The Hospital Dairies Part 1
You can see where this is going, I've not been very well recently, well for a while now.
I've always known how sensitive an AS body can be, whether it be your skin or something else.
But recently my whole stomach has flared up from July onwards. The pain started and presented itself as IBS originally and following some research that I found online it is connected to stress and anxiety which lets face we all have on a daily basis and can also in some studies be linked to Aspergers Syndrome itself but I wouldn't take that as a fact at this moment because its written on a website rather than in a Medical Journal.
But the pain has gotten considerably worse over the last few months until two weeks ago the pain was in the right side of body and it was excruciating. It was attacking not only my poor little stomach but also my chest.
So I said hello to the doctors first who then gave me the news that my gallbladder had stones in them due to eating fatty food. Which wasn't such a shock because when I get low and upset I comfort eat- that isn't just an AS girl thing we all do it Autism or not. Chocolate and in my case Curries and Pizza and other fatty contained foods!
My pain began to get to the point where normal painkillers would not touch the pain, the spasms and chronic pain in my upper abdomen was getting more and more unbearable until my mum rang 111 (NHS Direct) before they transferred me to 999 (911 in the US) to get an ambulance out to me. The paramedics took my blood pressure, blood sugar and oxygen levels and they were all normal but did suggest that I go to hospital just in case to get checked out but the wait would be over 4 hours and I will be given the same information and treatment options provided to me by the doctor and as someone with Aspergers and anxiety I didn't really want to sit in A&E all night with constant pain getting more and more upset and agitated to then be sent home.
Now I was referred for a scan but it wasn't until the 31st of this month and I wondered if I could manage weeks in prolonged pain but at the time seemed like the only option available to me. Also I was really upset because I was planning a little trip to London to see a friend of mine who lives in Belgium and I haven't seen her for ages and I miss her. She's my Mcbuddy (McBuddy is my name for a Mcfly fan who is my friend and will understand my ramblings about the band and is just as passionate as me!) but I had to cancel rightly so.
I've missed hanging out with my friends at home due to it as well which has caused me to feel quite isolated and alone sitting or in most cases lying on my couch with my duvet over me falling to sleep or rolling around in agony. I feel like I have no one to talk to and I can't do the things I would normally do as walking up the stairs in tiring enough let alone walking around Manchester or even walking to my local pub. I did manage or stubbornly go to my mum's graduation and there I got really sick, I was deathly pale and was feeling to hot and wanted to black out so another trip to the docs was required who then referred me back to the hospital where I stayed for over 4 hours with nothing to eat or drink as the clinic I was referred to was the surgical ward. Alarm bells then began to ring in my head because no AS person is good with the hospital whether we prepare ourselves or not. It would be a matter of time before the break down happened and I would be a screaming heap on the floor. I must say the nurse who was on the ward that day took care of me after taking bloods and making sure I had some water intake and well medication which included Anti-Sickness meds which I desperately needed as I had felt sick all day. They also made sure I had a scan right away which meant on the following monday I had my whole stomach scanned and then told after being a willing pin cushion that i had to have it removed.
Thats when I began to get so frightened I can barely now think about nothing else, I can't eat , can't sleep and I'm muling over everything over and over in my head and although I have researched everything and know that the procedure is Keyhole so it'll be minimal scaring and I can be home the same day i'm still not happy to be put to sleep and be out of control of my body and have it somewhat violated by someone I don't know and then to have to heal and recover. They say two weeks it's a lie! And I do get bed rest which I will take full advantage of but thats not the point i've had a very tricky year with University and the added bonus of my mum getting ill. It just feels like a punishment and I have done nothing wrong in my view to be punished.
I've contacted the resource centre that I use now and again and I have got no reply and this is winding me up because I am actually looking for some help and support and not getting what I need!
So here I am rambling on but I thought I'd share my experience with you guys.
Sophie xxxx
I've always known how sensitive an AS body can be, whether it be your skin or something else.
But recently my whole stomach has flared up from July onwards. The pain started and presented itself as IBS originally and following some research that I found online it is connected to stress and anxiety which lets face we all have on a daily basis and can also in some studies be linked to Aspergers Syndrome itself but I wouldn't take that as a fact at this moment because its written on a website rather than in a Medical Journal.
But the pain has gotten considerably worse over the last few months until two weeks ago the pain was in the right side of body and it was excruciating. It was attacking not only my poor little stomach but also my chest.
So I said hello to the doctors first who then gave me the news that my gallbladder had stones in them due to eating fatty food. Which wasn't such a shock because when I get low and upset I comfort eat- that isn't just an AS girl thing we all do it Autism or not. Chocolate and in my case Curries and Pizza and other fatty contained foods!
My pain began to get to the point where normal painkillers would not touch the pain, the spasms and chronic pain in my upper abdomen was getting more and more unbearable until my mum rang 111 (NHS Direct) before they transferred me to 999 (911 in the US) to get an ambulance out to me. The paramedics took my blood pressure, blood sugar and oxygen levels and they were all normal but did suggest that I go to hospital just in case to get checked out but the wait would be over 4 hours and I will be given the same information and treatment options provided to me by the doctor and as someone with Aspergers and anxiety I didn't really want to sit in A&E all night with constant pain getting more and more upset and agitated to then be sent home.
Now I was referred for a scan but it wasn't until the 31st of this month and I wondered if I could manage weeks in prolonged pain but at the time seemed like the only option available to me. Also I was really upset because I was planning a little trip to London to see a friend of mine who lives in Belgium and I haven't seen her for ages and I miss her. She's my Mcbuddy (McBuddy is my name for a Mcfly fan who is my friend and will understand my ramblings about the band and is just as passionate as me!) but I had to cancel rightly so.
I've missed hanging out with my friends at home due to it as well which has caused me to feel quite isolated and alone sitting or in most cases lying on my couch with my duvet over me falling to sleep or rolling around in agony. I feel like I have no one to talk to and I can't do the things I would normally do as walking up the stairs in tiring enough let alone walking around Manchester or even walking to my local pub. I did manage or stubbornly go to my mum's graduation and there I got really sick, I was deathly pale and was feeling to hot and wanted to black out so another trip to the docs was required who then referred me back to the hospital where I stayed for over 4 hours with nothing to eat or drink as the clinic I was referred to was the surgical ward. Alarm bells then began to ring in my head because no AS person is good with the hospital whether we prepare ourselves or not. It would be a matter of time before the break down happened and I would be a screaming heap on the floor. I must say the nurse who was on the ward that day took care of me after taking bloods and making sure I had some water intake and well medication which included Anti-Sickness meds which I desperately needed as I had felt sick all day. They also made sure I had a scan right away which meant on the following monday I had my whole stomach scanned and then told after being a willing pin cushion that i had to have it removed.
Thats when I began to get so frightened I can barely now think about nothing else, I can't eat , can't sleep and I'm muling over everything over and over in my head and although I have researched everything and know that the procedure is Keyhole so it'll be minimal scaring and I can be home the same day i'm still not happy to be put to sleep and be out of control of my body and have it somewhat violated by someone I don't know and then to have to heal and recover. They say two weeks it's a lie! And I do get bed rest which I will take full advantage of but thats not the point i've had a very tricky year with University and the added bonus of my mum getting ill. It just feels like a punishment and I have done nothing wrong in my view to be punished.
I've contacted the resource centre that I use now and again and I have got no reply and this is winding me up because I am actually looking for some help and support and not getting what I need!
So here I am rambling on but I thought I'd share my experience with you guys.
Sophie xxxx
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