This is how it happened…. Part 1

On Monday, October 2, 2023, I woke up with pretty intense abdominal pain. I thought maybe it was something I’d eaten or that I was coming down with the flu. But it felt different, so I decided to go to my doctor on October 4.

The doctor wasn’t certain what was going on, so of course they ordered a blood test and labs and all that fun stuff.

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A necessary warning about needles

Let me preface the rest of this post by saying I have trypanophobia. That’s the medical term for fear of needles. Not just “I don’t like needles,” but “I can’t even watch someone get stuck with a needle on a fictional TV show without turning away and squirming.” (Why do they always stick someone in the neck on TV and movies?)

This blood test was just the beginning of an un-fun adventure involving a whole lot of needle sticks — injections, blood draws, and IVs from hell.

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The first real clue

The blood test came back with highly elevated levels of lipase — 819, where normal is generally 0–160. This is an indicator of pancreatitis. Fun!

The two most common causes of pancreatitis are gallstones and excessive alcohol use. I rarely drank alcohol before this, and now I don’t drink at all. So alcohol was not the culprit.

Next step: an ultrasound to check for gallstones.

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Something isn’t right

No gallstones. But the ultrasound did reveal that there were “hypoechoic areas noted at the head of the pancreas.”

In plain English: there might be something on your pancreas.

There are other causes of pancreatitis, but I won’t get into them here.

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Specialists and setbacks

Next step: see a gastroenterologist. They drew blood again, but this time my lipase was back in the normal range (56). They decided I needed an MRI, which was scheduled for November 10, 2023.

That MRI never happened.

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Round two (much worse)

Friday, November 3, 2023, after dinner, I wasn’t feeling well. Again, I assumed it was something I ate. But around 3 a.m. on November 4, I woke up in extreme abdominal pain and began vomiting violently.

My wife took me to the emergency room. Needles! I got an IV, more blood was drawn, and my lipase level came back at 2200. That earned me my first hospital admission.

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The hospital stay from hell

I’m not going to go into every detail, but this hospital stay was brutal. I was in extreme pain and could barely breathe due to atelectasis (a partially collapsed lung).

They initially thought I had pneumonia, but that turned out not to be the case. Because I couldn’t breathe properly, they couldn’t perform the MRI — I wasn’t able to hold my breath long enough.

I spent a week in that place. I told my wife that if I ever need to go to a hospital again, life or death, it will not be that one. Screwed-up IVs. Daily blood draws where veins were missed three or four times before I stopped it and demanded someone else.

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What I learned the hard way

As awful as it was, I learned a lot about managing my own healthcare and advocating for myself.

If you ever find yourself admitted to a hospital: make them take care of you properly. If you can’t advocate for yourself, get a friend or family member to do it for you. Many hospitals have a patient care advocate. Use them. Be loud. Don’t let neglect slide.

To be continued…

(This post was not AI generated.)