And thus, I have to start all over again.
So that is what I am doing – starting all over again.
But this time, I’m telling everyone. Nag me please – send me emails, texts, call me and ask: have you been good today?
The past three days I have exercised okay (20mins) – my goal for this week is 30 minutes a day and drinking an 8oz glass of water at every meal, and 32oz on top of that. And starting to cut back on both coffee and milk.
I can already hear the drum beats of a death march in the back of my head. NOOOOOO! Not my milk and coffee!!!!!!!!
But I comfort myself in that it will only be for a little while, then I can go back a little bit once I attain my goals. But I already gave up caffeine and soda, and I don’t really feel their lack in my life – so who knows? Then again, I’ve never been a big fan of drinking water . . .
But this is about accountability. And I have to be honest.
So, my first goal is to get back to my high school graduation weight: that’s 20 pounds to lose. And I am going to succeed!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Novel Changes
I had one of those mornings. You know the ones. Where everything just doesn't really go your way.
Woke up late - really late as I had planned to get to work early today to make up for the fact that I woke up late the previous morning (like half an hour after my shift at work already started and was an hour and a half late to work on that day!) but I would still be able to make it work on time. Took a super fast shower and discovered that I had broken out into a rash all over my body - lovely! And its not like I feel comfortable taking benadryl; just ask my sister about the last time I took that stuff - what a trip! I absolutely had to run to the bank this morning a deposit my paycheck so I made toast for breakfast and after I had eaten that I went to put the toaster away, completely forgetting the fact that it was still hot and I burned my thumb and forefinger (they are both still a little tingly even now - 7 hours after the fact).
So just not a good morning.
Thankfully, I made it to the bank and managed to grab something for lunch and made it to work on time. AND work went smoothly.
The day wasn't a total loss.
But I recently decided that I am going to finish this book I am writing - even if it kills me (which it just might . . .)! I'm getting some feedback from a friend of mine (Yay!) as my lovely and wonderful older sister refuses to read anymore of it until I'm all done (*sniffles*). Which means me and the library are going to become very close friends for the next however long it takes!
I am also going to start working out as I really need to get to a healthier disposition, which makes me extremely glad that I have a book stand on my treadmill - I can read and run at the same time!
On another note - I have a new foster: an old white fluffy cat named "Holly". She was surrendered to my clinic shortly before Christmas. She was left at someone's house when the previous owner moved. What I and the other staff members think happened is that when the old owner moved (to an assisted living facility), the family members probably all told her that they would take care of her and whatnot - but didn't and just left her there to be the new owners problem. The new owners thought that she was sick and so they called their parents, not knowing what to do. Those parents were clients of ours and so they arranged to bring her to us to be euthanized (thinking that she was very ill). When the Dad went and picked her up he was suprised to see that other than some ocular discharge she seemed fine, but brought her to us to see what to do for and with her as he nor his kids could keep her. Dr. Key agreed to take her in and see if we couldn't place her with the Humane Society, and our client went ahead and paid for all of her vaccinations and such. She is a very healthy cat (rather rotund, actually) and other than some skin tags, dry eyes, and slight arthritis, she's all good. And what a purr box!
Also, I have a bunny. I think it's a girl (hard to tell when they are this young) and should she really be a "she" bunny then her name will officially be "Miss Dawning Hops" or "Hops" for short. She is very rambunctious and already well litterbox trained!
I have a full house!
Woke up late - really late as I had planned to get to work early today to make up for the fact that I woke up late the previous morning (like half an hour after my shift at work already started and was an hour and a half late to work on that day!) but I would still be able to make it work on time. Took a super fast shower and discovered that I had broken out into a rash all over my body - lovely! And its not like I feel comfortable taking benadryl; just ask my sister about the last time I took that stuff - what a trip! I absolutely had to run to the bank this morning a deposit my paycheck so I made toast for breakfast and after I had eaten that I went to put the toaster away, completely forgetting the fact that it was still hot and I burned my thumb and forefinger (they are both still a little tingly even now - 7 hours after the fact).
