Please Don't Wait Anymore!!

I am sitting in a hospital room waiting to see if I can get released today. I’m thinking about all that has gone on since the end of August.

• August 19, left for a trip to Massachusetts with my family.

• August 21, got sick all night in the hotel room throwing up.

• August 22, sick all day

• August 23 sick on the plane ride home. Spent just as much time in the airplane bathroom as I did in the 1st class seat that Keith had gotten for me.

• August 24, Ended up going to an urgent care and admitted to the hospital. My heartrate had dropped to 33 beats per minute and I was dehydrated. I got rehydrated and a cardiologist cleared my heart.

• August 26, I was discharged from the hospital. Got sick that night.

• August 27, Was readmitted to the hospital. They figured out my gall bladder was sick.

• August 30, got my gall bladder removed.

• September 1st, got discharged from the hospital.

• September 3rd, got a call that my Grandma had called 911 and had no heartrate when they got there. They resisitated her even though she had a DNR. That night she was removed from life support. My brother and I spent that first night by her side. She hung on for 9 days.

• September 12, my Grammy passed away.

• September 15, my Grammy’s visitation

• September 16, my Grammy’s funeral

• September 17, drove Parker to Chicago to stay at a friends house to spend the night so he could go to his play rehearsal. Spent the night.

• September 18, starting at 6am threw up every hour on the hour and ended up in the ER. I was dehydrated, so they rehydrated me and sent me home. Was resting all day.

• September 20, Threw up in the morning. Called my GI Doc and met with him. He is in the same building as an emergency care center. He sent me down to get a CT Scan cause he wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on. I threw up as soon I drank the CT drink. He admitted me to the emergency care center. They were able to help me keep down the drink and get the CT. This time it showed an unhealthy colon and intestine. I was admitted to the hospital AGAIN.

• September 22, Had a colonoscopy and a stomach scope. My stomach was fine, but there were some things wrong in my colon. There were ulcerations and inflammation. Biopsies were taken of everything and I have to wait to see if it is mild Croh’s disease or a bad infection. After the procedure I was told I could eat a restricted diet, so I did. Keith came to visit me and I ended up throwing up the whole time. I was told I had to stay in the hospital longer.

• September 23, back on a liquid diet and the waiting game.

• September 25, finally on soft foods and doing well keeping it down. Still waiting on the biopsies, but probably won’t get them cause it’s the weekend, but I’m keeping down my food and now off my IV. Will probably go home tonight or tomorrow. Wahoooo!!

I looked up at the white eraser board in my room and saw that today’s date is September 25th. Wow. This health issue has taken over a month of my life. How could I have prevented this? What could I have possible done different?

I could have done a lot different. For years I have ignored my stomach issues. Pretty much any time I went out to eat I would have a stomachache. It became a joke (not a haha kind of joke) early on in my marriage with Keith. He always said, “Every time I take you out to a nice restaurant you are in the bathroom before we even leave.” It was true, but I never went to the doctor.

My mom died at the age of 53, obese. She made me promise, on her deathbed, that I would get healthy. She did not want me to go through what she went through. This coming December she will be gone 14 years. It is just 2 years ago in November that I finally got serious about getting healthy.

I started going to the doctor, but not like I should and still ignoring my stomach issues. As most people who are obese you don’t want to go to the doctor and hear about your weight. My mom went to the doctor with some pain and was told it was because she was overweight. The pain was not because of her weight; it was because of her colon being sick. I didn’t want that to happen to me, so as I approached 300 pounds and over I decided not to go to the doctor.

That was the biggest mistake I could have made. Because of putting this issue off for years I have just lost over a month of my life. I have a sick colon and intestine and had to have my gall bladder out. What I was trying to avoid was there in my face? Did I have cancer? Was I going to die young? The good news is there is no cancer and it ends up I am going to be ok, but what if I would have taken care of this sooner? I would have my month back.

I beg you if you have been putting off getting medical attention because of you weight please don’t. What if there would have been cancer in my colon? What if it were worse? I am a mom and a wife. What if me being embarrassed about my weight would have caused my family to lose me? I can’t play the “what if” game, but I can be thankful that the news was not worse.

Please do something about your weight. I can help you. Please do not put off going to the doctor. If you live by me, I can go with you. Don’t wait until it is too late. My mom waited and didn’t get a second opinion and she died at 53. Please learn from my mom and from me and please don’t wait anymore.