Bringing You Up To Date

October 7, 2010


More Daily Life from my family blog...
So, it's been a crazy two weeks.  I had no intention of alarming anyone last week when I posted my gratefulness for my family members who were donating blood to my cause.  I had to be crazy to think that wouldn't cause alarm and I am so sorry.  So here's the story...

Three weeks ago, Babe had a stomach ache for three days with no other symptoms.  As soon as his was over, I acquired it.  No other symptoms other than pretty excruciating pain.  Thinking it was just a virus, I tried to focus on other things.  On Day Eight of my pain (Sunday night/Monday morning), I woke up for the last time in the night with pain.  I couldn't take it anymore.  It was intense.  I told Babe I was driving to the ER, as he and the kids were in bed and I could get a doctor visit in without anyone's schedule being disrupted...ha!

When I arrived at the ER, they immediately took blood and did a CT scan of my belly.  These things I am no stranger to with my history.  If a girl walks in to the ER with a history of Crohn's disease and abdominal pain, everyone assumes the pain is Crohn's and shoo's you on.  This is not what I wanted.  After a few hours of being in and out of sleep, the doctor came in and said, "We admit you, Mrs. S".  I barely understood his accent. I shot up in bed and said, "But why?"  He looked so serious and said, "You need blood transfusion now.  It is serious."  This was not part of my plan.  On top of messing with my plans, I was at a satellite ER.  They would not let me drive to the hospital.  So, I had to take an ambulance.  It was so embarrassing.  Awake, talking and walking, but they strapped me to a bed and hauled my hiney to the ER in the main hospital via ambulance.  My boys would have been in heaven for that ride.

There were lots of tears, I will not lie.  They went from thinking that I had a GI bleed, to finding more peace that my Hemoglobin, which was a 6, had not gone from the normal 12 overnight.  When they were able to see my blood records, they were able to see a gradual drop over time, but they still had no idea how I was a functioning person.  Everyone kept asking, "Aren't you tired?"  Heck yeah, I'm tired!  I have three boys, including a baby.  I am EXHAUSTED!  But the red flags my body must have been throwing up were confused with being a busy mom.  It was pretty serious and I was scared.

They wanted me to get two pints of blood immediately.  When they put the form in front of me to agree to all the risks, I burst in to tears.  Did I tell you it was a tearful morning?  I was about to sign a paper that said it would not be the hospital's fault if I got AIDS or HIV or Hepatitis or a whole list of awful things.  I know the risk was low, but it was an unknown and the risk sounded huge to me.  Since we discovered that I had been sitting at a "6" for awhile and the need for blood was emergent, but not necessarily a need in the next few hours, we chose to wait for Babe's blood to be processed for me.  He was a match, as was his entire family.  They are all O+ should you need blood at anytime.  They have rich blood.

Babe's parents were already coming down on Friday for a family wedding, but when they spoke with Babe Monday morning, they sensed that Babe was freaking out a little and loaded up on a moments notice and swooped in for the rescue.  I was thrilled as I worried less about Babe and the boys and more about figuring out my crazy health.  As it turns out, I needed another pint of blood and both Babe's parents were O+ as well.

By the time they arrived, Babe had already donated his blood for processing.  The next morning, I took them both to the blood bank to donate blood for me.  It was a surreal feeling to be sitting in the waiting room with them behind closed doors donating blood...for me.  Very  humbling, very scary to be facing the imminent need for blood and I was very grateful for my family to donate more familiar blood with fewer risks involved.  The only red flag Babe had was that is was a little unsettling to him that his mom's blood would soon be running through my veins.  Yes, it is a strange thought.

Blood takes 3 days to be processed.  So, we enjoyed Babe's parents being here with us and the kids and waited for Friday to arrive.  Friday was blood day.