My First Trip to the ER

In 2005, I became the Resident Manager of a 105 unit duplex community in Hixson, Tennessee called Towne Hills Residences. It was a live-in position which meant that I was basically on call 24/7 and the office was in my home - literally down 8 steps - which made it that much more convenient when I was having a lot of pain during my cycles.  Elizabeth was now 2 years old, we had just gotten custody of Christina, and Jim was also home full-time and working with me as the Leasing Agent/Assistant Resident Manager for the community. Things were good, but each month my pain got worse and worse. 

At the end of September of 2005, my parents visited. While they were visiting, I had a day of EXCRUCIATING pain - unlike any other that I had experienced to date. I honestly couldn't tell exactly what it was. Was it an upset stomach? Gastro-intestinal distress? Menstrual issues? I was about a week or two out from my last period, so that couldn't be it. I writhed in pain just praying for it to end. I couldn't tell if I had to throw up or poop! I just wanted it out of me, whatever it was that was causing this. I took matters into my own hands and pounded cups of laxative tea that I had laying around from detoxes past. If it was gastro-intestinal, I was determined to blast the nastiness out of me!  Two hours later, still desperate for relief, I found myself, for the very first time in my life, hovered over the toilet bowl using my finger to try to make myself throw up whatever it was in there that was making me feel this way! As food and beverage hadn't been high on my priority list while writhing in pain, it of course led to nothing more than dry heaves and disappointment. I was a hot mess and could do nothing more than cry and pray for whatever it was to stop. Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Aleve, Motrin...nothing helped.

Erlanger Emergency Room

After almost 12 hours of tears and agony, Jim looked at me and said, "That's it...we are going to the hospital." It was a little after 8pm. The girls were in bed and thankfully, my parents were there to watch them while Jim took me to Erlanger in downtown Chattanooga, about a 15 minute drive from our home. We had been to the children's hospital's ER with Elizabeth a few times since she was born and TC Thompson Children's Hospital in Chattanooga had super fast service. We were often in and out in a few hours. Erlanger , however, was a different story. This was the night that we learned that if you went to Erlanger you needed to pack an overnight bag, blanket and pillow because you were going to be there for a while. The waiting room was packed when we got there. People were throwing up in little blue vomit bags from dispensers in the waiting area.

There was one lady in a wheelchair SCREAMING in pain...for HOURS. I was lying down with my head on Jim's lap crying softly to myself and praying that when the next name was called, it would be mine. At about hour two, the screaming wheelchair lady sort of passed out and fell out of her wheelchair. This got her rolled out back immediately. We waited in the waiting room at Erlanger for almost three hours just to be triaged as more and more people rolled in. Finally, just before midnight I was triaged and brought back to the inner sanctum.

They hooked me up to an IV pretty quickly and relieved my pain with something miraculous called Dilaudid. Then, they rolled me out back to radiology for an ultrasound. After another 2-3 hour wait, the doctor came back in to let me know that the ultrasound had detected a quarter sized cyst on my right ovary that was in the process of rupturing and "more cysts than they could count" on my left ovary. He suggested that I follow up with my OB/GYN to discuss management options for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and sent me home with a prescription for Percocet.  Thankfully, I had gotten some Dilaudid-induced sleep, but poor Jim had basically been stuck in a plastic chair the entire night. We left the hospital bleary-eyed around 10am the next day. On the way home, I called to set up an appointment with my OB/GYN. Thanks to my parents being there for the girls, Jim and I were both able to crash when we got back to the house. With the luxury of working in my home, I was able to rest quite a bit until my appointment with my OB/GYN appointment that was scheduled for the following week.