So just not a good morning.
Thankfully, I made it to the bank and managed to grab something for lunch and made it to work on time. AND work went smoothly.
The day wasn't a total loss.
But I recently decided that I am going to finish this book I am writing - even if it kills me (which it just might . . .)! I'm getting some feedback from a friend of mine (Yay!) as my lovely and wonderful older sister refuses to read anymore of it until I'm all done (*sniffles*). Which means me and the library are going to become very close friends for the next however long it takes!
I am also going to start working out as I really need to get to a healthier disposition, which makes me extremely glad that I have a book stand on my treadmill - I can read and run at the same time!
On another note - I have a new foster: an old white fluffy cat named "Holly". She was surrendered to my clinic shortly before Christmas. She was left at someone's house when the previous owner moved. What I and the other staff members think happened is that when the old owner moved (to an assisted living facility), the family members probably all told her that they would take care of her and whatnot - but didn't and just left her there to be the new owners problem. The new owners thought that she was sick and so they called their parents, not knowing what to do. Those parents were clients of ours and so they arranged to bring her to us to be euthanized (thinking that she was very ill). When the Dad went and picked her up he was suprised to see that other than some ocular discharge she seemed fine, but brought her to us to see what to do for and with her as he nor his kids could keep her. Dr. Key agreed to take her in and see if we couldn't place her with the Humane Society, and our client went ahead and paid for all of her vaccinations and such. She is a very healthy cat (rather rotund, actually) and other than some skin tags, dry eyes, and slight arthritis, she's all good. And what a purr box!
Also, I have a bunny. I think it's a girl (hard to tell when they are this young) and should she really be a "she" bunny then her name will officially be "Miss Dawning Hops" or "Hops" for short. She is very rambunctious and already well litterbox trained!
I have a full house!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Gggooooooooodddd ddrrruuuuuugggsss . . .
Okay, so I was going to wait a couple of days to update - I have a couple more tests to undergo on Wednesday and was going to update after that - but I still feel kind of giddy with the drugs still in my system so I will update; with drugs in my system; maybe not the best idea I've ever had . . .
Oh well!
My last updates were at the end of August so I will try to bring you up to speed on where I'm at now.
A couple of weeks after my initial bout of illness I went back to the doctor as I wasn't getting any permanant relief. So I was refered to a GI specialist. I went to see him and got scheduled to have and Endoscopy, and abdominal ultrasound, and a HIDA scan (a contrast study done on my gallbladder - I'm still wondering why they call it that. I mean was it mean to someone or something, do something hateful or spiteful? Why gall?)
The endoscopy happened today. Background story:
I was told I needed to get the endoscopy and such, found out about my insurance deductible (EEEEKKK!!!!), and so began taking steps. At the specialists office I was informed that I was to pay $417 to them and that would be applied to my deductible - it had to be paid to them in order for him (the specialist) to get his stuff covered. Okay. I called the hospital billing/accounting department and spoke with a women there about what was going on. I asked her what I was going to be responsible for at the time of the procedures and she told me that all I was responsible for the day of was the co-pay and that they would send everything else to the insurance company to find out what they covered and what would be going toward my deductible. Cool! I called the insurance company just to verify all of this and they concured with what the lady at the hospital told me. Very cool!
Today:
Patty and I get there at about 10:45 (my appointment was at 11:00), we park, we go to admissions and start getting checked in (please note that I paid the specialist last Friday, so all the paperwork probably hasn't gone through yet). In the process of getting checked in, the lady informs me that I have so much left on my insurance deductible (aka the original amount) and do I have that to pay today? Uhhhh, no. So I explained to the lady that I had called the billing department and what they had said. She explained back that there was no co-pay, just the deductible. But she also said that they could give me a "three day leeway" for me to contact the billing department and pay - okay, whatever. Not something that had to be dealt with immediately, so no longer needed to thought about at the moment.
They took us over the the endoscopy department and got me checked in over there. And we waited.
And we waited.
And we waited.
And we waited some more.
