How I spent 4 hours in the Emergency Room and got NO ANSWERS!

Well, my health issues continue, y'all. I had Honey Graham take me to the hospital because I had severe abdominal pain for several nights in a row. 4 hours later, we still didn't know what the cause was. 

I had an ultrasound of my abdomen earlier in the week after a followup with the GI. It was EXTREMELY painful because of how sore and inflammed my abdomen is. We got the results back from that the morning I went and everything looked fine except for a couple fatty liver deposits (totally normal for someone like me). While on the phone with my GI, I asked her what's next because I was in enough pain to go to the ER. She told me the hospital was a good idea and we'd talk later. 

Sigh... Froot Loop was already in school and Gramma took Cocoa Puff for the day. Off Honey Graham and I went to the hospital. It was an hour long drive and we got there right away. Practically no one was there so I got called back right away. 

I gave them all my vitals and my symptoms and health history, blah blah blah... told them about my abdominal pain and rated it about a 6 out of 10 but told them that the night before, it had been at a 9+ for a couple of hours, and I had had similar attacks for the last several evenings... 

Well, I got put in the room and eventually the nurse came in. Another person came in with forms for me to fill out. The nurse once again went over my symptoms and verified my medical history. I was still in a lot of pain. I had to give a urine sample and then got in bed. 

I was told that the Doc had looked over my records and history and had ordered some other blood tests and a CT scan. I hadn't even SEEN him yet and he had ordered these things. I was also going to get a couple meds to try to manage my pain. 

The doc finally came in and introduced himself and poked around my abdomen some. There definitely were some hot spots that really hurt when pushed on. I also gave him the results of all the other tests I had had done recently (the previous blood work, stool tests, colonoscopy, endoscopy, and ultrasound). 

First was the blood draw. I got a complete CBC and a standard blood panel. Ouch. Then came the IV. Ouch again. They were giving me a basic "banana bag" because I was dehydrated. I also got some Zofran for nausea, even though I wasn't nauseated. Then as she was about to leave, she saw that I had been ordered some Bentyl, an antispasmodic that I've been on before... 

She came back with the shot and it's intramuscular. HOLY CRAP IT HURT! I've had some painful shots before... mainly steroids... and man, this was the MOST PAINFUL SHOT EVER!!!! I yelled and it hurt at a 10 on the pain scale for several minutes. Holy crap. OUCH! 

I suddenly was FREEZING so they brought me TWO heated blankets and I was still cold for awhile. The Bentyl worked pretty well and pretty quickly. 

A very nice nurse came in and re took my vitals and the doc poked his head in as well to check on me and I was down to about a 2 or 3 on the pain scale and my vitals were much improved... better blood pressure and pulse, etc. 

Actually, I dozed off for awhile. I actually fell asleep! That's what the Bentyl does to me, which is one of the reasons I had to stop taking it. It makes me very sleepy and kind of loopy. No complaints about the nap though... especially because we were waiting for the CT to open up. 

I got woken up to go get the CT. I'd never had one before so I was a little nervous. 

We get to the CT room and I'm like HOLY CRAP! There was a big table to lie down on and then this GIANT plastic doughnut looking thing. The nurse walked me through the procedure and it seemed simple enough... I'd get some baseline images taken, then get an iodine in my IV, and more pictures taken... she warned me about the iodine and how it would make me feel warm and "weird". 

Well, the table moved through the CT scanner and it made all these whirring noises, but it wasn't super loud. I was trying to keep calm but I was a little freaked out. The tech told me to take a deep breath and hold my breath a few times, which wasn't any big deal. 

THEN, I got the iodine. HOLY CRAP, it was WEIRD! You know how when you drink a warm beverage on a cold day and you can feel the warmth in your belly? It was like that, only throughout all of my blood vessels! I could feel it in my lungs and my bladder and my throat and my limbs and everywhere. It FREAKED ME OUT. 

I had another pass through the CT scanner and a few more deep breaths and hold it, then it was all done. I went back to the room and waited. 

At this point, I really had to pee so I had to call for help to get my IV undone. Then I crawled back into bed and finally turned the TV on. I found STAR TREK so that worked for me. I finally allowed Honey Graham to go get some food too. I texted and updated  a few people. My pain was still less than when I had came in, but it was definitely more than the lowest pain level. 

OF COURSE the doc came back in while Honey Graham was gone. He said that the CT scan came back fine and my labs were fine. He did mention a lesion on my liver but that it's nothing to worry about and it's sitting right behind my gallbladder so that could be causing the discomfort I keep feeling in that area. He said he saw nothing that would be causing my extreme, intense pain in my upper left abdomen. Basically, there's nothing wrong with my anatomy and something else is causing the pain. He recommended getting an MRI to double check the lesion on my liver and also to get a different look at my abdomen. 

I had more papers to sign and then we waited forever for my discharge papers. 

I sort of feel like it was a waste of time, but I guess they eliminated more things that it's not? 

So far, it's NOT:

Inflammatory Bowel/Crohns/Ulcerative Colitis

Celiac 

Bacteria, Virus, or Parasite

Diverticulitis

Pancreatitis

LIver problems

Large Gallstones

Inflammed anything

a few other things that I don't even know what they are. 

So now I just have a followup with my GI again and need to order an MRI. 

This was my worst fear... even worse than having to have surgery... my worst fear was them not being able to find anything wrong with me and no explanation for my debilitating pain. 

So I guess it's back to MORE waiting. 

Have you ever had a CT scan?