Thursday, April 14, 2011

The day I almost died

If you don't know what an Ectopic or Tubal pregnancy is check out http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/pregnancy-ectopic-pregnancy
I love WebMD by the way! :0)


April 13th, 2011: My day started at around 8:30 am. I got up, made my kids breakfast, and played on face book for awhile. At around 9:45 I got up made myself a bagel and went into Bugs (My daughter Cheyanne) room to watch Tangled with her. I felt like I had to use the restroom, so I set the bagel down in Bugs room and went in to go.

I ended up with hot and cold flashes; sweating constantly. I took of my shirt and laid on the cold bathroom floor because the pain I felt was like nothing I've felt before. I called for Cheyanne to get Raymond. Raymond came back and tried to get me off the floor and I just couldn't get up! It hurt so bad to even move. I could only lie on my left side. Raymond got the computer and came and felt my left and right sides, and the pain was worse on my right. We thought appendicitis. Ray called my dad, got me up and moved me to the couch, and went to go get my dad.

Raymond seemed to be gone forever and the pain was getting worse. I begged and begged Cheyanne to find my phone so I could call 911. She found my phone about 10 minutes later (Probably was less than that but it felt like eternity) because it had fallen behind the bed in my room that night. Cheyanne was in a frantic and eventually found it for me. I called 911 and said "I need an ambulance, my stomach hurts, (gave them my address), Please Hurry" without waiting for questions. The operator said she was sending an ambulance and I hung up.

The paramedics arrived right after Raymond came in. They came into the house, took my vitals. They couldn't get a good blood pressure and were confused by it. They stuck an IV in my hand, asked a bunch of questions “how old are you” 25, “where is the pain” my stomach, "Are you on Drugs" no, "Are you sure" yes (I was out of it), etc. My kids were freaking out. They came in with the stretcher, causing me more pain getting on it because they had to roll me over and then roll me back on to it. In the Ambulance the female paramedic thought it was possible to be appendicitis. They gave me a little bit of pain medication (which did nothing) and some anti nausea medicine. The bumps on the way to the hospital were very painful. I didn’t feel comfortable and felt very unstable being strapped down to the stretcher.

We arrived to the ER. Raymond had followed the Ambulance and called my aunt and uncle. They got me into the ER room and put an IV in my other arm. They took blood for blood work and tests. The Dr came in asking questions "What's wrong", "where is the pain", "When did it start", "Smoker", "Drinker", "Are you pregnant?","Any previous surgeries?". My answers: My stomach hurts, my whole stomach, about 30 minutes ago, yes, no, no, two c-sections.

Raymond stood at the end of the room as they were checking me out and came to my side when they cleared out. He said "You can't die on me; I can't raise these kids alone". He was kidding of course, but it became a reality really fast because my vitals started dropping. I remember the doctor saying something about a tubal pregnancy and Raymond asking if there was any threat to me. The doctor said yes and my husband broke down. From here on out I don't remember much because I was in and out, only being conscience for seconds at a time.
I remember them saying they couldn't give me pain medication because my blood pressure was too low, they dropped the head of the bed to keep the blood to my heart.
And I was out!
I remember the DR saying "Where are the results, we need them like YESTERDAY" The nurse saying "There is a faint line, but it's showing positive".
And I was out!
I remember him standing over me squeezing two bags of fluid into me; rolling them up and squeezing.
And I was out!
I remember Raymond crying and standing by the door with Nicole and David behind him in the hall.
And I was out!
I remember telling them I needed water, getting ice (which I later found out was a wet gauze pad) rubbed on my lips and telling them that I felt like I was going to pass out over and over again.
And I was out!
I also remember them asking me if I was okay with a blood transfusion.
And I was out!
I remember a lot of people being in the room. I remember them bringing in an ultrasound machine and doing a vaginal ultrasound that hurt more than anything. They found that the tube had ruptured and I was having internal bleeding.

I was bleeding out fast......

The next thing I remember is someone telling me they were prepping the room for surgery. I again asked for pain medication but they told me I would be better soon. I couldn't have any pain medication because I had lost a lot of blood.
Next I remember being in the surgery room; the oxygen mask going over my face and someone laying my arms straight out to the side.
(I don't remember anything in between besides what I have you here) 

I woke up from surgery in the recovery room, the nurse kept coming to my side telling me she was giving me more pain medication and my vision was very blurry. The nurse would lean over my face to ask how I was doing, but I couldn’t make out what she looked like; I could just see the outline of her head and shoulders.

For the next 3 days I had nurses coming into the room saying they were happy to see that I have color to my face, that they heard they were lucky to have me there, and that they were glad that I was alive. The Doctor came to see me the second day and told me that I needed five blood transfusions and normally they only need to do two and that my blood pressure was at a low 35/15. Raymond had told me that he had to sign my life away, which was probably very scary. He said he signed for me to have blood transfusions, full hysterectomy; anything the DRs had to do to keep me alive.

I had gained 20 pounds in 3 days just from the fluids they had to pump into me to keep my blood pressure up. Thank goodness that was just water weight and came off really fast!

I was greeted at home by my wonderful children and a load of puppies :0) Picture to come soon.
 
A woman just making it thru life
Laura <3