Well, that was unexpected...

Here's the deal, yesterday's stomachache didn’t go away, not after hours of lying down, not after a short nap that felt more like passing out. I was too hot, then too cold, then too hot again, and no spot, position, or arrangement was comfortable. It’s not normally that bad, the pain usually goes away after a half hour, or a short nap. After eight hours, I threw in the towel and told Beloved Hubby I needed medical attention. Ten minutes later, we were in the Ranger and on the way to the now-familiar VA ER.

By midnight, I’d had x-rays, my first CAT scan (never did see the cat, but I think I saw a sock go by), and was on an IV of fluids. My stomach still hurt, but it was eased enough (without any pain relief given) so that I cat-napped a bit. About 1am, we were told that I was getting another CAT scan, but this one required me to drink 900ml of the most noxious substance ever imagined. I still shudder just thinking about it. It'll be days before I can drink anything out of one of those mugs again. Nasty stuff. It got harder the more I drank, and if it wasn’t for a cold washcloth, I’d have lost it. But I pushed through and drank it all somehow.

Somewhere between the swill and the scan, my stomach stopped hurting. But it looks like I have a hernia, and the doctors and specialist they rang up at midnight were worried it’d burst or worse. Surgery would be almost as big a risk as the hernia. Turns out, I don’t have the symptoms of the worst cases, and after I successfully eliminated, was cleared to go home. Never got admitted. And while I have a consult later in the month, there’s not much I can do. Keep up with the exercise and yoga, eat more grains and fiber, keep my fluids up, take my meds, pretty much what I’m doing for my other numerous concerns.

(sigh) I’m starting to wonder when the VA’s gonna start thinking I’m not worth all this fuss…

On the plus side, I was home at just past noon, and slept for several hours. Had a big lunch I couldn’t finish – I think diabetes has shrunk my stomach, I could have eaten it all (and have !) a couple months ago, and been scrounging for snacks two hours later  – and tested. Of course, since I hadn’t eaten since 2pm yesterday afternoon, and skipped my medicines and insulin since then, too, my numbers were through the roof. Still, no regrets. I enjoyed my big lunch ! And I’ll get those numbers back down in a couple of days. Heck, probably by tomorrow.

Today, though, I loafed and slept and ate a little. I’d spent most of yesterday before I got sick cleaning the Study, and Beloved was very appreciative. Hey, when he cleans enough to open a good third of the room back up, I’m gonna run with it and open all I can, too !  Found two more ‘fit your measurements here’ patterns and a recipe I wanna try this evening, so I’m pretty happy.

Here’s hoping the rest of my body is happy soon, too.