The gallstones stole my sleep
Mar. 8th, 2007 07:49 amAround 11 p.m. last night the Spryte started having intense stomach pain.
At 3 a.m. we decided it was time to walk into the nearby hospital, three short blocks away (St. Michael's).
I didn't even have time to pull out my knitting before we were moved into a 'cubicle' inside the ward, and the Spryte was put in a bed. They asked her a few questions, and hooked her up to an IV and did a bunch of blood tests.
She was in so much pain she vomited four times, the poor thing. The doctor tried to look at her stomach but touching it hurt her too much, so they put her on morphine and a drug similar to Gravol.
When the drugs kicked in, she was able to sleep for about 1-2 hours. I knitted, as the chair I was in was definitely not napworthy.
Around 7 a.m., the doctor came back. Her liver enzymes were abnormally high, and he felt that this fit with her other symptoms to indicate gallstones. She is likely to have more episodes like this if her GP does not treat this promptly. Suck!
We are now in bed, snuggling. We had a lovely date before the pain started, cooking together, snuggling, talking, watching a movie she'd never seen, and giving each other pedicures (we have glittery toe nails!). But I have to say, I'll never get used to seeing people I love in so much pain. It was tough with
dragon_spirit and her migraines from hell, and it was at least as tough and hella distressing to watch my Spryte in pain. She said that there were times when her stomach hurt so much she felt certain she was going to die. I know I was scared. I felt so helpless. I kept on thinking about all the nasty things that could be hurting her, and told myself that it was probably none of these things, or the least of them. But they lurked in the back of my head, and with my vulnerability to mood issues, I at times wished I had someone's shoulder to cry on. I'm glad I was able to stay calm and be there for my Spryte. She deserved a calm strong companion.
I remember gently stroking her forehead, hair, and cheek as she lay on the bed, whispering to her repeatedly how much I love her. I wanted to make it all go away (I also wanted to sleep, but that's another story), but I had no magic pill.
Luckily, that's what doctors DO have. Ah, morphine. She apparently couldn't feel the cold when we finally walked home this morning. My sweety pie, high as a kite. :)
She says that now there's no nausea, and only mild pain when she's moving. Hopefully, the pain will be entirely gone by the time the morphine wears off.
Anyway, all this to say: Gallstones bad. Sleep and morphine good. Ug.
At 3 a.m. we decided it was time to walk into the nearby hospital, three short blocks away (St. Michael's).
I didn't even have time to pull out my knitting before we were moved into a 'cubicle' inside the ward, and the Spryte was put in a bed. They asked her a few questions, and hooked her up to an IV and did a bunch of blood tests.
She was in so much pain she vomited four times, the poor thing. The doctor tried to look at her stomach but touching it hurt her too much, so they put her on morphine and a drug similar to Gravol.
When the drugs kicked in, she was able to sleep for about 1-2 hours. I knitted, as the chair I was in was definitely not napworthy.
Around 7 a.m., the doctor came back. Her liver enzymes were abnormally high, and he felt that this fit with her other symptoms to indicate gallstones. She is likely to have more episodes like this if her GP does not treat this promptly. Suck!
We are now in bed, snuggling. We had a lovely date before the pain started, cooking together, snuggling, talking, watching a movie she'd never seen, and giving each other pedicures (we have glittery toe nails!). But I have to say, I'll never get used to seeing people I love in so much pain. It was tough with
I remember gently stroking her forehead, hair, and cheek as she lay on the bed, whispering to her repeatedly how much I love her. I wanted to make it all go away (I also wanted to sleep, but that's another story), but I had no magic pill.
Luckily, that's what doctors DO have. Ah, morphine. She apparently couldn't feel the cold when we finally walked home this morning. My sweety pie, high as a kite. :)
She says that now there's no nausea, and only mild pain when she's moving. Hopefully, the pain will be entirely gone by the time the morphine wears off.
Anyway, all this to say: Gallstones bad. Sleep and morphine good. Ug.