The Life and Times of the Miller Clan

Chapter 2...it just keeps getting worse

ok, so I was allowed to go home. Just had to keep measuring the output and hopefully it would decrease over the next couple of weeks then it would be all over. John picked me up and took me home. I was so glad to be out of that hospital even though I wasn't feeling that great. I spent most of the next couple of days in bed with minimal walking around. On the third day it all started to go pear shaped. I started to shake and feel cold and couldn't get warm. I had been taking my temperature every morning and night for my doc and when I took it that night it was 38 degrees. I took panadol with the hope that this wasn't going to be a problem. Half an hour later it had gone up to 39 and I knew then that another trip to the hospital was enevitable. We decided to call the ambulance a short time later.

Another check of my temperature by the ambo's showed 40 degrees, so it was a free (well, paid for in the power bill) trip to the hospital once more. An overnight stay in the emergency department then was admitted back to my second home...Ward 4E. They took more blood. By this time I'm feeling like a pin cushion and I'm sure those people are related to Dracula somewhere along the line. Dr Miller sent me for another CT scan to see what was going on. Unfortunately the news wasn't good. The scan showed another abcess had formed and with 3 doctors standing at the end of my bed with serious looks on their faces I knew I was in for something I wasn't going to like. Yep, you guessed it, they were going in again.

Apparently they didn't know why the abcess had formed but their solution was to cut along the same incision as before and have a look at what was going on,. they would put in 2 drains and...wait for it...here's the best bit....take part of my bowel out of my body, loop it around and attach it to the outside of my stomach and drain my bowel into a bag! Yeehah. Now wouldn't that make you happy if someone told you that. I mean, that only happens to old people doesn't it?? Apparently not! The scary thing was when Dr Miller said that he was not going to wait till the morning to do it, it was going to be now...as soon as they could get me to theatre. I was very proud of the way I just lay there and nodded my head and said OK....but as soon as they walked out I kind of fell apart and John had to try and put me back together. I honestly was terrified of not making it through another surgery.....so worried in fact that I started freaking John out by saying things like this to him..."Tell the girls I love them" and "make sure you look after them" and even better....my biggest fear..."don't take the girls to Stanthorpe to grow up". I didn't think I had the energy to do it all over again or even want to think of what I had to put up with once I was through the surgery. John was the rock though, telling me it would be ok, that I would be ok and not to worry about anything. At that point I didn't believe a word he said but who could blame me.

Anyway....after another 4 and a half hour operation, most of which John spent pacing, I returned to the ward. I was pretty out of it so as soon as he knew I was going to be OK John went home to the girls. The next morning I had to face the reality of my situation. I had to wear 2 bags attached to my stomach..one that was going to be there for the next 3 months! I hated even thinking about it let alone looking at them. Dr Miller was very happy with how things went...at least one of us was!...and said that even though I had 2 drains in draining the abcess, one would come out in a few days. The other would stay in for weeks to make sure the abcess was completly gone. They took my bowel out to make sure I didn't get any waste in my stomach that would cause another one. My blood tests showed 3 different bugs that needed to be attacked by 3 different antibiotics. One was administered by IV every 6 hours. This meant being woken up at midnight for 2 weeks just to have these drugs pumped into me. If you are in hospital to have a rest...FORGET IT!

posted by rochelleandthegirls @ 9/10/2006 06:48:00 PM