The Ridiculous Truth & JVM 24 in General Mental Anesthesia

If you’re interested in drama… you have found it.

I can’t stress enough how incredibly bad the healthcare is in SE North Carolina. By far and away it’s the worst I’ve ever seen.

I’ve been absent on here the last few days because my health situation has worsened considerably over the past 2 months ever since my former GI Dr. took me off of Prednisone (without a taper). (For those not in the know, I’m dealing with the worst flare up of ulcerative colitis I’ve ever experienced in over 25 years and it began in November 2015!!!) How it all started

The Prednisone withdrawal began after about 24 - 36 hours and as of yesterday I was still suffering greatly with it. Words can’t accurately describe the severity of it.

Over the past month, I went from not bleeding and going to the bathroom 4 or 5 times/day (on average) sometimes 8 or 9 to bleeding profusely (losing about 4 - 8 tablespoons of blood/day) and going to bathroom 20 - 25 times / day. The pain increased exponentially (in and out of the bathroom) with extreme nausea and eventual weakness and dizziness as I was losing so much blood and fluids because even a tsp of water was sending me running to the bathroom.

On one occasion I was so violently ill that I literally passed out, falling off the toilet onto the bathroom floor after 40 minutes of non-stop vomiting and diarrhea. Luckily I didn’t hit my head… and I was home!

after that, I could barely move at all. When I did, it lasted mere minutes at best.

I had a Dr. appt with my primary care whose managing my blood pressure because over the past year it’s been very high. Yesterday however it was very low (90/60) and I hadn’t taken my meds (which she then told me not to). When she saw how much pain I was in, she immediately sent me to the hospital. She even wrote a note recommending admission.

But because I no longer have a car, I had to wait to be driven there, so I ended up in the ER at 8:15pm. It was slammed! Fortunately I got a seat as close to the bathroom as possible (which was needed multiple times). It took over 6 hours before I was even seen, then another couple of hours before I got any meds or treatment.

The first time I got to lay down from sitting in an uncomfortable chair for hours.

At first they gave me 60mg of Prednisone and a Tramadol (neither had any effect). Then they moved me to triage, did some other tests, put me on IV fluids, gave me some Zofran for the nasuea and injection of Fentanyl (I don’t know the mg).

If you’re not familiar with Fentanyl:

It’s deadly because it’s so much stronger than heroin, as shown by the photograph above, which was taken at the New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory. On the left is a lethal dose of heroin, equivalent to about 30 milligrams; on the right is a 3-milligram dose of Fentanyl, enough to kill an average-sized adult male.

Fentanyl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is up to 100 times more potent than morphine and many times that of heroin.

Just prior to receiving the Fentanyl.

I’ve never done drugs (EVER) other than anything given to me at the hospital.

I’ve had morphine before and I never really felt anything from it. I never understood what all the fuss was about. This shit though… works wayyyy better. It cut my pain in half.

When I told the Dr. that, he was disappointed, it should have completely got rid of the pain, so he gave me a 2nd dose of Fentanyl. This was so dangerous that I had to wear a special monitor to check the oxygen in my blood. (See the red light on my finger).

A nurse monitored me and there was a scary moment as my o2 levels plummeted for a minute or 2 starving my brain. She asked if I had pain in my chest. I didn’t, but I did feel pressure. She made some sort of adjustment and stayed with me until it normalized.

This is the drug that killed Prince, was the leading cause of Tom Petty’s death and is now believed to be the suicidal cause of Cranberries lead singer Dolores O’Riordan.

Originally used to ease the death experience, I totally get it.

But to be honest with you, even after two doses, I still was not without pain. Don’t anyone ever tell you that colitis is just getting sick… when it hits hard.... (especially in severe cases like mine) It mother fucking hurts!!!!!

This is the last thing I remember before I passed out. My arm resting on the rails of my bed.

Now, in my condition, I needed to be admitted. They needed to do a colonoscopy to check for colon cancer, a stool sample to check for c-diff (two things that would have caused me to be in such extreme pain).

There are 4 gastroenterologists that work in the hospital I was in, but none of them were going to be there that week, so guess what???? They discharged me because there was no one there to care for me. After 12+ hours in the emergency room, they sent me home.

So now I have no idea the possible extent of my illness. :(

I was so dizzy at 9am when I got home that my mother had to practically carry me.

Now that the meds have worn off, I feel even worse than before.

I just wish I could go back to my old life like the previous entry. Death is fine, but dying sucks!!!

Help me spread the word so I can get better care?

Thank you and apologies for being absent.

If laughter is the best medicine, then here’s 2 vids that we can enjoy together.

JAVIDMO - Vids I find funny

Any Star Wars fans out there?

Ever wonder how George Lucas came up with everything? Well, here’s how it might have have happened…

And… if you haven’t seen this… you’re truly missing out on life.

Dee Snider as Poseidon, helping his son with a school project. His son Shane wrote and stars in it and his son Cody directed it. Must see!

Last updated January 25, 2018