We also occasionally twidled our thumbs.
A few people got called in in front of me - but thankfully I had read the sign on the wall that said "There are multiple doctors working in this department, so do not be concerned if others are being called back before you. If you have any questions, please ask at the check in desk." I like to call this the "Please don't freak out" sign.
It worked for me.
One poor patient that was called back in front of me was informed that he would have to wait 4-5 hours before his procedure even started.
Sign no longer working so well . . .
Will not panic . . .
Will not panic . . .
Patty patted me on the leg and said "I'm sorry."
*Please note: one of the things that helps my poor, sad, upset stomach is food. Unfortunately, with an endoscopy, food and drink are strictly prohibited.
At this time of the morning (now after noon) my stomach was growling and hurting. I could hear it grumbling quite loudly "FEED ME! NOW!"
But then, a glorious event occured:
They called me back -
and informed me very quickly that I was the first person for the specialist to see and that he was going to be in in just a few minutes. This was at about 12:35pm.
I would like you to know that the nursing staff and I had lots of fun.
I was informed that the procedure would only take about 10 minutes and that they would be inducing me with a drug called Propofol aka "the Micheal Jackson drug". I had to tell them that I was familiar with Propofol, being a Veterinary Technician, and that that was fine. They gave me the speil anyways. Then it was time for the IV.
I will always dread IVs, because I had such a bad experience the first time - thirteen sticks to get a good vein, and as someone who dislikes being poked with needles and all pain in general, this was very distressing and something that causes great concern.
The wonderful nurse got me on the first try - granted it was only a 24gauge catheter (please note that in Vet medicine, we use 24gauge catheters on chihuahua's) as my veins were too small to even try a 20 or 22 gauge.
They covered me with warm blankets (I really do love these people!) and wheeled me back to the procedure room, hooked me up to the oxygen, and re-went over my medical history (this was about the fourth time). They explained the need for a mouth gaurd, so that the endoscopy tube and my teeth did not get into any fights (my teeth would have won!). And - this is one of my favorite parts - they got me another warm blanket!
I would also like to note that all hospitals/places where anesthesia is induced in humans is very cold. Covenant was no different. It was freezing in there and I get cold easily anyways. So warm blankets make me smile - goofily.
The specialist showed up, joked with the staff while getting his stuff ready, and they had me roll over onto my left side and put the mouth gaurd in. One of the staff fluffed my pillow for me to make it more supportive under my neck, I stared at one of the monitoring machines and my eyelids got heavy. Knowing that it was anesthesia, I closed my eyes and drifted off . . . .
Beep. Beep.
Beep. Beep.
I opened my eyes and looked for the clock. 1:28pm. Sweet!
I started giggling.
I would like to inform everyone that when I wake up from anesthesia, I am a very, very happy person. Everything is funny. Nothing is hilarious. It's wonderful!
I tried to move my arms - they worked; sort of. I looked around trying to catch the nurses attention so that she would know that I was awake. No luck.
So I tried to sit up. Still no luck.
I tried again.
Nope.
Finally, I used my sort of working arms to latch onto the side railings, and was thankfully able to lift myself into a sitting position.
I was also giggling the entire time, and trying to be quiet about it - not very successfully.
The nurse saw me and asked me what I would like to drink and rattled off a list of possibilities.
"Orange juice," I requested and she brought it to me. A minute or two later she brought Patty back.
I am still giggling.
I reminded Patty that this was normal for me. She told me a little about the findings of the endoscopy while I sipped my orange juice and smiled blissfully.
The nurse took out my IV catheter - very ouch! - and put my clothes on the bed and lowered the rail, letting me know that I could get dressed now. I told her I didn't think my legs were working yet. She smiled and had Patty come stand next to me on that side of the bed, just in case, and closed the curtain. I requested to Patty to please not let me fall on face. She had to help me untangle my gown from under me at which time she discovered that they let me keep my pants and socks on. I told her that was a good thing as otherwise I would have been a "0" on Allie's inadequate pain scale (zero stands for "Haha! I'm not wearing any pants!" and as I'm already vastly amused by all things at this point . . .). She laughed with me and we figured out how to get me redressed.
