guess what happened to me since that last post 3 weeks ago!!!!

hey!
well, a lot has happened in the 3-4 weeks since my last post.

i ended up calling an ambulance and going to the hospital not long after that.
i felt really flu-ish and sick and then i got better. then my colitis got bad and i just couldn't deal so i called dr and then ambulance took me in.

(quick side story - in ambulance, i, of course, had to go to the toilet. i told them and they said to hold it. i said not possible sorry. they pulled over on the side of the highway and made me get out and poo in the grass on the side of the freeway. and they only gave me one tiny little tissue. while i was sucking on a pain reliever stick thing and a massive fever and too sick to ride in my car. what the hell is that about??)

anyway..... i go to emergency room and there they give me fluids and send me to get xrays and ct scan.
then send me to my room. while there, i start hemorrhaging out my bum. a lot.
the massive blood clots coming out of me looked like guts on a horror movie. it was crazy.

a bunch of people were called and they decided to put 2 bags of blood back in me cuz of how much i lost.
finally stabilize. surgeon comes by and says he wants to do surgery. im a bit indecisive but thinking about it.

then my gastroenterologist calls and schedules a sigmoidoscopy for the next day to find out whats up with the hemorrhaging.
they find out i have CMV colitis. *cytomegalovirus
no surgery.
but they transfer me to the gold coast hospital (public hospital as i was at a private hospital) so i can get treatment for free.
i go to gold coast hospital and they start me on IV viral meds to get rid of the CMV.

--CMV is no big deal to normal people. shows up as flu like symptoms for a few days and goes away.
becuz i was on methotrexate and was immunosuppressed it really messed me up. caused all the hemorrhaging and drama. very bad. google it.

so, i am in bed and i start to feel really weird. i call the nurse and tell him. they check my blood pressure and do theirs obs on me.
not good. i start to crash. hard.
they call everyone. everyone comes. a surgeon shows up and starts barking orders.
people are putting holes in my arms and pumping bags of blood and fluids in like 4 different spots on both arms. guys are literally holding the bags of blood in between their neck and shoulder and squeezing to get it into me faster as i start hemorrhaging again. a lot. just pouring out of my bum again.
then they wheel me to elevator and take me down to theatre.
i remember everything til the 4 anesthetists knock me out.

emergency surgery to save my life.
they took out the entire colon.
i now have a bag (that farts at will)
and a massive foot long scar down my abdomen.

awesome!
towards the end of my hospital stay (i was there for just over 2 1/2 weeks) they take out the staples.
the bottom third of the wound opens up. big gaping hole. OMG!
awesome!
now i have a vac machine with a tube coming out of my gut attached to a machine that i have to carry around with me.
it goes everywhere. and it is uncomfortable. it is supposedly revolutionary though for healing open wounds like this. so i just have to grin and bear it since it will heal me in a few weeks rather than a few months.
but, now that i have been out of the hospital for a week and a half it is starting to hurt. a lot. as it does when it heals.
awesome!

so now i have an ileostomy.
recovery is slow.
lots of pain.
hard to move.

but it was really cool to throw away all my meds! prednisone, methotrexate, mesalasine etc.... in the garbarge! woo hoo!

now im a bunch of other crap. ahahaha.
just pain killers really. liquid morphine and ms contin suspension.
gotta be careful with pills i guess. don't want them to pop out the stoma. ouch.

there is my crazy ass near death experience.

What a scary experience. So sorry you had to go thru all that. Thank goodness you were already in the hospital when they had to operate immediately like that. Best wishes to you for a speed recovery!

All I can say is Wow. How horrible that all must have been. Hoping you heal quickly and not too painfully.

I'm speechless! Wow! What an ordeal you had to endure!

omg, girl! that sounded like you were explaining your worst nightmare. what a thing to go through. especially that ambulance scenerio- they were total jerks for making you go outside.

it is a plus that you don't have colitis anymore! it seems like you didn't have a choice about surgery. i hope it heals up nicely for you and you can go back to living a normal life. if it were me, i'd stick with the bag instead of having j-pouch surgery!

OMG - you have truly been through hell and back!
I am so glad you made it out of this nightmare scenario you were living through.
Wishing you a speedy recovery and all the best.

What a nightmare kazygirl!!! So sorry for what you had to endure, but I'm glad that you're okay and keeping fingers crossed that you will continue to improve and have your life back and stay pain-free.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quincy & I had posted asking how you were doing, but you must have already been hospitalized. What a frightening experience! And those ambulance attendants making you get out to poop roadside-- totally outrageous!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How dare they? That's so appalling. Best wishes for you to make steady progress toward recovery and get your life back. Definitely update us as your time/energy permit because we've been justifiably worried about you. Take good care. / Old Hat (31 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

My god, my daughter read this with me and now gets just how bad UC can get.

Glad your still with us and ok enough to write witty posts about it.

Best of luck on your recovery.

That's crazy. I thought you were going to say you were in a great remission and feeling good. What a bummer to hear you've been through so much in such a short time. I Hope you heal quickly.

wow. thank you for sharing this saga.
I'm just speechless.
Heal well.

Wow! What a drama! (My first reaction was OMG, but after seeing how OMGs there already were I couldn't pile another one on, LOL.)

Well I am so happy you survived all of that. Must have been horrible, I just can't imagine. I am wishing you a speedy recovery and nothing else goes wrong for you.

Kazygirl, I was holding my breath while reading your post. What an ordeal you went through, and I'm so glad that you are on the uphill now. **Sigh of relief!** Glad you had the fun of throwing away your meds! Take care and keep us updated on how you are doing. ((Hugs!))