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Last Halloween I kept Paul from the ward Trunk or Treat and Chili dinner so I promised him this year I would do all I could to not end up in the ER.
Here's our story ~
Saturday we were going to the ward house for a chili dinner and then the trunk or treat. We were also going to have some of Paul's theatre friends over after the last show for a little BBQ and party. At about 2 in the afternoon my right side starting cramping up, really fast and really intense. I took some more IBUprofen but it did not help at all, when Paul looked at me he said I was completely white and that he wanted to take me to the ER. I told him that I would be fine and that he should go get some chili and hand out the candy at the trunk-or-treat. If I wasn't feeling better by the time he got back I would let him take me to the ER. Instead he called his mom to ask what the symptoms were when the appendix was going to burst. While Paul was on the phone with his mom I could hear everything she was saying, I was crying more and more as I realized I felt all these things she was talking about.
We went to the ER instead of the dinner, we were both starving by this time. The ER Dr. and nurse that were helping us were fantastic. The guess was that I either had a bladder infection or was going to have my appendix taken out. After they took a couple things of blood to run some tests I started feeling even worse. The nurse gave me some stuff for the nausea and Paul found another priesthood holder to give me a blessing. I know that miracles happen but I wasn't expecting one, I was just wanting some comfort. The blessing Paul gave me was very comforting but one part stuck out to both of us. When the other brother who assisted left, Paul and I sat and talked for a minute. {In today's lesson I taught, we talked about the atonement. How do you know that the LORD knows us, knows what you need to be comforted? There is no way that Paul would have known what to say to me to give me the comfort I would need. This is how I know that the LORD knows me and what I need even before I would know it.} Needless to say we both knew it wasn't going to be my appendix or my bladder. In a bit the ER Dr. came in and told me that my white blood cells were a bit higher then he would like but that wasn't the most interesting result he got back. The pregnancy test came back positive as well. For half of a split second Paul and I looked at each other just as happy as could be. But the Dr. kept a very professional face and continued that the reason I would be having pain like this is because I already miscarried or it was a tubular (ectopic) pregnancy.
The Ultra sound tech was called in, it was about 9 p.m. now, so that he could try and find the baby. Sure enough he found it, where it wasn't supposed to be, so then they called in the OB and his team to take me into the OR. Funny little side note, his name is Gary Fowers, so that should be easy enough to remember {Paul has an uncle with a VERY similar name}. When Dr. Fowers got there he took some time to talk with us and about our options, he said I needed to go in for immediate surgery. The chances of having an ectopic pregnancy is about 1% but after you have it once your chances of having it happen again jumps to 15%. Depending on what was going on inside of me there is a chance that the tube exploded or that they would just clean it out and everything would be fine, but they would not be able to say until they actually had me in surgery. The way they were going in was with a laperoscapy {SP}, the three different incisions. Dr. Fowers explained how the surgery would go, they would use one incision to put air in my abdomen (about a 5 mm tube) and also suck out any fluid through there as well. In my belly button they would put the camera and then one more hole where he would actually use his tools. He said if any of the air was left in there it would push against my diaphragm and work its way out through my right shoulder, so if my shoulder hurt, not to worry about it. When I told him my shoulder already hurt and that it was hard to breathe he turned to the other Dr. who was assisting for the surgery and told him to get the 10 mm tubes ready. I had too much fluid in me to start small and go bigger if they needed to, they were just going to start with the big tubes.
In the morning my Dr. came in and told me about the surgery. I was so full of blood that they had to clean some out before they could even get to my tube. When they got to the tube they couldn't find the baby, it had detached from the tube and fallen back into my abdomen. So they cleaned out my tube, found the baby, then used 9 liters of saline to clean me out. He said that he put the saline in me then tipped me upside down, side-to-side and all around to swish the fluid around in me and get me cleaned out. I had been bleeding internally for about 5 days, so I had more then a liter of blood pooling up in my abdomen. They went back to my tube to see how it was doing but it was still bleeding with no sign of clotting. Now I only have one tube but it doesn't cut our chances of getting pregnant to 50-50 but instead 80% because the tubes can pull eggs from either ovary. They kept me for awhile in the Hospital because my blood count was so low. Normally the count should be around 40 and mine was at 24, if it went to 22 the Dr. was going to give me a blood transfusion. They did a couple of test through the morning and my count was going up so they let me leave.
It was a really emotional week and very personal to me and Paul. I have been so grateful for Paul and all that he has done for me. The Dr. said if he had let me sleep it off like I had wanted and waited to go in on Sunday, he most likely wouldn't of been able to wake me up.
