PB's Bogus Adventure!
(originally posted on Tuesday February 4 2003)
The Beginning
I'm not sure how many of you may have heard (or what details you may have received) about my recent
adventure so I thought I would take a few minutes and send out a 'special' Stetser Family Update.
Over 10 years ago our friend Dr. John (Schiavone from Big Flats Wesleyan) told me that I had an umbilical
hernia, which means that a part of my intestines were bulging through a hole in my abdominal wall.
Well, apparently last week something happened which caused a problem. The medical term is "a strangulated
hernia". What happened is that a little more of the intestines got squeezed in and that was enough to 'stop all
traffic'. I'm not sure when that happened, but by Wednesday I was feeling pretty crummy and stayed home.
Thursday I felt very 'uncomfortable' but came in to the office to get ready for a 6 PM Advisory Board
meeting.
About 5:30 or 6 my 'gut' starting hurting .... badly ... and I left the meeting half way through. By 8 or so I
was in extreme pain and ready for "whatever it took" to stop the pain! Becky took me to Bassett Urgent Care
in Herkimer but, when she told them I was in the van and having horrible abdominal pain, they said I should just
go to the hospital.
Little Falls Hospital
Now the 2 hospitals under consideration were:
1> Bassett, which is in Cooperstown and about 45 minutes away and
2> Little Falls, which is less than 15 minutes away.
As you might imagine, I was in so much pain I chose Little Falls.
Now folks, I have been dealing with Fibromyalgia for over 10 years so I am accustomed to putting up with pain.
But THIS pain was like nothing I ever experienced before. I felt like there was a little guy in my gut trying to
break out! (kinda like that scene in that movie ...).
I stumbled into Little Falls hospital while Becky parked the van and told the first person I saw, "please help
me, I am in horrible pain!". As various nurses and others rushed to help get me ready to see the doctor, I
found that the pain was so bad I had to practice deep breathing, answering their questions in between gasps
for breath and shouts of pain. That's right .... I was loud!
Finally a doctor came and, after I begged for it, they started an IV and gave me a shot of Demerol for pain. A
few minutes later, the pain had not diminished so I begged and pleaded some more and he got me 2 ml of
morphine.
At this point he decided that
a> I probably had a blockage of some sort
b> I needed emergency surgery
c> they could not do it there, so they called for an ambulance to take me to Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown!
While waiting for the ambulance, my pain continued unabated, as did my pleas for help and my shouts of pain.
I grabbed an IV pole attached to the head of my gurney and pulled it toward me to distract from the pain.
Becky made me stop when she saw that I was bending the pole (at which point I was pretty impressed with my
accomplishment and forgot the pain for a few seconds).
Before the ambulance got there I got the doctor to give me another 2 ml of morphine. When I asked for
more (since the pain was still horrendous!) he apologized and said if he gave me more I wouldn't be breathing.
At that time I told him I really didn't care, I just wanted the pain to GO AWAY!
Bassett
Healthcare
Just like the doctors, nurses and everyone at Little Falls hospital,
the ambulance crew (Duane and Amy) from Rural Metro were
wonderful! She drove and he tended to me in the back while Becky
followed them into Herkimer, where she ran to Ruth Anne's house, ran to the door and called home to let the boys know what was
happening then caught up to us just before we got to Bassett. So basically, Amy drove as quickly as she could,
shouting her apologies everytime we hit a bump, while Duane tried to keep me calm, gave me O2, took a quick
EKG and tried to keep from losing his hearing (from being in an enclosed space while I was yelling in pain!).
Thankfully, as soon as we were in radio range, Duane got permission to give me another 4 ml of morphine. So
by the time I got in the ER at Bassett, the pain was down to a point I could actually converse without shouting.
Shortly after arriving at Bassett I was checked out by 2 different surgical residents and they started getting
ready for my surgery. Before heading to surgery I had to sign the standard forms after the surgeon explained
what they were going to do: they were going to free the intestines and repair the hole. They told me that
sometimes when the intestines get pinched the blood supply gets cut off and that section of the intestines
"dies". If that happens, they will have to cut or 'resect' the intestines and reattach them. Normally they will
use a piece of mesh to keep everything 'inside' so it can heal, but if they have to do a resection, they will just
sew up the hole instead.
When I get to the OR I meet the nurse and surgeons and
anesthetists who will work on me. It seems like no time
at all and I am getting drowsy. It's about 2 AM. I'm
afraid I didn't catch the other's names but the surgeon
was Dr. Borgstrom (who was shy about having his picture
up) and his associates were Dr. Monzon
and Dr. Nichols. When I wake up it's about 3:15 or so
and I am happy about the fact that I am
1> awake
2> not intubated (it's a long story!)
As it turns out, they did not have to do a resection but the head surgeon, Dr. Borgstrom, decided that using
mesh would be too risky, so they just sewed me up!
When I get to my room (220A) I meet the first in a long line of very helpful nurses, Kelly. For the rest of her
shift she spoils me by taking care of my every need!
Over the next few days I was amazed that every day, virtually every shift, I met wonderful nurses who were
kind and compassionate and helpful. I have tried to remember all their names and will list them now (if I
forgot anyone PLEASE forgive me and drop me a note to remind me, okay?). The terrific nurses of Bassett include these lovely ladies: Tanya, Tanya, Rachel, Barbara, Sue, Leslie, Kelly,
Melissa, Heather and probably
a few whose names escaped me in my Vicodin haze.
Barbara (disguised as "Super Nurse" on the right) was especially a blessing.
She
reminded me of when I was an EMT. Sometimes I helped people medically but
sometimes it seemed like I was there to provide spiritual comfort. Sometimes
Barbara was in her role as a nurse, sometimes in her role as a Christian sister.
Everyone, as I said earlier, has been WONDERFUL!!
Discharge
So, because of this fantastic care I was able to come home Sunday afternoon and I am impatiently waiting to
heal. I have enjoyed remembering my EMT days by caring for my wound, changing the dressings and taking
care of the drain that is still in me.
So thanks for your prayers ... for those who knew about the visit to the ER and prayed for me and those who
just pray for us and didn't know the specific need. I'd love to hear from anyone who'd like to drop a line. I
expect to be staying pretty much at home for the next several days. Feel free to give a call or drop an email
to PB@StetserFamily.com. If you use AOL Instant Messenger I use SAPBS. For both Yahoo and MSN
Messenger you will find me as PBStetser. God Bless!
Follow Up Care
Added on Thursday 02-06-03: Today I saw Drs. Borgstrom & Monzon. Dr. Borgstrom took out my staples and
the drain. The staples were a little sore but I didn't feel anything at all when he pulled out the drain. Becky
said it was interesting that there seemed to be about 8 inches of tubing inside!
I am adding some photos as well today. Sorry about Dr. Borgstrom's picture, but he said he'd rather not have
his photo on the Web, so ...... Enjoy the photos .... and if you have a reaaaal strong stomach, here is a link to
some pictures of my incision, drain, etc. WARNING! these are a bit gross, so I am making them a separate
page.
click here for the semi-gross photos