Another Day..... Another infection - Week 2 & 3

During the second week I finally got answers. The doctors had detected a virus called CMV in my bloods, it took a while to find because when I was first admitted to hospital I didn't have the virus.

So now we had the virus identified treatment could begin. I was put on an anti-biotic which was taken 2 times a day (via a drip). As soon as this treatment started it didn't take long for the temperatures and the crazy shakes to go away. Finally I felt I was on the mend again but I still didn't know how long I would have to be in hospital.

Life in hospital is very boring to say the least. The food routine is breakfast at 8:30am, lunch at 12:00pm and dinner at 5pm. Then a 15 hour break until you get breakfast again....... something is seriously wrong with the food schedule. In between meals you have a television and if you are lucky enough to be disconnected from a drip you can go for a walk.

I found during week 2 and 3 I couldn't sleep at nighttime. One of my nurses suggested that I try sleeping pills so that night I asked for a tablet. In my mind you take the tablet then BAM you are asleep. I was about to be bitterly disappointed. So I took the pill and there was no Kaboom, there was meant to be a kaboom. I ended up laying in bed waiting to fall asleep but sleep never came. I'm glad I didn't pay for the pills cause I would have felt totally ripped off.

Finally at around 4am I would get to sleep only to be woken up at about 8am just before breakfast. After breakfast I would usually fall asleep again and wake up just before lunch and my parents arrived. We could usually then head out for the afternoon and get back in time for dinner (if we didn't have it whilst we were out).

I ended up staying in total 2.5 weeks in hospital before I was sent home with another heap of oral anti-biotics. Hopefully this time I will be home for longer than a few weeks with no more hiccups. 

Another Day..... Another infection - Week 1

Things were looking really positive on Wednesday the 4th July. I had an appointment with my doctor in hospital and my blood counts were looking really good. So good I got taken off a number of drugs I was taking including an injection I needed to give myself daily.

The weekend was going to be really good weather (well good for a Melbourne winter) so we were off to Venus Bay for the weekend starting on Friday. When Friday morning came I woke up had a shower and waited for the nurse at home to arrive. Suddenly I started losing my vision....... oh no I realised that I was about to pass out.

Luckily it passed and I was able to stumble to the hallway to get David just in case it happened again. When my nurse arrived 15 minutes later I told her so she decided to take my temperature and blood pressure. Blood pressure came back low and temperature came back high...... I was in trouble.

After a call into Peter Mac (my hospital) they advised that we call an ambulance straight away to take us to a local hospital. This was because they didn't have any available beds at Peter Mac at that time. After about 10 minutes of waiting the ambulance was at the front doorstep.

On board the ambulance the "Ambo's" put a cannula into my vein and started getting fluids into my body. Once at the hospital they continued pumping fluids into my body, took blood and x-rayed my chest. This didn't find anything that pointed them to why I had a temperature. They decided not to do any more tests since I was going to be transferred to Peter Mac anyway. So the rest of the day I waited in the hospital for a bed to become available then another 3 hours for an ambulance to transport me to Peter Mac. Our Venus Bay weekend wasn't looking good.

Once at Peter Mac they ran a number of tests (including taking blood and x-raying my chest which had already been done). These tests didn't find anything so I was booked in the following week to have the following done:
1. Camera put down my throat and into my lungs to check my lungs
2. Camera put into my stoma to ensure it was alright
3. CT scan to check the infections in my body.
4. Echo of the heart


The camera into my lungs was first and I convinced the anesthetist to put me under because I didn't imagine it would be pleasant to be awake during that test. So after being put under I woke back up in the operating room and everything was all done. Only problem was I had a sore throat because they put a tube down my throat. Wasn't happy about that because my voice is still not perfect so I was pretty certain this wasn't going to help.

Next test on the Wednesday was the camera in my stoma. I was assured this wasn't going to hurt as I would be put on a nice drug that relaxes me, similar to the drug I got when they take bone marrow. I love that drug because you are half awake in regards to if someone says your name you will wake up and respond but most times I am totally out of it and sleep through the tests.

So once we got to the OR (operating room) I was expecting the drug to be injected. The anesthestist then tells me because I have fluid in my lungs they don't want to give it to me because they would then have to put a breathing tube down my throat. So instead I was given a drug to relax me a bit........... what they didn't realise is I didn't need a relaxant I needed something that stopped me feeling the pain I was about to endure.

The following 10 minutes were some of the most uncomfortable moments I've had at Peter Mac. It involved me swearing followed by the anesthetist saying "I've just given you more pain medication.... is it working? Great I thought give the medication after I get pain...... wouldn't it be smarter to give it before hand? Unfortunately the pain medication didn't really help so I endured an agonising 10 minutes whilst the surgeon inspected my insides and took some biopsy samples.

At least the other two tests which were scheduled for the end of the week were not as bad. The ECHO is like getting an ultrasound around your heart and the CT scan is quick and painless. The only pain is you have to drink a litre of liquid before the scan and my nurses only gave me 1.5 hours to drink it in.

So after the first week back in hospital I was very depressed because I had all these tests and the doctors still didn't know what was wrong with me. My symptoms had also got worse so when I had a temperature I would be freezing cold and then I couldn't stop shaking. This is referred to Rigor in the medical world, I call it the crazy shakes. Luckily there is a medication to stop the crazy shakes so when they came on the nurses would inject the meds and five minutes later I had stopped shaking. Eventually the temperature would go thanks to Paracetamol until 8 hours later when it would start again.