Not for the weak of tummy.

Ha ha, how things have gone so downhill since my last post.

March 20th, I had to go to the hospital. I was trying to take a shower, but I ended up in screaming pain due to tightness of the stomach. Well, Chris took me to the ER. We spent six sleepy hours there, trying to figure out what was wrong with me. They hooked me up to an IV, made me do a CAT scan, and so on. (The contrast liquid for the CAT scan made me throw up. Twice.) They determined that I had developed a stomach bug (it was going around) and a urinary tract infection. Imagine you are walking towards the ER. You see a person walking away, I reiterate, away from the ER, throwing up on the sidewalk. That was me.

Stomach bugs and UTIs on top of each other aren't very fun, but both completely treatable. I just had to slow down for a few days.

I had originally lost my prescription for the UTI antibiotic. About a week later, I went to the campus health services to get another one. I finished the course of antibiotics, and went for a follow-up appointment. At the follow-up, I mentioned to the RN that I was still feeling some pain in my lower left. She said she thought it might be an ovarian cyst.

I saw the gynecologist they had there. (She's really cool.) She said, yeah, it seems to be a cyst. They made an appointment for me to get an ultrasound done at a local hospital. If the pain got worse before then, though, I had to go to the hospital.

The pain got worse on a Monday morning. Chris couldn't take me to the ER again 'cause he had classes and work. I tried calling people, and either they had class or weren't picking up their phones. I had to take a cab there.

I spent seven hours in the ER. The first time I had gone, it wasn't too busy there. This time, it was. It took, I want to say about two hours before a doc even saw me. I got examined, and they told me they were going to do the ultrasound. For an internal ultrasound, you have to do it on a full bladder. I had to drink 32 ounces of water. That. Is. A lot. I didn't pee beforehand, either, so I'm sure my bladder was extra full. The urge to pee hit me really bad. I called for a nurse, and asked if I could pee a little. She said, "Oh, yeah, we gotta send you for an ultrasound." (WTF WERE YOU WAITING FOR?!) By the time I made it to the ultrasound, I could hardly move in my stretcher, and I was screaming like a pregnant woman possessed. It hurt so bad that my kidneys were feeling it. I had to grit my teeth and bear it. The ultrasound technician was really sweet, though, so that made it a little easier.

Eventually it was determined that the cyst had ruptured. Well, that being the case, you just let it heal up and you deal with the pain. They put me on vicodin for bad pains. Nothing but vicodin had been working for me, I swear.

Two funny things about vicodin:
1. I cannot handle 500 mg of vicodin, but they didn't tell me to split the pill in half. My friend took me out to get the prescription, and then we went out for ice cream. I had a strawberry and banana sundae. I took 500 mg of vicodin, then ate. I had to go by health services to let them know how I was doing, and I think I had to cancel the ultrasound. I forget, things have become such a damn blur to me. Anyway. While in health services, I started to get dizzy and tired. I sat and read a magazine for a while, but I decided that I should try to leave. Outside, I saw a friend walking back to her dorm, so I hailed her over to say hi. As we started to talk, I felt like I was going to vomit. I leaned against a stranger's car and had at it. My friend brought me back to health services, and we determined that I should never take 500 mg of it again.

2. I'm allergic to vicodin! It helped with the pain, but we think it may have caused me to break out in a rash of sorts. And y'know, I thought it crazy at first, but after having been on prednisone for a few days, I think they may be right. I'm a little less itchy right now.

The last time I went to health services (there are some damn angels in that building, I'm convinced) the gynecologist said that there was still a lot of fluid roamin' around from the cyst. She put me on a couple of antibiotics, and the prednisone for the allergic reaction.

I find myself at this morning. I took my first antibiotic. I have to take it on an empty stomach, and I'm not supposed to lay down for 30 minutes after. Well, last night I laid down after, but I was exhausted. I passed out. This morning, though, the pain has been killing me. I'm just nauseous and crampy right now. I'm praying that things clear up soon. I have to go back for another ultrasound on May 12th, to see how I'm progressing.

MEANWHILE! Back when there was speculation about my cyst, Chris had been in a lot of pain, too. His joints were killing him in the morning. One day, it got so bad that his parents had to help him out of bed. His mom took him to the ER. It was determined that Chris has Lyme disease. It had probably been dormant since the summer or so. He's doing a lot better now.

His car is dead. The clutch and brakes are shot. It can't really accelerate uphill now. We've been riding with his parents.

Chris and I got a hedgehog! His name is Hu'go. He's brown and white, and very fat. I had accidentally been overfeeding him. Still, he's adorable, and I love him very much.

Before yesterday, I was flat freaking broke. I've had to pay for medical expenses, and Hu'go stuff. Now I have money again, and it's springtime. I'm getting some spring clothes today.

So, I hope all of y'all have been doing well in the meantime. Better than me, at least, ha ha.

More later,
~*The Pie