I last updated this past Saturday morning. Saturday itself wasn't a bad day, but at 12:15am that night, it started me on a ride I did not care for. I woke the Wife (who had just fallen asleep) and informed her we needed to go to the ER. Once again, the pressure on the abdomen was just too much, plus this time, I was actually getting some pain spikes throughout. My next normal appointment for paracentesis is on the 4th - five days away, and still over two weeks from the last one.
Spent most of Sunday in a room in the ER. They did perform a paracentesis and drained approximate 14.4 Liters of fluid (the highest yet from me, though that may not be an EXACT amount). Chest x-rays followed as per the norm, and sure enough, fluid in the lung cavity again as well. That meant an overnight stay, as they refuse to do two procedures on a patient (unless life/death threatening). I'm still not happy.
They switch me up to a room under observation, and my thoracentesis is going to be scheduled sometime the next day. Sure enough, 8:15am, I am off to get it done! I'm happy, thinking, like last time, there will be a couple hours observation afterwards, and they send me home. Nope. Here's a grenade, go lay on it over there and see what happens. For 2/3 of the day I am arguing with nurses and other staff as to why they are not releasing me - sodium too low, this isn't right, that isn't right, potassium is low. I told them half of that is because when they bring around your prescriptions you are to take, they gave me only 3 of the 8 I take, potassium being one of them. I was ready to scream for am AMA to leave, but the Wife talked me out of it. I finally gave up. Let the hospital keep me forever and kill me.
I am moved again to an actual inpatient room, where I spent the night (again awake all night). I saw Hospital Doctors on call, Nephrologists, Pulmonologists, too many nurses, over the course of my stay, and some would say I was good to go, then someone else would countermand that. Finally, Tuesday late morning, the Hospital Doctor discharged me. Longest hospital stay of my life with a bunch of what I feel were incompetents. I went home and crashed for a couple hours, and still made it to the House Comm meeting at the Post.
Wednesday I had to return to the hospital for the endoscopy. Aside from them running a little behind, it went fine. Glad they knock me out. I did get the report from it, and everything seems fine on that front, and I have the report for the Live Dr on Monday. Which is my next big appointment. This is the moment I have been waiting over three months for - to finally get some real answers as to what is going on, how bad is it, what are we going to do. Basically, what could very well be a life-changing moment.
The docs in the hospital did ask me to drop my fluid intakes to 40oz/day (down from 60oz, which a rarely was able to do) and I just shook my head and said sure. I know I need to, it is just hard.
Welp, I feel the need to release some bowel pressure, so need to go....
PeacE