Today's lesson was more for me than I think anyone else. I know the LORD knows me because no one else would have been able to comfort me the way I needed except for the one who has already been through it all. I am so grateful for my testimony of the Savior and for the sacrifice he made on my behalf.
We went to the ER instead of the dinner, we were both starving by this time. The ER Dr. and nurse that were helping us were fantastic. The guess was that I either had a bladder infection or was going to have my appendix taken out. After they took a couple things of blood to run some tests I started feeling even worse. The nurse gave me some stuff for the nausea and Paul found another priesthood holder to give me a blessing. I know that miracles happen but I wasn't expecting one, I was just wanting some comfort. The blessing Paul gave me was very comforting but one part stuck out to both of us. When the other brother who assisted left, Paul and I sat and talked for a minute. {In today's lesson I taught, we talked about the atonement. How do you know that the LORD knows us, knows what you need to be comforted? There is no way that Paul would have known what to say to me to give me the comfort I would need. This is how I know that the LORD knows me and what I need even before I would know it.} Needless to say we both knew it wasn't going to be my appendix or my bladder. In a bit the ER Dr. came in and told me that my white blood cells were a bit higher then he would like but that wasn't the most interesting result he got back. The pregnancy test came back positive as well. For half of a split second Paul and I looked at each other just as happy as could be. But the Dr. kept a very professional face and continued that the reason I would be having pain like this is because I already miscarried or it was a tubular (ectopic) pregnancy.
The Ultra sound tech was called in, it was about 9 p.m. now, so that he could try and find the baby. Sure enough he found it, where it wasn't supposed to be, so then they called in the OB and his team to take me into the OR. Funny little side note, his name is Gary Fowers, so that should be easy enough to remember {Paul has an uncle with a VERY similar name}. When Dr. Fowers got there he took some time to talk with us and about our options, he said I needed to go in for immediate surgery. The chances of having an ectopic pregnancy is about 1% but after you have it once your chances of having it happen again jumps to 15%. Depending on what was going on inside of me there is a chance that the tube exploded or that they would just clean it out and everything would be fine, but they would not be able to say until they actually had me in surgery. The way they were going in was with a laperoscapy {SP}, the three different incisions. Dr. Fowers explained how the surgery would go, they would use one incision to put air in my abdomen (about a 5 mm tube) and also suck out any fluid through there as well. In my belly button they would put the camera and then one more hole where he would actually use his tools. He said if any of the air was left in there it would push against my diaphragm and work its way out through my right shoulder, so if my shoulder hurt, not to worry about it. When I told him my shoulder already hurt and that it was hard to breathe he turned to the other Dr. who was assisting for the surgery and told him to get the 10 mm tubes ready. I had too much fluid in me to start small and go bigger if they needed to, they were just going to start with the big tubes.
In the morning my Dr. came in and told me about the surgery. I was so full of blood that they had to clean some out before they could even get to my tube. When they got to the tube they couldn't find the baby, it had detached from the tube and fallen back into my abdomen. So they cleaned out my tube, found the baby, then used 9 liters of saline to clean me out. He said that he put the saline in me then tipped me upside down, side-to-side and all around to swish the fluid around in me and get me cleaned out. I had been bleeding internally for about 5 days, so I had more then a liter of blood pooling up in my abdomen. They went back to my tube to see how it was doing but it was still bleeding with no sign of clotting. Now I only have one tube but it doesn't cut our chances of getting pregnant to 50-50 but instead 80% because the tubes can pull eggs from either ovary. They kept me for awhile in the Hospital because my blood count was so low. Normally the count should be around 40 and mine was at 24, if it went to 22 the Dr. was going to give me a blood transfusion. They did a couple of test through the morning and my count was going up so they let me leave.
It was a really emotional week and very personal to me and Paul. I have been so grateful for Paul and all that he has done for me. The Dr. said if he had let me sleep it off like I had wanted and waited to go in on Sunday, he most likely wouldn't of been able to wake me up.
Today's lesson was more for me than I think anyone else. I know the LORD knows me because no one else would have been able to comfort me the way I needed except for the one who has already been through it all. I am so grateful for my testimony of the Savior and for the sacrifice he made on my behalf.
1 Thoughts:
Ok, no more trunk or treat plans for you! Thank goodness that you guys went to the hospital!! I love you and I don't want to see anything happen to you! The Lord does know you personally, and he takes care of all of us!
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