Saturday, March 13, 2010

My Trip to the ER

You are all amazing!  I can't believe how blown away I was with all of the comments/emails that flooded by inbox from my last post.  I figured it wouldn't be right to keep you waiting any longer and fill you in on what happened.

Okay, as so many of you know, for the past 3 months, I have been battling with a plethora of stomach problems.  I've actually been enduring my fair share of health issues this entire year, but most recently, the stomach was causing the most severe trouble.  After seeing a GI doctor and having a routine colonoscopy, it was discovered that I had developed Ulcerative Proctitis which was believed to be a result of long term antibiotic use.  Now proctitis is a disease of the lower large intensive and is considered to be the most treatable and manageable of all of the colon diseases. I started a treatment plan back in February and for awhile, things were getting better, or so I thought.

A few weeks ago is when I noticed that things really started to spiral downhill.  My stomach kept getting worse and my symptoms were getting out of control.  I went back to the doctor and he believed that this was now extreme IBS on top of the proctitis.  I was to keep an eye on my symptoms and if they didn't improve he would have to do another colonoscopy to be sure it wasn't something more.

This past week is when I knew something was terribly wrong.  Sunday night, I woke up with a high fever, chills, and extreme abdominal pain. I had to take off work because it was so bad.  Tuesday, I felt slightly better (meaning my fever had broke) but I was still in so much pain.  Wednesday morning, I woke up and I knew my body was shutting down.  I had nothing left in me.  I couldn't eat for days, the pain was so bad I could barely stand, and the symptoms were so out of control.  I knew it was time to visit the ER.

Toly and I left Wednesday morning for the ER, where they ran a bunch of tests and did a full CT scan of my stomach.  They thought I could have a nasty infection called C-Diff or something more serious so they took all necessary precautions.  I was admitted to the hospital where they ran more tests over the next several days.  Thankfully, all of my tests were coming back negative for any infections (except for a UTI that I had no idea about) but I was still loaded with antibiotics and medications for the pain.

Okay so to make a long story short, the GI doctors had discovered from my CT scan that the proctitis disease had spread, broke through all of the treatment and developed into full blown Ulcerative Colitis.  Meaning, it took over my entire colon.  My stomach was so inflamed and swollen (explaining all of the pain) and I was unable to barely keep water in my system.  I was so weak, dehydrated, and exhausted.

They started me on steroids (prednisone), and immediately, I started to feel better.  Slowly, I was able to eat soft foods again and the symptoms got a little better.

My doctor said that its rare that this happens with the disease but it can be such a nasty thing that sometimes its just too intense for the treatment I was on and requires a more abrasive approach.  So, I will be on prednisone for about a month to help get things under control.  I'm not exactly thrilled about it, but I know its helping me and right now, I will do just about anything to feel better.

I am also going on a more intense treatment plan (meaning more drugs) and a special diet for the next few weeks.  He put me on a low residue diet, which basically goes against everything I have been eating for the past 5 years of my life.  It kind of looks something like this….

Things I can't eat….

-No Whole Grain
-No raw Vegetables
-No Flax, Fiber, Wheat Germ, Chia
-No raw fruits or anything with seeds

Things I can eat……

-refined white carbs (white bread, cereal, pasta rice)
-soft, easy to digest foods
-bland, low seasoned foods

So, for those of you who come to SWYNTS to see my off the wall, eclectic arrange of healthy weird food, please bare with me for the next few weeks.  As most of my meals will look pretty beige and boring and not something the health enthusiast would promote.  Toly actually had to go to the store to get white bread and things we never keep in the house.  I think he likes this kind of lifestyle of mac and cheese, eggos, and capn' crunch. Don't worry, this is ONLY TEMPORARY!!!! I will have my green vegetables back in my life soon enough.

So that's the story.  I'm home now, feeling better, but I'll be off my feet for a few days.  Obviously, I'm going to be having a few lifestyle changes for a little while until I get my strength back. The diet is one thing, but I've also decided to cut back from the running for a few weeks.  I was still running 30 miles a week, which I can't say was doing wonders for my body during this time.  Light/Moderate exercise is good to maintain with this, so I still plan on incorporating that daily, but the marathon training may need to be put on hold for a little.

It's definitely going to be a change, but when you reach the point where your body is in so much pain and discomfort as I was, you are willing to do just about anything to make it work right again.  I know this is not forever, I know that I will be back to living my normal, active, healthy life in a few months.

