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Monday, November 16, 2009

my hospital stay last week

I came down with a headache and low grade fever last Monday afternoon. I had my mom drive me to the Urgent Care to rule out flu and possible H1N1. After taking my history, the doctor at the Urgent Care was nervous about possible meningitis so they sent me to the ER where they tested for that and a myriad of other possibilities as well. Blood work, urinalysis, head CT scan, chest X-ray, and lumbar puncture (LP) were all performed in the ER, while mom and Kalyn stood by. They were nervous about doing a LP because I was taking Lovenox injections, which could potentially cause clotting problems which could lead to other complications with a puncture in my spinal cord. But since I felt sick and thus didn't do my injections that morning or the night before, I was out of the 24 hour window and they could safely proceed. We were very relieved to see the spinal fluid come out clear and colorless, indicating no meningitis.

Apparently there is a sinus cavity straight back from the bridge of your nose about 3-4 inches called the sphenoid sinus and mine was discovered infected from the head CT scan. Additionally, I was severely dehydrated due to lack of adequate drinking because of this nausea I have felt for about a month now. I was admitted and administered lots of IV fluids and several rounds of 2 different strong IV antibiotics over Tuesday and Wednesday. I was released Wednesday afternoon. I am still on strong oral antibiotics for 2 weeks to make sure it's completely gone. Thrush is now a strong possibility due to the lack of "good bacteria" so we are watching for that.

My weight is way down because it's been difficult to eat with this nausea which has been around way too long. I need to see a doctor and figure out why. I thought it was from decreasing my doses of Morphine, but I have been at this same dose for more than a week and was given a lot more in the hospital to help ease the headache pain and didn't get any nausea relief. I have lost about 10% of my body weight and was at 138.4 lbs this morning. My goal weight range is 150-155 where I have been since this last February. By the way, after discussion with my pain doctor while I was hospitalized, I plan on staying at this Morphine dose until after taking the full course of this antibiotic. I am at 60 mg daily now. My pain level is now back to 4-5 where it is normally.

I do have a strange symptom which started after I got home from the hospital: the parasthesia in my feet (tingling and numbness) will intensify and spread and affect everything from the knee down. Sometimes it affects both feet, sometimes just one. It's really painful and I can't walk because it affects the bottom of my feet as well. Thankfully it only lasts for 10-15 minutes, and then it just fades away as suddenly as it comes on. Perhaps a side effect of the antibiotic? Not sure. Friday and Saturday it happened 6 times a day or so, yesterday once or twice.

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