today, travis and i both stayed home from work. after this weekend, he has been unable to roll from his side to his back or get out of bed and to the bathroom on his own. he was tired of lying in bed and tried to come hang out with me in the living room for a little bit, but the walk from the couch to the front bathroom was too much for him, so we got him back into bed.
i had posted a few statuses on facebook about how travis was feeling, that we weren't getting answers, and that the waiting lists to get in to see GI's were very long. my friend, and former teammate, lynette fleck works with us at phillips 66, and she sent me an email. she mentioned she had read some of what we were going through and gave me the name of her doctor in tulsa and a glowing recommendation for him. his name was dr. volak, and i immediately picked up the phone to call his offices after reading lynette's email. miracle of all miracles -- dr. volak wasn't available but his partner dr. christian clark was. and they could see him today!
i told travis, and we started getting up and around. we ran by the hospital to pick up the scans they had done of travis's abdomen on thursday, and then headed over to their offices. my poor guy could barely walk into the radiology office and back.
when we got to the office we had to wait for a bit, but the staff was very friendly. when we were finally called back and able to speak with dr. clark we both felt relieved. he actually listened to us. he didn't put us off. he didn't think we were exaggerating, and he wanted to hear our entire story of what had been happening for the past month. finally! he agreed that travis wasn't doing well and that we needed to get a scope quickly to see what was going on and to get a diagnosis. he promised that even though his schedule was full, he would make sure that he got travis in for an upper and lower endoscopy this week.
he left the room and travis and i were left waiting for the nurse. we had to wait quite a while and travis began to grow very uncomfortable. he could hardly sit still from the discomfort. when we were finally able to get him scheduled for a scope on wednesday and down to the first floor for his blood work, he really didn't look well and he said he felt even worse. we didn't have to wait a terribly long time for his blood work, but i know every moment was painfully long for him.
i went to pick up the car and pull it around front so he wouldn't have to walk far. we drove straight home -- he didn't even want me to stop at the pharmacy {that we have to pass on the way to our house} to pick up the prescriptions that had been called in and were already ready for us.
he got into bed and was visibly shaking. i left to pick up the prescriptions and when i got back i took his temperature. 101. great. dr. clark told us he should have gone back to the er this weekend when his temperature was so high and advised that if it got high like that again, we should take him to the er. i was torn on what to do. i didn't want a day in the er to mess with the endoscopy that had taken us so long to get scheduled, but i also didn't want him running such a high fever that we couldn't control. i decided to call dr. clark's office. dr. hills in the office was on-call and he called me back within ten minutes. i explained what we were experiencing, what dr. clark had just said that afternoon, and that we had a scope scheduled for later in the week (and travis was supposed to be clearing his system of food and meds). dr. hills was wonderful. very patient. wanted to hear more about our situation. at the end of the call he determined we really did need to take travis into the er. i told travis about it and he wanted to wait a while to see if his fever would come down. i monitored it every thirty minutes.
in the meantime, i went to talk to haley to let her know i may be taking travis to the er. he last experience with a hospital didn't end well and i didn't want to freak her out or send her into shock. i just explained that travis's fever was too high and if it didn't come down within an hour i was going to take him to the er where the doctors could better manage it.
i waited an hour and a half to see if the temperature would go down, but it never did, so i told travis we were going to the er. i had been in touch with my parents, with travis's parents, and with his aunt sue. everyone wanted me to take him in. i called my dad back and he headed to tulsa to stay with haley. haley helped me pack a little bag and get all of the paperwork i needed into a folder.
i loaded up the car with our pillow, a blanket for me, and our toothbrushes. travis kept rolling the windows down on the way to the hospital and checking his temperature every five minutes.
we got him to the hospital and into a wheelchair {man, i am a weakling} and got him down to the er. i registered him ... and then his fever dropped to 98. he was so frustrated. they took him back for triage and again i had to sit in the waiting room. he told them in no uncertain terms that he was not going home. that he was in a lot of pain, and that while his fever had just dropped, something was terribly wrong.
this time the staff was very understanding and assured him that with his symptoms, the amount of blood and infection they were seeing and his pain level, there was no way he would go home, nor did he have any business doing so.
we were in the er for quite some time while they got fluids in his system, took him back for more scans, and then waited for a room to become available in the hospital.
they were able to get us into a room at about 3:00 monday night/tuesday morning. i was so grateful there was a couch in the room that i could sleep on as well. i got the bed made and he got situated on his bed. we weren't really able to rest much through the night, though. we went through several staff changes and he needed additional blood work and tests. hospitals may be great for sick people, but i have no idea how anyone gets any rest and is able to recoup in them.
more on his stay to come soon.
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