My Hospital Stay, Part 1: Discomfort

Discomfort--let me count the ways:

I can hardly believe I was in the hospital for 8 days!  And all for a urinary tract infection.  I've had 2 diagnosed in my life and maybe 5 that were self-diagnosed.  I have great success in flushing them out of my system without having to pay for a doctor visit or having to take an antibiotic.  But I think those days are over.  If I ever start to feel symptoms again, I'll definitely call my doctor right away now that such severe complications are possible.

The extent of the medical interventions boggle my mind.  No question that I had a uti and needed an antibiotic for that and no question that my blood sugar was way too high.

They checked right away for diabetic ketoacidosis and scared me by saying that I'd have to go to icu to be treated for that.  But thankfully it wasn't nearly to that level.  So in addition to the antibiotic, they put me on iv fluids to flush the glucose out of my blood.  The ivs were uncomfortable.(1)

Before I left the ER, I'd had a couple shaking episodes again.   I had started running a fever again too and couldn't get warm, and then out of the blue, I just threw up -- violently.  In the process of that, I peed myself.  After they took me to the restroom (they wouldn't let me walk because of the shaking), I cleaned myself up the best I could with no change of clothes.  That was uncomfortable.(2)

I was hopeful at first that I'd be able to go home after some treatment but I was admitted that night.  The bed  was uncomfortable.(3)

They wanted a scan that night before they shut it down for the day, so they brought me this contrast dye that I was supposed to drink, but it didn't sit well with me.  I kept drinking it anyway to get it over with so I could rest, but suddenly I threw up again.  And boy, did it burn!  Fortunately, they were still able to get the scan results they wanted.  Now my throat was raw and that was uncomfortable.(4)

Of course, I didn't sleep well.  It was different surroundings, my roommate liked her TV on all night, staff was constantly needing me for something or another, and I just was feeling sick.(5)

The IV fluid intervention led to congestive heart failure, so they had to move me to the heart floor and put me on a heart monitor.  That was uncomfortable.(6)


The food was really good.  I just couldn't eat much of it for some reason.  After only a few bites, I just couldn't eat any more.  I'd keep it and pick at it until they'd make me throw it away.  It made me sad to waste it.(7)

       To Be Continued: