I'm just getting anxious and annoyed at the waiting. Canadian health care system may be free but there's still always a catch.
I've been having multiple bowel obstructions for the past 6-8 weeks (and many over the past year too) ... but most recently it has gotten to the point where I cannot even eat solid food at all without getting an obstruction within a couple of hours of eating. I have a 20cm stricture (about 8 inches) at the Terminal Ileum ... believed to be all scar tissue. I was scheduled to have the surgery out of town (about 2hrs away) on August 3rd. As the weeks have gone by since my consult (May 16), it has become clear that I could not wait this long.
Last weekend, for the first time I went to the ER when I had an obstruction. Before now, I've always suffered through them at home. But I knew that if I didn't go to the hospital, they would never escalate my case and get the surgery earlier. So I went to my local ER, got pain & nausea meds, and then was sent home because the ER doc said my x-ray did not show an obstruction. The next day, a radiologist from the hospital called me after he wrote up the report from the x-ray, and said that there WAS an obstruction. Ugh. By then I was feeling somewhat better, so I just stayed home. Three days later, I chose to eat a little food, and another full-blown obstruction started. The pain was so intense and so frequent that I decided to go back to the ER. This time they took me a little more seriously, because of the misread x-ray a few days earlier, and was treated a little differently. I spent two days in the ER, and on the second day, they asked if I wanted a surgical consult here at our local hospital. I said YES. The surgeon came to see me and agreed right away to admit me and put me on the add-on surgery list. I could go down to the OR anytime. That was Saturday. I didn't get in that day, and didn't even get a room at the hospital 'til very late that night (1am). The next day I was 8th on the list for surgery. They never got to me. At about 10pm they came and told me that I was cancelled 'til the next day. So I had been NPO since Thursday night when the last obstruction started. Was starving and thirsty. So between 10pm and midnight I was allowed to eat or drink. I chose clear fluids only because there was NO WAY I was going to get obstructed again, surgery or not. So all day yesterday I waited it out, and this time was 4th on the list. I was sure I'd get in. Well ... again at about 10pm I got the news that I was cancelled. The way it works, they have their regular day surgeries which are pre-scheduled. Then at 5pm, they start the add-ons. And in between, they do the emergency surgeries. So if 5 emerg cases come in, the day surgeries and add-ons get bumped. That's what has been happening.
So, here I am on day 5 in hospital, and still no surgery. The part that gives me the most anxiety is that my kids (age 1 and 3) are with my brother and his wife and kids, and they've already been there 5 friggin days and I STILL haven't had surgery! And I miss them! My surgeon came and saw me this morning and thanked me for my patience and said it SHOULD be today, and I'm getting ranked higher now because I've waited so long ... so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It still probably won't be til after 5pm, unless there's a day cancellation and I'm at the top of the list. Who knows.
On the bright side, because I haven't eaten anything in days ... I have no pain or symptoms (although that's probably not helping my "urgency" ranking with the OR people). I feel better than I have in months other than the starvation!
thanks for listening ... hopefully I get my surgery TODAY!
Angie
p.s. while I was writing this, the nurses came to see me and said that I'm ranking higher now, no longer an add-on, and it sounds like for SURE I'm going today, and it might even be during the day! Yippee!
I've been having multiple bowel obstructions for the past 6-8 weeks (and many over the past year too) ... but most recently it has gotten to the point where I cannot even eat solid food at all without getting an obstruction within a couple of hours of eating. I have a 20cm stricture (about 8 inches) at the Terminal Ileum ... believed to be all scar tissue. I was scheduled to have the surgery out of town (about 2hrs away) on August 3rd. As the weeks have gone by since my consult (May 16), it has become clear that I could not wait this long.
Last weekend, for the first time I went to the ER when I had an obstruction. Before now, I've always suffered through them at home. But I knew that if I didn't go to the hospital, they would never escalate my case and get the surgery earlier. So I went to my local ER, got pain & nausea meds, and then was sent home because the ER doc said my x-ray did not show an obstruction. The next day, a radiologist from the hospital called me after he wrote up the report from the x-ray, and said that there WAS an obstruction. Ugh. By then I was feeling somewhat better, so I just stayed home. Three days later, I chose to eat a little food, and another full-blown obstruction started. The pain was so intense and so frequent that I decided to go back to the ER. This time they took me a little more seriously, because of the misread x-ray a few days earlier, and was treated a little differently. I spent two days in the ER, and on the second day, they asked if I wanted a surgical consult here at our local hospital. I said YES. The surgeon came to see me and agreed right away to admit me and put me on the add-on surgery list. I could go down to the OR anytime. That was Saturday. I didn't get in that day, and didn't even get a room at the hospital 'til very late that night (1am). The next day I was 8th on the list for surgery. They never got to me. At about 10pm they came and told me that I was cancelled 'til the next day. So I had been NPO since Thursday night when the last obstruction started. Was starving and thirsty. So between 10pm and midnight I was allowed to eat or drink. I chose clear fluids only because there was NO WAY I was going to get obstructed again, surgery or not. So all day yesterday I waited it out, and this time was 4th on the list. I was sure I'd get in. Well ... again at about 10pm I got the news that I was cancelled. The way it works, they have their regular day surgeries which are pre-scheduled. Then at 5pm, they start the add-ons. And in between, they do the emergency surgeries. So if 5 emerg cases come in, the day surgeries and add-ons get bumped. That's what has been happening.
So, here I am on day 5 in hospital, and still no surgery. The part that gives me the most anxiety is that my kids (age 1 and 3) are with my brother and his wife and kids, and they've already been there 5 friggin days and I STILL haven't had surgery! And I miss them! My surgeon came and saw me this morning and thanked me for my patience and said it SHOULD be today, and I'm getting ranked higher now because I've waited so long ... so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It still probably won't be til after 5pm, unless there's a day cancellation and I'm at the top of the list. Who knows.
On the bright side, because I haven't eaten anything in days ... I have no pain or symptoms (although that's probably not helping my "urgency" ranking with the OR people). I feel better than I have in months other than the starvation!
thanks for listening ... hopefully I get my surgery TODAY!
Angie
p.s. while I was writing this, the nurses came to see me and said that I'm ranking higher now, no longer an add-on, and it sounds like for SURE I'm going today, and it might even be during the day! Yippee!
