An unexpected staycation at Riverside Hospital

First off, a warning. In this post, I'm going to be talking about illness and bodily function. If that offends you or will make you see me in an uncomfortable way next time we meet, stop reading now. For the rest of you, suffice to say, everybody poops (but hopefully most of you won't ever have to deal with my condition).

After spiking a fever of 101 on last Thursday, July 7, I spent most of the next four days with a constant fever of 101 to 102 that wouldn't respond to Tylenol and with unrelenting symptoms from the UC. I went to work Friday and felt the chills, fatigue, and inflammation getting worse. I was also running to the bathroom at least a few times an hour with diarrhea, no matter what I'd eaten (or had not eaten). By the weekend I was totally out of commission (and, as I know now, I probably should've just called my GI doc at that point). I stayed home from work Monday feeling just as awful, contacted my GI doctor, and got in for an afternoon appointment for a flexible sigmoidoscopy (if you're curious, look it up). The results of that led my doctor to have me immediately admitted to Riverside Hospital, luckily right around the corner from his office.

The next few days were kind of a hospitalized blur. My first night there, Monday, was the worst. Because of (I think) pretty severe dehydration, it took eight tries to get an IV line in my arm. Ouch! I have a pretty nasty bruise in one arm and a bunch of other needle marks from the lab-work I had done every day of my stay. Lovely. Plus, since they had not consulted with the GI doc yet and were reluctant to make drastic changes to my medications, they basically did nothing but give me Tylenol, and I ended up with a fever of 104.6 that night while watching Anthony Bourdain visit Columbus on No Reservations. That was fun. The nurses couldn't believe I had such a high temp, and they talked about it again every time my chart was reviewed.

I spent all day Tuesday requesting to see the GI doc and asking whoever would listen if I could have something to eat, since they were only allowing me ice chips--even a sick girl with chronic diarrhea needs some nourishment, people! I was finally granted my wishes by Tuesday evening and started on IV steroids and two kinds of antibiotics (Cipro and Flagyl) to combat any possible infection that may have been causing my fever. The GI doc also decided I should stop taking Asacol (which I had recently re-started in addition to my Humira regimen), as he was concerned I might be having a negative response to it. He also instructed me to stop taking Humira and started me on Remicade, which I will continue to receive through IV infusion, normally every six weeks. I was also given clear liquids for dinner.

Tuesday morning was my last high fever, so the rest of my stay was mostly me adjusting to the meds and getting rest, plus the docs running more tests. I slowly returned to 'normal' and was cleared to leave the hospital on Thursday afternoon with doctor's orders to stay home and take it easy on Friday and for the rest of the weekend.

I owe many, many thanks to my wonderful, loving family and friends and especially to Rob, who took care of Ezra and me throughout this ordeal. My parents, Ry and Bri, Lauren and Coco, and Jeni all visited me in the hospital as well, keeping me sane. In addition, a handful of willing friends texted with me throughout the days, which helped a lot. Let's hope this was my last hospital visit for a while and that the new meds do the trick, eh?

How did you spend the Great Ohio Blackout of 2008?

We sent our frozen meat and packets of breastmilk to a friend's house for the week. We ran an extension cord from over the neighbor's fence and under our kitchen door to make coffee and listen to NPR (since part of our street had power restored several days before ours).We spent the days creating art and politically-inspired crafts. We relaxed in the dim light and talked. And we gave our son baths by the light of electric duckies.

p.s. Don't worry-- it wasn't really that dark during bathtime. The camera just didn't pick up the light very well.

wishes and reservations

I should have blogged at least a hundred times now about my wonderful baby. There are just so many words. These last couple of weeks are going to be especially tough as I prepare to go back to work and to start Ezra at daycare.



Part of the reason I haven't written, since I learned I was pregnant, in fact, is because all these feelings are so new and so private. At the same time, though, I am experiencing what countless other women have already been through. What can I say that has not already been said? Kids are great. They change your life forever. You never knew you could be so in love, even if you are head-over-heels for your mate. Every moment is amazing, even when it is really hard or scary or frustrating.

One really unexpected thing I've experienced is this very freeing feeling that has to do with judgment. Being a mom is opening my eyes to all the many difficult decisions every parent has to make. Sure, I still have my opinions about how I hope to parent my son, and I will probably even find myself judging other parents still, but now I am at least becoming aware of how harmful those judgments can be, how unproductive and negative they are. Most parents are at least trying to do the best they can. Usually that's all we can do. Now that I'm the one who will be learning by trial and error, questioning myself and feeling like I'm being questioned by everyone else (How long are you planning to breastfeed? You're paying how much for daycare? You're going back to work?) I feel I have let go of some of the judgments I have made in the past about parents. There's just already so much guilt associated with motherhood, I'm going to try not to add to it with my own negative thoughts and comments.

In order to be able to stay home with Ezra for the full twelve weeks of maternity leave I was granted, we have had to really watch our spending. We didn't do a very good job of planning ahead for this, so this next few weeks is going to be tight. I'm not usually a Big Spender-- I don't buy expensive, name-brand clothes or spend a ton of money on entertainment. Still, when the money gets tight I always go back to one of my all-time favorite places-- the library. I love that our city's library system is so big and has such a great collection. At any given time I have at least five books or other items on reserve. It's great! Today I simultaneously added books to my library 'Reserves' list and to my Amazon Wishlist. That way, I can check out the books and see if I like them, and if I still want them I can buy them online someday.

wish list