Thank you for all of your love and support.  You are all such amazing friends and I don't know where I would be without you guys.

So here is to health, happiness and love always!

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20 comments:

  1. Glad you're feeling better and home from the hospital! You're in our prayers! - Brian

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  2. Hoping all the drugs and new diet will take care of everything and you will feel much better in a few weeks girl! You are so tough!

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  3. oh my gosh my dear Lauren! i can't even imagine everything you are going through. you are strong, gorgeous and a fighter - so keep hanging in there! and ya know what? sometimes i totally crave white bread, so think of the ooey gooey peanut butter sammies you can eat :)

    i am so sorry you are going through this, but i am a firm believer everything happens for a reason. sending you LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of good health vibes, and take care of yourself girl.

    mwah!

    xoxo
    holly

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  4. ummm...i hope my other comment goes through...but if not, it was pretty much a long, rambling mess saying that you are wonderful, hang in there and feel better soon :)

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  5. BIG HUGS coming your way! I'm so sorry to hear you had such a nightmare, but i'm sure you're well on your way to healing :) Love you girlie!

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  6. oh my gosh! I'm so glad that they at least discovered what was going on. Take it easy girl! As always, my heart and thoughts will be with you and hoping you get better QUICK

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  7. Aww girl, sounds like you've had a rough few days! SO GLAD it's nothing too serious, though I know it still must feel like hell :( Enjoy eating that stuff while you're "supposed" to...as much as I love my healthy eats, it sometimes would be great to have a "doctor's prescription" to eat some of my childhood favorites, guilt free :) Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers love, feel better soon!

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  8. Glad you're feeling better and thank goodness they know what they need to be treating now!!

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  9. Wow! I'm glad you're okay now Lauren!! That sounds utterly horrible! Being a victim of stomach problems myself, I can imagine how much pain you must have been in..:-/ I'm glad you're on your way to getting better now though. A few slices of refined white bread is worth the results in the end! :-D

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  10. You sound so positive about it all!! Sending you lots of love and healing vibes!!

    let us know if you need anything (seriously)

    xo Jessica

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  11. WOW, how scary!! i am so glad you are OK and they are figuring out how to deal with this the best way possible. that will be a hard adjustment with the food, but at least you have a great attitude about the changes you have to temporarily make. thanks for checking in and letting us know what is going on!! love you so, so much!

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  12. Wow! You are so strong and brave Lauren!! I am so sorry for all that you have gone through. I will be keeping you in my thoughts!!

    hugs!!
    Love always,
    gc

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  13. Wow!! I can't believe everything you've gone through. I sincerly hope that you begin to feel better ASAP! In the meantime have fun eating the "taboo blog world" eats - personally I love white bread, it's so soft!!

    Rest up!!

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  14. I am in shock. I am glad that you are feeling somewhat better and that they have pinpointed the problem. Don't worry about the food blogging aspect. Your readers will follow you know matter what. Your health is way more important. Have fun finding new foods!

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  15. Wow! You are so strong. I'm glad they were able to figure out what was wrong with you! Good luck on your recovery

    xo

    Jocelyn

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  16. Oh wow girl! My thoughts and prayers will definitely be with you! I hate for you to feel so poorly, and to have to work with restrictions on your food. But I hope it all goes towards making you feel better and finally getting this thing under control! I love your meals, but I love you even mores, so I will be reading no matter what you post. Love you sweet pea! xoxo

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  17. Oh this breaks my heart. I'm so sorry to hear about all of this! I hope you start to feel better and find a long-term solution soon.

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  18. Oh Lauran! :( Girl I am so sorry to have to read about all of this! I'm sorry you had to spend some time in the ER and goodness, I'm super sorry that you are just dealing with so much. I am sending out my best healing vibes to you!

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  19. I'm glad you were finally able to figure everything out. I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this. It must be so hard, but it too will soon pass. Just keep thinking, it's only temporary, and you are getting healthy.

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  20. Get well soon! Sorry about all of your discomfort, but thankfully you know what it is now and can begin to heal.

    Personally, I wouldn't mind a doc telling me to eat white bread and rice LOL. I have digestive problems, too, so I definitely understand where you are coming from. Don't worry about what anyone thinks about your diet, all that matters is getting better! :D

    Best,
    Jenn

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