Well, it’s certainly been pouring around here. And I’m not just referring to the storm on Thursday night.

*****Warning- may contain “TMI” for those with sensitive stomachs.*******

Tuesday, after I’d been admitted to the hospital, N was finally able to have a bowl movement (he’d been constipated from the pain meds) and it was black and tarry. A sure sign of a GI bleed. Not only that, but his back, which seemed to be getting better, started feeling worse.

So on Wednesday morning he had his mother come over to watch the twinfants while he went to the doctor. He mentioned the stool and they drew some blood, but had to send it out to be tested. That night, he coughed until he threw up, and that too showed signs of blood. The next morning he called to tell me (yes, he waited until morning to tell me).

He couldn’t decide if he should try to get in with the GI doc the GP had recommended or go to the ER. He was afraid that the ER would make him stay overnight. He tried calling the GI doc, but the number was no longer working. By this point he had brought the twins to my hospital room and his mother had met him there. I asked him what he was going to do and he said “I’ll just wait and see if it happens again.” I was not happy with that response, but didn’t know how to make him go in. Fortunately, I didn’t have to.

He had fallen asleep on my bed when his phone rang. It was his GP’s office with his lab results. It was a fairly short conversation, but the gist of it was “Go to the ER now.” Since he was already in one hospital (a heart specialty hospital) he simply walked across the street to the main hospital and into the ER.

A friend of mine from M.O.M. was visiting at the time and she offered to stay and help with the twins so that my MIL could go with N. He argued and said he was fine on his own and wouldn’t let her come with him. She asked me what I wanted and I said I wanted someone with him. So she ate a little lunch, giving him time to get settled at the ER, then went looking for him. Again, he kicked her out. :/

At this point I’d called some other friends of mine to come help with the twins so my M.O.M. friend could get back to her twins. I got a few updates from N via text, but felt so clueless as to what was going on. I hated it. I did, however, know that they were giving him a blood transfusion and planned to admit him overnight so they could do a colonoscopy and endoscopy in the morning. My MIL volunteered to keep the twins over night. While my friends were still there, she went to the store to pick up diapers to make it through the night. At least we knew I’d be home the next day!

After everyone (including my precious babies. ) was gone, I felt SO restless and could not concentrate on anything at all. I called my mom to let her know what was going on and she asked “What about the dogs?” OMG, I’d completely forgotten about my dogs!! I felt horrible! I was able to get my college roommate, who lives only 5 minutes from us, to go over to let them out and feed them. Thank goodness my mother reminded me!

I also called N’s dad, who happened to be on the way home from work. He said he would go home to change, then head over to see N. Soon after I got a text from N saying they decided to do the endoscopy that night instead of in the morning and wanting to know if there was anyone still with me who could come get his backpack. There wasn’t, so I said I’d find someone. I didn’t think his dad would be there soon enough (turned out he was), so I called his aunt, hoping she would be close by (she works close to the hospital and passes it on the way home. Low and behold, she was on her way home and only had to take a slight detour to get to N quickly. She and N’s dad waited while they did the procedure and kept me updated, which I appreciated very much.

It turns out N has 3 ulcers, a hiatal hernia, and esopogitis. Dang! He was moved into a room where they gave him his second unit of blood. I felt so trapped in my hospital room. I wanted so much to be there for him, not to mention feeling overwhelmed at the circumstances surrounding the twins’ first night away from both of us. It’s a wonder I slept at all.

But I did. And I woke up to the sound of my phone notifying me of a text (well, I woke several other times, too, due to the usual hospital interruptions). It was N, saying “We could totally chat on Facepages!” lol So I got on my computer so we could talk to each other. Not sure why we didn’t just use the phone, but it was good to converse with him anyway.

My nurse (I had the same one all 4 days!) knew what was going on, so she brought me my final dose of tikosyn early so that she could do the EKG and get me discharged as quickly as possible. I don’t think I’ve ever had a discharge go that quickly! God bless her! She even walked me over to the main hospital via skybridge. Oddly enough, we ran into my EP on the way! When he heard what was going on he rolled his eyes and said, “Well, the good news is, you stayed in sinus rhythm through all that!” :/ He walked most of the way with us then went wherever he’d been headed.

I got to N’s room by 9:30 AM. His mom brought the twins and we all waited to find out what was going to happen. Poor N hadn’t had anything to eat since the morning before because he had been NPO for the endoscopy, they lifted it in the middle of the night, but then reinstated it before he could have breakfast because his blood levels were lower than they liked. The GI doc finally came by around noon and said as far as he was concerned, N was clear to go home that day, but it was up to his admitting doc. She came by a little later and said she wanted two more lab draws before sending him home, but did allow him to eat.

We decided I would go home with the twins and come back to get him (or his mom would) if he was released. Turns out, he was not. His blood was not where she wanted it to be, so the doc kept him one more night. I was so ready for the whole family to sleep under our own roof again!

The next morning N called to say he’d been released. He said the doc didn’t really want to, but knew he was a nurse and knew what to watch for. N’s mom picked him up and brought him home. He has to go in for a repeat endoscopy in a few weeks to check on his esophogitis and he has an appointment with a back specialist on Tuesday. Today we are all taking it easy. It’s been a really long week! I’m ready to get off this soap opera!!!