Monday, March 24, 2008

Stuck (In which a writer goes to the doctor and gets stuck in a hospital bed)

Once upon a time there lived a very busy writer. She had a few health issues over the years including a very odd tumor on her pituitary gland that was surgically removed and radiated. Because of this, the usually happy writer went in for a yearly MRI that was so traumatizing, she often stopped for drinks on her way home. (Which was unusual, because at all other times she was a very serious and sober minded writer. Shaddup Ann.)

One day, after five years of nice clean MRI's the writer got the bad news. It looked like the tumor was back, or perhaps a new one, or maybe it was just a mucus sac. A surgery was scheduled for two months later, because everyone knows how wonderfully patient this writer was.

She went into surgery, with her husband, best friend and mother by her side. (The mother was not invited, but you know how mothers are) Turns out it was just snot. Yay! thought the writer, now I can buckle down and get back to work.

Then one night the writer got a nose bleed. Not your every day, ordinary nose bleed (though the writer had not had a single nose bleed her entire life so even an ordinary nose bleed would not be so ordinary) But a gushing, streaming, choking, nose bleed. Considering she just had surgery in that area and had never seen quite so much blood, the writer thought that calling the ambulance and going to the emergency room was more prudent than bleeding out in front of her family. Hours later, she was back at home with a clamp on her nose and instructions on how to deal with it.

That night it happened again. Armed with knowledge, she fought it for two hours before finally allowing husband to drive her to a different emergency room where they cautered it and packed it and sent her home. That afternoon she got yet another nose bleed. Now more angry than afraid, the dashing writer took on the whole health care network and was allowed to see her own ENT doctor. That blessed man tilted her back, and said, you are hemorrhaging from the surgery site and no one else even came close to getting that far back. He than used ghastly instruments and told her to lie still. After doing unspeakable things to her nose he said, I want you in the hospital for two days. You've lost much blood and I would rather have you here in case it breaks loose again.

And that is the little story of the writer who ended up hospitalized for a bloody nose. Without cable or WIFI. They did, however, have many good meds that kept the writer pleasantly occupied by the size and shape of her hands.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whoa! This sounds just awful. I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this!

Jessica Burkhart said...

OMG. I'm so glad you're okay. That had to be scary and frustrating. At least you found a doctor who knew what to do (finally!).

Anonymous said...

holy crap! scary stuff. glad the doc took charge and put you in the hospital so you could be monitored. Hope you're okay now.

cool on the groovy drugs though ;-)

PJ Hoover said...

Wow, for never having a bloody nose before, you sure got this one right. Or wrong. I guess it depends on how you look at it.
Glad you are better!

The (Mis)Adventures of a Single City Chick said...

Okay, for some weird reason, I can never read any italicized words on people's blogs, so that part came through like hieroglyphics, but I can only imagine how bad it was. I'm so sorry you had such a scare and that you're still dealing with it. I'm glad you finally got a doctor to listen to you. There's nothing more frustrating than to be passed off so trivially. Keeping good thoughts for you, Teri!

Christina

Annie said...

Ann has earned the right to laugh and you know it.

But I'm not laughing now. I'm too thankful to even snicker.

Delle Jacobs said...

Oh, hugs, Teri! How awful! Good thing you've got a doctor who has his head on straight and can use it to think.

Delle

Anonymous said...

You don't do anything halfway, do you? So glad you got it figured out and you're home from the hospital. Sorry about the no cable or WiFi, but cool on the meds. At least you were occupied. ;)

Amanda Ashby said...

OMG - I faint at the sight of blood and even reading about this has made my knees go all wobbly. Am pleased you're on the mend though!!

Lexi said...

Glad you're okay! Knock it off now, will ya!?!?

stephhale said...

That's so scary, Teri. I'm so glad you are okay. :)

TD said...

Flippin' heck. (You may substitute expletives as desired.)

Sending hugs... (((((Teri))))))

Tam

Rachel Vincent said...

Oh, Teri! I go into my writing den for a few days and miss the nosebleed from hell!

Im so gald you're okay now. ;-)

Elisabeth Naughton said...

Oh, Terry! I'm so glad everything's okay. What a scary experience. Stay healthy now, okay?

Little Willow said...

Oh my goodness, Teri! Healthy, healing vibes for you. Please rest up.