We then made our way across the room to a set of chairs that the nurse told us to go to and she went over some discharge instructions, told Patty to go get the car and that they would wheel me out to her.
She went, I waited and shivered (no more warm blankets - very sad face), and then they wheeled me out to the car where my very loving and wonderful sister had the heater turned on!
Bless her!
Patty was definitely hungry, and I kind of was too. I wanted bisquits - bread - and she wanted chick-fil-a so we stopped by KFC on the way. I also wanted orange juice and again my wonderful sister stopped by Walmart and grabbed a jug.
Then we went home and put in a movie.
I am still kind of giggly.
Completely unrelated to all of this is that I currently have to foster animals - a cat named Pepper who will be leaving me on Thursday, and a small black lab named Clara (the dog is through the greyhound rescue through Lollipop rescue as a favor for letting the greyhounds board at Lollipop kennels FYI). But I'll go into more detail on that later. As of now, I wish to get ready for bed.
Oh well!
My last updates were at the end of August so I will try to bring you up to speed on where I'm at now.
A couple of weeks after my initial bout of illness I went back to the doctor as I wasn't getting any permanant relief. So I was refered to a GI specialist. I went to see him and got scheduled to have and Endoscopy, and abdominal ultrasound, and a HIDA scan (a contrast study done on my gallbladder - I'm still wondering why they call it that. I mean was it mean to someone or something, do something hateful or spiteful? Why gall?)
The endoscopy happened today. Background story:
I was told I needed to get the endoscopy and such, found out about my insurance deductible (EEEEKKK!!!!), and so began taking steps. At the specialists office I was informed that I was to pay $417 to them and that would be applied to my deductible - it had to be paid to them in order for him (the specialist) to get his stuff covered. Okay. I called the hospital billing/accounting department and spoke with a women there about what was going on. I asked her what I was going to be responsible for at the time of the procedures and she told me that all I was responsible for the day of was the co-pay and that they would send everything else to the insurance company to find out what they covered and what would be going toward my deductible. Cool! I called the insurance company just to verify all of this and they concured with what the lady at the hospital told me. Very cool!
Today:
Patty and I get there at about 10:45 (my appointment was at 11:00), we park, we go to admissions and start getting checked in (please note that I paid the specialist last Friday, so all the paperwork probably hasn't gone through yet). In the process of getting checked in, the lady informs me that I have so much left on my insurance deductible (aka the original amount) and do I have that to pay today? Uhhhh, no. So I explained to the lady that I had called the billing department and what they had said. She explained back that there was no co-pay, just the deductible. But she also said that they could give me a "three day leeway" for me to contact the billing department and pay - okay, whatever. Not something that had to be dealt with immediately, so no longer needed to thought about at the moment.
They took us over the the endoscopy department and got me checked in over there. And we waited.
And we waited.
And we waited.
And we waited some more.
We also occasionally twidled our thumbs.
A few people got called in in front of me - but thankfully I had read the sign on the wall that said "There are multiple doctors working in this department, so do not be concerned if others are being called back before you. If you have any questions, please ask at the check in desk." I like to call this the "Please don't freak out" sign.
It worked for me.
One poor patient that was called back in front of me was informed that he would have to wait 4-5 hours before his procedure even started.
Sign no longer working so well . . .
Will not panic . . .
Will not panic . . .
Patty patted me on the leg and said "I'm sorry."
*Please note: one of the things that helps my poor, sad, upset stomach is food. Unfortunately, with an endoscopy, food and drink are strictly prohibited.
At this time of the morning (now after noon) my stomach was growling and hurting. I could hear it grumbling quite loudly "FEED ME! NOW!"
But then, a glorious event occured:
They called me back -
and informed me very quickly that I was the first person for the specialist to see and that he was going to be in in just a few minutes. This was at about 12:35pm.
I would like you to know that the nursing staff and I had lots of fun.
