"Sick As A Dog"

**Here is when the pain killers started...so my memory gets pretty patchy...please forgive me if I forget things or leave things out!**

I remember being transferred upstairs from the ER to my actual room...and that's about all I remember from that night.  I know that Rachel was there and I know that I told everyone who came within ten feet of me that I was going on a cruise on Sunday and needed to be better by then (this was Friday night).  Thanks to cell phone pictures I took, I also know that Friday is when the doctors drew the first circle around my ankle rash so we could all see it grow or shrink.  And, thanks to my posts of Facebook I can see that Friday night is also when my pain started to get severe.  I remember that at that point it was a dull and achy pain in my ankle with sporadic sharp and shooting pains.  

I vaguely remember Saturday simply because that's when my hospitalist told me that I might as well give up my hopes of making my cruise as I'd be in there at LEAST two to three more days.  At this point we all thought that this was cellulitis and a few rounds of IV antibiotics would clear it right up and I'd be on my way with life.  I remember that an orthopedic surgeon came in and did an examination because I may have needed surgery on it...but I have no idea why or what he was looking for...all I know is that he said that I didn't need surgery which made me happy.  The pain was really getting out of control.  The doctors and nurses were having a difficult time getting on top of my pain because I had just spent three weeks on Hydrocodone thanks to the oral surgery I had to have.  I remember that both Friday and Saturday nights I spent a lot of time crying.  Slowly but surely the doctors gave my nurses the okay to increase my Dilaudid.  Before I knew it, Dilaudid was my new best friend.  

The smaller purple circle on my left ankle was the original rash.  The outside circle on my left ankle as well as the circle on my right ankle developed over the wknd.

By Sunday morning my ankle had not only gotten worse, but my right ankle was starting to hurt and swell too.  The previously red rash had turned into a large bruise.  I was still having a difficult time getting my pain under control and by now I had no use of either of my feet; I couldn't put any weight on them.  This is the day I was supposed to leave for my cruise with my Mom and Mama Jo.  Those two still went and I stayed behind at the hospital.  I made it no secret that I was unamused about the entire situation so my thoughtful friend Travis and his two little girls decided to bring that cruise to Mexico to me!  They showed up in my hospital room with sombreros, margarita glasses, Mexican themed necklaces, maracas, and even a mini pinata!!  :)  As if that wasn't fun enough, CJ came by with my dog, Buddy!!!  After CJ worked so hard to sneak him upstairs and I made a half hearted attempt to hide him from my nurse, we were informed that it's actually okay to have your dog at that hospital with you so long as you register him/her when arriving! They consider it "pet therapy" and believe that it aids in the healing process.  It was SO good to snuggle with my Buddy!

Buddy was just as happy to see me as I was him!

Monday, February 4th was a great day...it was the day that I finally felt we somewhat had my pain under control!  It took an extended release Oxycontin every 12 hours, a rapid acting Oxycodone every 4 hours, and a PRN of Dilaudid every two hours to keep it managed.  I had gotten somewhat used to the hospital routine by this point: my vitals were taken every four hours, I had to have my blood drawn every morning between 4:30 and 5, my morning pills came about 7, my night pills came about 6, and we had figured out that I had to have something going in my IV at all times or my vein would collapse and we'd have to relocate my IV.  I think that by this point I'd had four different IVs by five different nurses and endured at least ten different attempts?  I'm a difficult stick; apparently my veins are finicky and delicate.