My partner wife Kitsap River (thank you, voters of Washington State, for confirming same-sex marriage!), has been throwing up for the past two days. She's been unable to keep anything down, especially her anti-rejection drugs.
In whatever manner you feel most comfortable, please direct healing energy in her direction.
More below the fold, with details not for the squeamish...
As some of you know, Kitsap River is a kidney transplant recipient. As such, she must take anti-rejection drugs on a very regular basis. Unfortunately, early Wednesday morning she started throwing up, also on a somewhat regular basis.
She had been physically uncomfortable for a day or so before then, unable to find any position — sitting, standing, or lying down — where she was not in pain. This was playing merry hell with her sleep, as you might well guess.
As I was about to leave for work shortly before 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, she called me back to our bedroom and proceeded to vomit. Once the spasms had subsided, she asked me to stay home and watch over her. (This is something she almost never does, knowing that I take my job very seriously. That she did so is a measure of how poorly she was feeling.) She threw up again at about 8:30, again at 10:15, at 11:00, and when she was bringing up nothing but bile at 11:30 we headed for the nearest ER.
Fortunately, they did not have a backlog so she was admitted right away. Not so fortunately, they were (shall we say) less than competent. Despite having every symptom of dehydration and stomach "flu" (i.e., gastroenteritis), it was two hours before anyone even started to administer an IV. Worse, that technician immediately "blew" KR's main vein. (He pushed the IV needle completely through it, which not only brought on immediate bruising but made it unusable for at least a couple of days.) A second tech couldn't find a vein at all, since one side-effect of dehydration is that her already-small blood vessels get even smaller.
Three hours into our stay at the ER, a third tech brought in an ultrasound viewer and was able to start an IV with saline drip. Not until then did an actual M.D. deign to see her. We discussed symptoms and a probable diagnosis of gastroenteritis, after which the doctor (who really needed to be reminded that "MD" does not stand for "major deity"; if there's a person you don't talk down to, it's Kitsap River), ordered intravenous Zofran to calm her stomach enough to retain that morning's dose of rejection drugs.
The ER staff needed another couple of hours to collect fluid for lab work and release us. (The labs were uniformly normal, by the way.) On the way home, KR threw up all the liquids she'd drunk while in the ER.
Throughout the evening and night, her symptoms continued. We contacted the ER again, and they phoned a prescription for oral Zofran to our preferred pharmacy. The first dose didn't seem to help, as the most recent episode of vomiting produced a greenish liquid.
Fortunately, a second dose seems to be working. She's been able to hold down some chicken broth and the first of today's round of medicine. A hot bath helped a bit with her aches and pains. All of the advice nurses we've contacted say we're on the right track, but if she takes a turn for the worse and can't keep her meds down, we should go to where she can received them intravenously.
All this is prelude to the request I made in the intro: in whatever way is in accord with your beliefs, please send healing energy to KR. The gods and goddesses know she needs it.
Thank you.
5:23 PM PT: KR pointed out to me that it was RNs, not techs, who couldn't start an IV without blowing veins. Twice.
11:17 PM PT: KR is feeling much better tonight. She's not needed to barf since early this morning, having kept down broth, crackers, ginger snaps, freshly made baked custard, and (most important) her medicine.
She's sleeping now and I'm finishing up feeding the four-legs so I can get some sleep as well. Unless there's a serious turnaround, I'll be able to go to work in the morning with the secure knowledge that my beloved will be all right.
Thank you all for your sincere offerings of healing energy and excellent advice. I do believe that we would not have done nearly as well without you. Good night, and blessed be.