Oh, the past two weeks...

We've had the craziest two weeks EVER!  I thought some about whether or not to post about all of this but since this is my journal in some ways I figured I'd want to remember it.

Two weeks ago on Monday I had a procedure done.  Well, the side effects of that procedure didn't go exactly as planned and I was in what I thought (at the time) was the worst pain I'd ever experienced.  Thankfully I had Austin with me to take care of me for a few days.  That Thursday I had a 2nd scheduled procedure done.  That one went pretty well and I just had come discomfort and bed rest for Thursday and Friday.

Austin got to go into the room with me for the Thursday procedure since I wasn't under anesthesia for that one  :)

Here we are after the procedure.  I was still a little loopy.  I'm on pain meds right now as I type this post otherwise I might not be putting pictures of me without makeup on!  Ha!  ;)

Here Austin is getting a lesson from Nurse Elaine on how to give me a shot (that's a tangerine).  Lets just say this never happened...  I give myself the daily shots thank you very much.

One of the forms of communication we used while I was on bedrest  :)

My dinner guests

A few of my bedrest buddies!  :)

B figured if his Mommy got to lay around all day then so did he 

Soooo....that was the highlight of my two weeks.  I wasn't feeling great ever since the two procedures but it was manageable with pain meds, no big deal.  Then Sunday evening it ALL changed!  I suddenly started having really, really intense back pains.  Those quickly went from intense to excruciating back pains all on the left side.  Austin had been in contact with my Dr who finally suggested we head to the ER.  We left around 7:30pm and went to the ER at one of the hospitals near where we live.  After several hours of being there and a few doses of Morphine it was determined that I was having complications from my procedures the following week (all of my symptoms pointed to kidney stones but that was ruled out with a test).  My Dr wanted me admitted for observation at the hospital he works for in the Medical Center so I got to take my 1st ambulance ride.  Not so fun....  I was in SOOO much pain (now that was the worst pain I've ever experienced IN. MY. LIFE.) that I actually told the EMT that he could just knock me out so I wouldn't be in pain anymore.  Nice.  Luckily, he didn't do that....  Smart man.  ;)  

Austin just had to take this picture of me in the ER.  Fabulous.  This was actually during one of the good moments of the night. 

We finally were admitted into the hospital and after a VERY rough 24 hours of being there (I won't go into those details, I'd rather forget those 2 days of my life actually) and LOTS and LOTS of pain meds and tests and ultrasounds run it was verified that I actually DID have kidney stones. Not the greatest thing in the world but a much better alternative to what they were thinking the problem could have been.  Unfortunately, the urologist who came to check me out was unable to help me in any way other than to keep me in the hospital and keep me medicated.  NOT FUN!  

You know what else isn't fun??  Hospital food!  DISGUSTING!  This was their version of eggs and sausage. Yeah, no thanks.

  This was my breakfast the 2nd day.  

My mom and I laughed so hard when we took the cover off and this was all that was under it.  

 This actually wasn't too bad.  Pretty much the only thing I ate that came from the hospital

I got some beautiful flowers while I was there. 

Beth, Daniel, Avery & Payden sent me these

My Dad got me these other ones with the roses.  Tracy also came by and brought Austin and I magazines to entertain us.  :)

This is pretty much what it looked like all day, every day for 4 days.  Me laying in bed, hooked up to the IV either napping (I took about 50 1-min naps a day I think, I would fall asleep changing the channel on the TV, ha!), watching TV, texting or looking online.  Fun times.  That chair in the corner opened up to a twin sized bed that Austin slept on every night.  After our 1st full night there I woke up in horrible pain since I was knocked out for several hours and wasn't pushing my IV drip for pain meds every 10 mins. That led to the nurse and Austin having to help me through the pain for almost an hour until the meds set in.  Austin was so sweet and the next night he set his alarm on his watch for every 45 mins and he would push the IV drip button for me so I didn't have a repeat of the night before.  He loves me.  :)

I took this picture after Austin busted my ice pack all over my bed and they had to change the sheets.  Good job!  They put a water resistant pad under me after that like I wet myself.  I removed it.  ;)  

This is what it looks like with an IV blood draw gone bad.  AND this was done by a Dr, not a nurse of course!  But considering I was doped up on pain meds, all was good.  ;)

Me sporting two IVs at once (my grand total was 3 IVs by the end of the stay).  They were in the process of switching out the bad IV.

My FAVORITE visitor!!  Miss Leah wasn't old enough to come up to my floor but it was the 3rd day of my stay and I was finally off bedrest so they let Austin wheel me and my IV down to the cafeteria to have dinner with Tracy, Ryan & Leah

Oh no!  :)

Funny girl.  She definitely brightened my day!

Yes, I'm aware of how rough I look in this picture but give me a break, I was hooked up to an IV, had been in the hospital for 3 days and just really didn't care about what I looked like.  I was just lucky that Austin was allowed to wash my hair that day.  :)

Me with my favorite visitor

Day 3 - getting to WALK after days of bedrest!!  Trust me, it was harder than it looked.  I was allowed to get up 3 times that day and make a lap around the floor.  The 1st time took 15 mins, 2nd time was 10 mins, 3rd time I was speed racer at 8 mins.  :)  Awesome outfit, I know.  I kept saying to Austin "I can't believe I'm in the hospital!  For 4 days!  With KIDNEY STONES!"

When I got home I had beautiful flowers waiting for me from Austin's coworkers and then Katie & Box came over and brought me some more flowers.  So sweet!

This is what my night stand looks like.  Nice!  (For anyone worried about identity issues, I turned the bottles around hiding any personal info. ;) )  Sadly, that's not all of my meds either!

So, now I'm still laying in bed with my awesome mother-in-law and Austin cooking away.  They've been taking great care of me since we got home Thursday afternoon.  Hopefully by Thanksgiving I will be up and back to normal.  I'm meeting again with the urologist in a few weeks and hopefully my kidneys will look ok and I can put all of this BEHIND ME!!!  For anyone else who's ever had kidney stones, I SO feel for you.  Words can't even describe the pain I was in but the best word I can think of is excruciating.  It's AWFUL and hopefully I won't ever have to repeat this week again!  :)

I have so much to be thankful for but this week I want to especially give BIG thanks to Austin for being so awesome and sweet to me all week, my parents for sitting at the ER with us and then coming to visit and bring food several times, Tracy for coming by several times and bringing goodies and then leaving and coming back with my special requests :), my mother-in-law for coming from Georgetown when we got home to help Austin and me out over the weekend and to everyone who called, texted, emailed, prayed or came by.  We are so lucky to have such great family and friends like you guys!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a wonderful and HEALTHY Thanksgiving!!!