An extended stay....at the hospital!

This past week, Rachel and I spent six nights and seven days in the hospital due to Rachel having gall bladder issues which led to surgery which led to pancreatitis. Here's a quick timeline of events:


Saturday, 7/7/12: Rachel started having some severe abdominal pains. This was the third time in the past two months Rachel felt this pain, and both previous times it went away in a few hours, and we tried treating it with heartburn medications. Rachel took heartburn medication again which did nothing to help, so she took some anti-gas medication, which did not help. She spent the entire night in agony.


Sunday, 7/8/12: Rachel spent the day on the couch. By mid-afternoon the pain was starting to subside, and as long as she didn't move she felt alright. That evening the pain was mostly gone.


Monday, 7/9/12: Rachel woke up without any pain. I headed off to work, and Rachel got back to her normal routine. She ate a burrito for lunch, and immediately the pain returned. It was so intense she could hardly think straight. She called me, and I asked her if she'd rather go to our family Dr., or the ER. She said the family Dr, and called in an emergency appointment. I went home and took her there, and she was told that she either was suffering from ulcers or gall bladder issues. The Dr recommended going to the ER for quicker tests and more immediate pain relief. We made it to the ER about 3PM and thankfully there wasn't anyone else waiting there, so we were seen immediately.

They ran some tests and did an ultrasound which made it very clear that Rachel needed her gall bladder removed. They were concerned that some of the gall stones had become lodged in her common bile duct, so they were going to run additional tests (including an MRI) the next day, and if there was any lodged there, they'd remove them before surgery.

Because they weren't sure when surgery would be done of if that procedure needed to be done, Rachel could not eat or drink anything until they had a better idea about what was going to happen.


Tuesday, 7/10/12: Discovered that the phrase, "the results are negative" is a positive thing. Rachel did not have any stones in her common bile duct so they scheduled her for surgery for the next morning. They said she could have liquids until Midnight. Rachel was very hungry, but was grateful to be able to drink some juice and eat a popsicle.

Wednesday, 7/11/12: Rachel went in for surgery to have her gall bladder removed at 7:45AM. She was squeezed into the surgery schedule first thing in the morning, for which we were very grateful. The surgery went very smoothly, but when she was taken back to her room, she began to feel an even more powerful pain in her stomach. To our dismay, the nurse who was assigned to her was very unsympathetic and practically told Rachel she was either exaggerating how much pain she was in or she had an incredibly low pain tolerance. We 'fired' that nurse and requested another, who did a much better job interacting with Rachel.

We were told the pain was from the surgery, and Rachel would feel much better the next morning.

Thursday, 7/12/12: The surgeon met with Rachel, and thought it very weird that Rachel was still in as much pain as Rachel was indicating. The surgeon also hinted that Rachel had a low pain tolerance, but decided to order a CT scan and some additional blood tests. The results of those showed that Rachel was suffering from pancreatitis. One of the things they tested for were her lipase levels, which is a chemical secreted by the pancreas. Normal levels are from 18-53, and Rachel's levels were at 2907! We found out later that what likely happened is that Rachel was passing another gall stone at the time of surgery. As the stone passed by the pancreas, it caused inflammation.

Pancreatitis is one of the most painful things to go through, and the surgeon apologized for insinuating Rachel wasn't in as much pain as she actually was. She also told us the treatment for pancreatitis is to simply fast. Not consuming anything gives the pancreas a chance to heal. This was the last thing Rachel wanted to hear since the last meal she ate was the little burrito on Monday!

Friday, 7/13/12: They drew blood, ran the tests, and said her lipase levels were down to about 1000. Still a long way to go, so we spent the day resting and waiting for the next day. Thankfully they gave Rachel control over her own pain medication through a PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesia), and she became much more comfortable after that.

Saturday, 7/14/12: They drew blood, ran the tests, and said her lipase levels were down to 260. They were much closer to where they needed to be, but we still couldn't go home yet. Rachel was feeling much better and spent very little time in bed. Most of the day was spent sitting on the couch and walking up and down the hallways. Rachel was allowed liquids late that morning and that afternoon she got to eat a popsicle.

Sunday, 7/15/12: They drew blood, ran the tests, and said her lipase levels were down to 180. Rachel relieved control of the PCA since she wasn't using it much any more anyway, and the Dr said she could eat some solid food. She ordered fruit for lunch and nibbled on it. She feared causing another flare-up and needing to stay longer. Thankfully that didn't happen and the nurses gathered her discharge paperwork together. We left the hospital around 2:30pm.

Some friends brought us dinner that night, and Denise (Rachel's mom who is here to help out) set up a candle-lit dinner for us since it was our 6-year anniversary. Rachel really enjoyed her first real meal in almost a week. Rachel was very happy to be able to enjoy her first real meal in almost a week!

We want to thank everyone who prayed us through this trying ordeal, the nurses and doctors who took such good care of Rachel, all our good friends who visited or stayed with Rachel or brought us meals, my parents for taking care of Isaac and Sonny while we were in the hospital, and Rachel's mom for flying out here to help out in so many ways. We thank Jesus Christ for giving us patience and emotional stability while we waited.