Chalk it up as another experience...

Well I am typing this post from a hospital bed! Yes, I did say hospital bed! Kind of strange how things can change in just a matter of a day.

It started Saturday, about 2am, I woke with a really bad belly ache! I couldn't get back to sleep. Took some medicine and tried to get comfortable in the chair. I must have gotten somewhat comfortable because I fell back asleep for a bit. Then I woke up about 2 hours later with a stomach ache that was about 3 times as worse. Just a strong pain under my right rib cage. Kind of resembled a "leg cramp" that just wouldn't go away. Again I tried to take some more tums and Tylenol hoping that it would just go away. As I was trying to get comfortable in the chair and wanting so badly to go back to sleep, Pete was getting ready for his week long fishing trip to northern Minnesota. He left that morning around 5:30am and wouldn't return until next Saturday sometime. He has been planning this trip for about a year, so I knew he was so excited to get away. I was still in pain when he left, but I was determined that it was going to go away in a matter of minutes. Well minutes turned into hours with not relief.
Finally I decided to call First Nurse around 5:00. I described my pain to her and she said "you need to go to the ER". So my sister Lisa and I hoped in the car and headed to the ER. It was a very quick trip, I might add. By the time I saw the doctor the pain had somewhat subsided. So since the pain sort of went away, he sent me home with some expectations to follow this week. The Dr believed that from the symptoms that I shared, that it had something to do with my gall bladder. I would have to agree with him, because of my own research that I had done online.
So we left the ER around 8:00 and went home and something to eat. Shortly after I got home my cell phone rang and it was the nurse from the ER. She said "We need you to come back to the hospital to spend the night. Some of your levels were elevated". So I packed a bag and went to the hospital with my sister. Making frequent calls and message updates to my husband who was now 9 hours away!
As we talked with the Dr on Sunday night she shared that the levels in my pancreas were really high (21,000) and needed to be around 300. Although that sounds high it is only about in the Mild to Moderate state...which was good that it wasn't more severe. She begins to tell us that one of the main reason for this in my pancreas is that something related to my gall bladder. So they wanted to monitor me a little bit closely to figure out what the problem really was.
I had an ultrasound done on Sunday that did confirm that there were some gall stones forming in my gall bladder and that the duct was a little inf lammed. The Dr. thought that maybe I had passed a stone that then blocked the common bile duct that didn't allow my pancreas to filter properly.
So now I am sitting here in the hospital bed with an IV that has been pumping fluids through me to get all of that inflammation out of my pancreas. I have not eaten any food or drank anything since Saturday. She wants my digestive system to have no activity so that it will heal properly.
I am just passing the time with watching TV, surfing the web, reading a book, reading some magazines and talking to family and friends on the phone. I have had many conversations with Pete over the phone and he feels terrible. He wants to be here so badly and feels terrible about fishing instead of being next to me. He has told me countless times "it just isn't right that my wife is in the hospital and I would be sitting on a lake fishing!". I kept telling him that there wouldn't be anything for him to do here, but to sit and stare at me. And besides my sister and mom were taking good care of me. I tried to give him peace of mind, but I guess that wasn't enough, because he decided to come home today. He should actually be here any minute. I feel terrible that I messed up his long awaited fishing trip, but he felt that being here was more important.
I am feeling much better today. My enzyme numbers have cut in half almost every day. this morning my Numbers were closer to 900-700 range. She wants them to be a bit lower before she starts my digestive system back up again. I am really hoping that I can at least eat something tomorrow, because right now I am starving! So things are progressing well, but the Dr. did say it might not be until Thursday before I can go home! :( I was a little frustrated when I heard that, but I want to make sure that I am well so that it doesn't happen again!

I have no idea why this had to happen right now.Although last week was the last week of school (not a good time) and next week I have family come home (not a good time)....so in all actuality this week was "the best time for it to happen". God is really teaching me a lot about my body these days. A fried told me "Darcy, I think you could be a nurse, from all of the medical experiences you have had lately". I laughed and thought "no way"! God also is reminding me that he has created us in a way that is absolutely amazing and I am thankful for the knowledge he has given to those we entrust our lives to in times like this!
So the Drury's can just chalk it up as another life experience!