I was informed that the procedure would only take about 10 minutes and that they would be inducing me with a drug called Propofol aka "the Micheal Jackson drug". I had to tell them that I was familiar with Propofol, being a Veterinary Technician, and that that was fine. They gave me the speil anyways. Then it was time for the IV.
I will always dread IVs, because I had such a bad experience the first time - thirteen sticks to get a good vein, and as someone who dislikes being poked with needles and all pain in general, this was very distressing and something that causes great concern.
The wonderful nurse got me on the first try - granted it was only a 24gauge catheter (please note that in Vet medicine, we use 24gauge catheters on chihuahua's) as my veins were too small to even try a 20 or 22 gauge.
They covered me with warm blankets (I really do love these people!) and wheeled me back to the procedure room, hooked me up to the oxygen, and re-went over my medical history (this was about the fourth time). They explained the need for a mouth gaurd, so that the endoscopy tube and my teeth did not get into any fights (my teeth would have won!). And - this is one of my favorite parts - they got me another warm blanket!
I would also like to note that all hospitals/places where anesthesia is induced in humans is very cold. Covenant was no different. It was freezing in there and I get cold easily anyways. So warm blankets make me smile - goofily.
The specialist showed up, joked with the staff while getting his stuff ready, and they had me roll over onto my left side and put the mouth gaurd in. One of the staff fluffed my pillow for me to make it more supportive under my neck, I stared at one of the monitoring machines and my eyelids got heavy. Knowing that it was anesthesia, I closed my eyes and drifted off . . . .
Beep. Beep.
Beep. Beep.
I opened my eyes and looked for the clock. 1:28pm. Sweet!
I started giggling.
I would like to inform everyone that when I wake up from anesthesia, I am a very, very happy person. Everything is funny. Nothing is hilarious. It's wonderful!
I tried to move my arms - they worked; sort of. I looked around trying to catch the nurses attention so that she would know that I was awake. No luck.
So I tried to sit up. Still no luck.
I tried again.
Nope.
Finally, I used my sort of working arms to latch onto the side railings, and was thankfully able to lift myself into a sitting position.
I was also giggling the entire time, and trying to be quiet about it - not very successfully.
The nurse saw me and asked me what I would like to drink and rattled off a list of possibilities.
"Orange juice," I requested and she brought it to me. A minute or two later she brought Patty back.
I am still giggling.
I reminded Patty that this was normal for me. She told me a little about the findings of the endoscopy while I sipped my orange juice and smiled blissfully.
The nurse took out my IV catheter - very ouch! - and put my clothes on the bed and lowered the rail, letting me know that I could get dressed now. I told her I didn't think my legs were working yet. She smiled and had Patty come stand next to me on that side of the bed, just in case, and closed the curtain. I requested to Patty to please not let me fall on face. She had to help me untangle my gown from under me at which time she discovered that they let me keep my pants and socks on. I told her that was a good thing as otherwise I would have been a "0" on Allie's inadequate pain scale (zero stands for "Haha! I'm not wearing any pants!" and as I'm already vastly amused by all things at this point . . .). She laughed with me and we figured out how to get me redressed.
We then made our way across the room to a set of chairs that the nurse told us to go to and she went over some discharge instructions, told Patty to go get the car and that they would wheel me out to her.
She went, I waited and shivered (no more warm blankets - very sad face), and then they wheeled me out to the car where my very loving and wonderful sister had the heater turned on!
Bless her!
Patty was definitely hungry, and I kind of was too. I wanted bisquits - bread - and she wanted chick-fil-a so we stopped by KFC on the way. I also wanted orange juice and again my wonderful sister stopped by Walmart and grabbed a jug.
Then we went home and put in a movie.
I am still kind of giggly.
Completely unrelated to all of this is that I currently have to foster animals - a cat named Pepper who will be leaving me on Thursday, and a small black lab named Clara (the dog is through the greyhound rescue through Lollipop rescue as a favor for letting the greyhounds board at Lollipop kennels FYI). But I'll go into more detail on that later. As of now, I wish to get ready for bed.
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