For Nikki J.

Update? Well, things have been hectic and that might be an understatement. I have been in the ER many many times due to uncontrollable abdominal pain. Where do I even begin??

Lets start with Tuesday, April 28th. I had an appointment to see my surgeon for a follow-up visits. It was my second time seeing her. She wanted to follow up after she recieved all my records. My chart went from thin to obese within one fax. Lucky, or unlucky, for me, I was feeling fine and when asked to rate my pain on a scale of one to ten, I gave it a zero. So the meeting with Dr. Litle was brief and we agreed to meet again in one month to further see how things were going. And then at that time she would also set up an upper-endoscopy (scoping my stomach).

So then Wednesday night rolls around and I start to get a dull ache in my left side (keep in mind the j-tube is on the left side as well). By Thursday night I am doubled over in pain and tears and it's off to the ER. In the ER they are only able to treat my pain and send me home. I'm there from around 11pm to 9am. I then procede to see my PCP Friday morning right after being discharged. He is also pretty non-instrumental in helping to resolve my pain issue. He prescribes me a medium-dose of the Fentanyl pain patch, which is commonly administered to people dealing with cancer pain, so it is supposedly "heavy duty" and should take care of the pain. But I run into a problem with the insurance covering the prescription, not to mention I'm in pain already and really need something. Without the insurance I would have to pay roughly $250. So I can't get the patch because that's way out of my budget. But later that evening the pharmacy called and they were able to get the insurance to cover it. My copay: $5! So I start the patch around 7pm. It could take up to 5 hours until it starts to work.
All of Friday night I am in terrible pain and waiting ever so patiently for the patch to start working. Midnight. 1am. 2am... now my dad is concerned because I am in tears again. The pain is paralyzing. I imagine it's close to the pain of childbirth, although I've never experienced it. It's possibly worse than childbirth because there's just no end in sight. Well, anyway, my dad takes me back to the hospital. This time we DEMAND that they do something. I pray they won't just drug me up and kick me out. But that's what they do, that's all they can do (so they say). And on top of the patch, they load me up with oxycontin and dilaudid. The room is spinning and I can barely keep my eyes open.
When I get home from the hospital I fall asleep for about an hour, then awake to blinding nausea. So begins the vomitting. For the rest of the day I am asleep or puking. Meanwhile, I miss a reunion with an old friend since I can't get out of bed. I'm pretty disappointed.
The nausea and vomitting subside Saturday night, but I am exhausted and sleeping a ton. And that leads me to today, Sunday.
I have slept a good portion of the day, didn't wake up until 3pm-ish. My pain is just unrelenting. None of the 3 strong pain killers are working... at ALL! I hope I just fall asleep soon and awake tomorrow to someone who can help. I'm calling the surgeons office first thing in the morning. Something has to be done, even if it means taking out the tube. I wouldn't wish this pain on anyone. And it would be one thing if it was lasting a couple of hours at a time, but the fact is that it has lasted DAYS! I, plain and simple, cannot handle it. Please be praying that my surgeon would take an interest in solving the problem rather than prescribing me more, or stronger, pain meds.