Unexpectedly hospitalized

Never did I think I would spend Easter Sunday in the hospital. I was awakened around midnight by a pain in the middle of my chest. To say I was scared is an understatement. As the pain intensified and felt like a tightening, I immediately thought I was having a heart attack and took some aspirin, wondering if I should call someone to come help me or dial 9-1-1. But then the pain radiated around my right side and up my back beside my right shoulder blade. Although it may have been foolish, I got online to look up signs of a heart attack in women because I remember reading that women may experience different symptoms than men do. I couldn't completely relate what I found to what I was experiencing, plus the aspirin seemed to help the pain subside a little and I was moving about the house OK despite the pain. But then it turned into a burning pain, so I went looking in the cabinet for something for heartburn (I've never had heartburn that I know of, so I don't know what it feels like). I chewed a Pepcid Complete, but it did nothing. The pain intensified more, so I called 9-1-1. Right after I hung up the phone, I felt nauseous and brought the Pepcid right back up. I knew nausea could be associated with a heart attack and prepared to go to the hospital, hoping I hadn't been foolish in delaying my call for help. I unlocked the front door, got dressed, gathered my purse and coat, and the paramedics arrived. They first did an EKG right in the living room and it showed no problem. By then the pain was subsiding again. They nevertheless wanted to take me in to be checked out and I agreed.

I had another EKG at the hospital and blood work to check for the tell-tale enzyme of a heart problem, but nothing showed up. Still, I was told I'd be admitted for observation and monitoring for 24 hours with continued blood draws and my wearing a heart monitor. However, other enzymes from the liver and pancreas showed slightly elevated levels, and that combined with my description of the pain and the fact that I got really sick to my stomach in the ER led the doctors to suspect stones in my gallbladder, one of which must have blocked a duct for about 1 1/2 hours and caused the pain--and an ultrasound showed that to be the case. So in addition to monitoring my heart, after I was admitted I had another, more thorough ultrasound. By mid-day, the internist who was assigned to me determined that there was no heart problem (other than my right bundle block which I've known about for a few years and which causes no problems and requires no treatment). He discontinued the IV and cancelled the rest of the blood draws, though I still had to wear the heart monitor. However, he called in a surgeon for a consult and they both studied my second ultrasound. They concluded that I was not in any danger from anything connected with the stones in my gallbladder and said I could go home. Some people have gallstones all their lives and never have a problem; they stay "silent." However, the internist recommended I have my gall bladder removed because once someone has an attack, more attacks are likely. The surgeon explained the procedure to me and recommended giving myself 2 weeks to settle back down, then see him in his office to discuss the surgery further and set a date for it sometime in the next 6 weeks. So I will discuss this with my own internist, but that's what I'm planning to do.

Getting out of the hospital was a fiasco. I won't go into all the details, but there were problems in communication among the doctors and nurses. No one signed my discharge paperwork; because all the monitoring orders were cancelled, my nurse just pretty much ignored me and then went home with the notation on my chart still saying that I was to be kept overnight. My complaints did get some attention from the night shift nurse, and after she made a bunch of calls and figured out how to discharge me electronically, I finally was disconnected from the heart monitor and allowed to leave. Debbie picked me up, and I got back in the house at about 10:15 pm, roughly 8 hours after I had been told I could go home.

Instead of writing about having Easter dinner at Becky and Tim's house--which obviously didn't happen for me--I can now tell you a lot about how the gallbladder functions and what happens in the body once it is removed. This was all quite an education for me from both the medical perspective and a more personal one. Once again I am reminded that I need to anticipate, pre-plan, keep medical and other information in order and accessible, and be sure to have a support system in place for emergencies and other times I will need help. It's quite a lesson.