They finally discharged me!  Yaay!! 

Yesterday’s potassium IV was by far the most painful yet.  Probably because the IV was new – it was changed from my left hand to my left forearm.  Or probably because I had two, back to back.  Or maybe because the first was normal strength and diluted in regular IV fluid, plus a separate IV fluid bag… and the second bag of potassium was not diluted, was more concentrated and was started without the extra IV fluid bag.  I was in tears when this second bag was started.  My entire arm burned, not just the vein.

I woke up today feeling very yucky.  The CPAP mask I’d been using there made the bridge of my nose red and with little white dots.  They said they would have to photograph that to keep in my medical record. 

I also had a stomach ache as soon as I stood up to go to the bathroom.  It felt like a burning and aching at the same time, like heartburn but in my stomach and with an ache added in for good measure. It made me nauseas too, so I was given an anti-nausea medication, as well as a Tums. 

I felt so overwhelmed by it all.  I just sat there in the dark room at 6 in the morning and cried, thinking of everything that’s happened so far. 

They drew my blood around 7am to check potassium again.  Then they gave me another potassium “shot” right after.  My potassium was 3.5 this morning. 

Around 2pm, they drew blood again.  This time it was 3.4, but still ok. 

My 24hr urine test was also normal (24… I don’t know what normal range is, but I was told it was normal). 

I was also told to stop taking my Hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic for high blood pressure.  They think it’s a major cause of my low potassium.  I’m still to take the Atenolol though, since that’s not potassium depleting. 

I also, at one point (but I don’t remember what day… I think it may have been on Thursday when I was still in the ER, but I could be wrong, since I was on a Potassium IV pretty much all day every day), was given an IV of Magnesium, as well as the IV of Potassium. 

This evening, I was given my prescription for daily potassium “shots” and my two follow up appts, one with my primary care provider and one with my surgeon.  She took my IV out and then I changed into my regular clothes.  I signed the discharge papers and was free to go. 

I gave her (my day shift nurse who’d cared for me during the day) a hug and thanked her.  I also gave her a thank you note for my male nurse, who cared for me during the night while I was there.  He’s not only cute, but was even nicer and I just loved him.  Plus, he always was able to draw blood with only one poke and virtually pain-free.

This ordeal was not only frightening but painful.  It’s scary to think you can be hospitalized for that.  And it’s even scarier to find out you need round the clock poking, whether it be IV potassium or blood draws.  My male nurse told me that usually for patients like myself, who need blood drawn often, they will do it via a catheter straight into the heart via a vein (or artery) in the shoulder.  THAT is the scariest part to me.  They didn’t do that to me, only because I always had “one foot out the door” at all times, as he put it. 

I just hope I’m able to maintain my potassium at a normal and safe level.  i don’t want to go through that again.  Not anytime soon.  Not ever.

So they drew my blood again this morning and it was 3.1. Still too low to go home. They ordered another potassium IV AND oral “shots”. They also ordered a 24hr urine observation test thing because they think my kidneys are spilling the potassium since it won’t go up even after numerous and almost nonstop infusions and replacements. This means at least another day here.

So I’ve been in the hospital since Wednesday morning. I came in because I’d been having leg and chest pains.

The leg pain started on Monday night in my left leg only. The chest pain started on Tuesday night. In between that, I also had nonstop crazy eyelid twitching, which I just though was extremely annoying but not a sign of anything wrong.

In the ER, they immediately did an EKG and blood draw. They did a chest X-ray and then I was sent down for a leg ultrasound. I was brought back to the ER to await the results and in the meantime my blood work results came back and showed my potassium was extremely and dangerously low – 2.6 and normal is 3.5 – 5! They then sent me back down for a chest CT scan to check for blood clots. Everything (other than blood work) came back normal.

They gave me oral potassium (2 huge pills) and tested me again. My potassium was still low. They did a potassium IV and that took a few hours. Then they checked my blood again. This time it went down to 2.4!! How could that be??

Two full days of this and they finally admitted me. Thursday night they moved me into my room. Took really long to get it because my surgeon requested a specific room in the surgical step down section of the hospital, not in the regular section. The reason being that they could keep a closer eye on me and have me on a cardiac monitor and ready for IV potassium as needed.

It’s now Saturday afternoon and it doesn’t looks like I’ll be leaving yet. My potassium levels have been a roller coaster. I’ve had 3 potassium IVs and several oral potassium replacement so far.

My potassium level was 3.1 last night. It was 3.3 this morning. And it was 3.2 this afternoon. So I’m finally starting to NOT severely lose my potassium. They gave 3 more oral potassium shots to boost my levels up but I have an order for morning labs tomorrow to check my level again. So it doesn’t look like I’ll be leaving until tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, and that’s if it continues to go in the right direction!

I didn’t realize how serious this was and it’s kind of scary. 😦 I just hope I’m well enough to leave soon!