That Time My Fibroid Almost Killed Me - Day 3

That my friends ↑ is about the 1/2 of the amount of Pads and Tampons I had been through in the first two days of this insane bleeding episode.  It is a good thing I am a hoarder and couponer and had dozens of packs of "supplies" in the house.

We woke up on day 3 and had to make our way in to Kamloops to drop hubby off at the airport.  The bleeding had subsided a bit and wasn't as intense, which made me think I was on the back end of the bleeding.  I was still nauseous His flight was around 2pm, so we decided to stop into the Cascades Casino in Kamloops and grab something to eat at their Brunch Buffet because we had nothing to eat for breakfast at home.  On the way into town, hubby had asked if he should stay and not fly back to work.  I foolishly told him no because I was scared he would get in trouble at work, I thought that it was getting close to being over and the doctors at emerg didn't seem concerned.

The Brunch at Cascades looked amazing, but I wouldn't know how it tasted because I couldn't even take a bite.  It was a quick 30 minute stay before we were finished.  Thank goodness for the beautiful washrooms at the casino because I had to make a couple of runs for it when the bleeding started to get heavy...yet again.  We left the casino and went straight to the airport.  I kissed my hubby goodbye, stopped for an iced coffee, water and bathroom break at Starbucks along the way, and then headed to the Kamloops hospital.

If you have ever been to the Kamloops hospital, you would know that parking is a nightmare.  I drove around the parkade for about 15 minutes until I found a spot.  Then made the 10 minute walking trek with my hospital bag in tow, down to the emergency department.  By this time I was woozy, sweating from the 30 degree heat, carrying a duffel bag filled to the brim, juggling two Venti sized Starbucks cups, and very very hangry.  Even though I hadn't been able to eat at brunch, I was starving.

When I got to emerg, the first thing the nurse said to me after she took my info was that I was going to have to dump the coffee and water as I couldn't have anything.  That was the first time during this whole episode that I started to get emotional...over an iced coffee.  If you know me well, you know that I am a super emotional person, but I can handle quite a bit of stress before I crack.  It's usually an inanimate object that makes me break.  This time it was having to dump out a perfectly good iced coffee that I I wanted to drink so bad.  I dumped the coffee but kept the water.  I also stopped at the cafe on the walk to emerg and bought a granola bar thinking I would eat it on the way home.

After a small wait, I was brought into the emerg area and put in an area with about 6 other people.  There was a guy who was clearly passing kidney stones (I felt his pain), and a girl who was trying to hide a pregnancy from her mother, a couple of other people, and me with my giant duffel bag full of pads and tampons (and my secret ice water).

Luckily, the bleeding had subsided  to a couple of massive clots by the time I got to hospital, but did require a couple of emergency runs to the washroom.  At one point the only washroom in the area was being occupied by a little old lady.  She scooted in there in front of me.  I knew it was going to be a long wait.  I begged the nurses to take me to another washroom.  One male nurse took pity on me and showed me another washroom that the public normally doesn't use.  I am pretty sure I scared him when I told him he'd have to clean a pool of blood off the floor if he didn't take me to another one.

About an hour into the emerg visit, they take me into a room.  Male Doctor comes in again, asks what the issue is, and I explain the whole issue, telling him I was there two days prior, how much blood I had lost, now I'm throwing up, and feeling pretty crappy.  He called for a panel of blood, asked if I was pregnant.

Side Note: Oh my goodness, I forgot a hilarious part of the first emerg visit, now that I am recollecting on the second visit.  After the Doctor told me that he was going to refer me for an ultrasound to figure out what was causing the bleeding, he asked if we were planning on having kids.  After telling him yes, he proceeded to give me an education on the male reproductive system and how ejaculation and sperm work.  I was pretty much bleeding out and his biggest concern was telling me about the male anatomy.  At that point and time I was pretty sure I had scared my husband so bad with all of the blood that he wasn't coming near me again for months.

After I had a round of blood drawn in the hallway of the hospital, it was back to the crowded waiting room.  The guy beside me was clearly in excruciating pain from his kidney stones.  I actually had to summon a nurse at one point because he was in so much pain he could not move.  I completely understood as I suffered from stones for quite some time.  By this time I was seriously unimpressed by the health care at this hospital.  I am pretty sure it was written all over my face.

The doctor called me back out to tell me he was going to prescribe me some Progesterone, which should stop the bleeding and that I needed to book an appointment with the ultrasound clinic asap.  I had asked him if my blood levels were off and he told me not to worry,  just take some iron supplements (with Vitamin C...which no one had ever told me before) and the prescribed progesterone.  He then sent me on my merry way.  You would think that levels would have snowed being off if I had bloodwork done on Friday and on Sunday and lost 3 liters of blood in total.

What pisses me off is that the two times I was at emerg, not once did they anybody ask me if I had a way home or if I felt ok to drive.  In hindsight, I should never have been driving in the shape I was in that Sunday after leaving emerg, but I had to get home (45 minutes away).

I headed over to Shoppers Drug Mart and filled my prescription, which I took as soon as they handed me the bag.  I also took some iron supplements and vitamin c as recommended by the doc.  I grabbed something cold to drink and head home.

While I was at the hospital I had called my neighbour to check on my dog if I was going to be super long at the hospital.  I had also called my other neighbour who I see almost every day to tell her what was going on.  Both of these neighbours sprung into action and started checking in on me every couple of hours when I got home.

I made it home that day and basically just crashed.  My one neighbour had brought me over some soup, and the others came over to take my dog on their evening walk with them.  The bleeding was subsided it seemed, but I was still throwing up anything I put in my body.

That is the end of day 3!  Hope you come back to hear all about the next bunch of days!