Weekend Stay At Huntington Hospital: Updates & Thankfulness

Okay,

The Doctor hasn't been able to see me today just yet...but I've been switched from a clear liquids diet (veggie or beef broth) to a regular diet (I just ordered wanton soup!), plus I’m almost about to nibble on some Saltines!  ;)
My first time eating something with real substance since around noon on Friday! Praise God! ^_^ !

For those of you who don’t know what’s been going on:

We're still not sure what's wrong exactly, but I've been having mild to mild-severe pain on my right side since Tuesday…

The pain has been a weird tensing/contracting around the right-side of my rib-cage/core area down to my right lower abdomen.  I've had ovarian cysts before, so I'd thought that the pain was from that, but as it got worse and up towards my rib-cage, and after visiting an Urgent Care Unit on Thursday afternoon,  by Friday, my parents and doctor (from back in MA) decided that I should get checked for anything extra and even the possibility of appendicitis.  

I was brought to the ER on Friday at around 1:20pm PST  by my RD, Courtney W., and, once I was admitted, they did all this testing, an ultrasound, and a CT scan…
It sounds so fast, but it took about at least 10-11hrs for me to get from filling out my information to the end of being in the ER...Lovely…

About mid-way through, Courtney W. needed to go back to campus because she was helping out with a play the drama crew was putting on, called Antigone, so she needed to find a replacement. A sweet lady named Rora, who is also a fellow student of mine, agreed to come and stay with me. She has put in a few hundred hours of volunteer work at this hospital and was such a blessing to have around to explain to me, with pictures and in normal-English (!), what the doctor was trying to tell me and what they were doing for me. She and I had a good time laughing and gabbing away about family and friends and classes and such as we finally got to know each other and tried to keep my mind off the pain. :) .
Rora stayed with me from about 6pm or 7pm until around midnight and I really can’t thank her enough for everything that she did! I couldn’t have felt more confident and safe without her! ♥ !

The ER didn't find anything unusual from all the scans and testing, but it was obvious that I was/am in pain...
Plus from both the ultrasound and CT scan, they weren't able to see my appendix very well...
I guess I'm just as tiny inside as I am out ;)

So they ended up admitting me to the hospital, room 547, and gave me morphine on Saturday around midnight-1am PST...
I started drifting off about an hour after it had started settling into my bloodstream and woke up a few hours later with less, but still present, pain...

Since then, blood-work, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and probably a few other things that I'm oblivious to are pretty regular check-ups...
I've gotten used to the routine by now if that says anything... ;)

Nothing exciting has happened since then…I’m still waiting to hear from the Doctor as I finish this post…
Through it all, I’ve been able to see countless blessings…

~The prayers of family and friends.
~How God gave me the confidence and ability to do paperwork and answer questions on my own while I was in pain. (A big life-skill that I've wanted to cultivate since getting more and more independent)

~People who have taken/are taking time to stay with me: Courtney W, Rora M, Candace J, and, since last night, my awesome friend, Chelsea P, has been staying with me since her roommate, Brittany S, is with her mom this week :)

~People who are checking up on me regularly:
- From CP! – Jessica B., who is, from what I hear, doing an amazing job transferring my update texts to the CP! Community and letting people know what’s going on ♥ :)
- From Connecticut – My amazing buddy, Matt N., who gets the award for the most time spent checking up on me and seeing how I was doing and just being a huge blessing/encouragement this whole week since my pain’s started, but especially since Thursday… ♥ :)

~The kindness and love from the staff here. I am not joking; the people here at Huntington Hospital are sooo amazingly nice and just overall wonderful. I couldn’t stop saying thank you to each of them, even when they would poke me with those nasty needles and push their hands into my stomach where it hurt. ;)

~I have a really nice room with a balcony (!) and a very comfy bed which has allowed me to sleep quite peacefully.

~The medicine and technology for them to try and determine what's going on inside of my body.

~The ability to communicate through technology like my Laptop, Cell Phone, and my friend's iPad.

~I'm thankful that God's kept me, for the most part, very healthy. I can hear things from my open door and have been praying for all the patients here...I really am blessed to have no allergies, medical history, etc...

The doctor just came by and said that he couldn't find anything abnormal about the tests or scans, which is really great and so frustrating all at once...
It's frustrating because I'm still having the pain and my lower rib-cage has gotten pretty sore along with this come-and-go nausea...I told him about it, but he said that I can just treat it with some Tylenol... 
It's great though, because I just want to get out of here...As nice as it is, it's still a hospital... ;)

Basically, because I'm still kinda nauseous right now, if I can keep my soup...which should be here soon...settle down without any problems, then I can go back to campus...

The nurse just took the hook-up to my IV off...So now I don't have that tugging to worry about anymore, but the IV is still inside my elbow... :/
Once my lunch comes and I finish it, they want me to walk around my room and make sure I'm not still nauseous or anything else...

Once again, thank you all for your prayers :)
At least we know now that, supposedly, there's nothing serious going on and that some rest, pain medication, and time should take care of things...Unless they find or prescribe something different...
If the pain still persists, they'll probably have me come by again and do a check up to see if anything new is going on...

I'll do my best to keep you updated if anything new comes up!
With love from a super comfy bed in Huntington Hospital,
-Courtney

My friend Chelsea P. took these pictures from last night and this morning:

Texting updates on Chelsea's iPad & my IV and pricked elbows



Crocheting a scarf & talking to Matt N. on my cell phone
(Through my headphones)

I was able to smile through most of my time here...Thank goodness :)
I was able to keep up my sense of humor too, which was also very comforting ;)

 Me updating (Again!) and blogging and waiting for lunch...
The couch-pull-out-bed that Chelsea slept on last night


My room (and me) and the view from my balcony... :)

I can't wait to eat!
Haha!

Love you!
-Courtney