Just when I started feeling better....

I GOT MUCH WORSE. I'm not even sure where to start. I am hoping I can finish this post before I start to feel all dizzy and have to lay down again. Well I developed a nifty little infection called Sepsis. It all started with a 6 mm. kidney stone that is stuck in my left ureter. I developed a simple UTI and it seemed to get better. I didn't know at the time about the kidney stone. I had horrible pain that would come and go. It was strange and not like any other kidney stone I've passed before. About a month later I began to feel really tired and sickly. This went on for several weeks. Then the pain began to get worse and worse til finally I was up all night long rocking back and forth on the bed while praying out loud. It was just after 5 am when Robert woke up early because he had several meetings to prepare for at work. He has seen me in this strange rocking back and forth kidney stone dance before and he knew he could do nothing for me. Just as he was about to walk out the door I told him that I needed to go to the ER. I knew that something was terribly wrong with me. So off we went to the first ER. They did some labs and an x-ray and reported that everything looked normal. I was screaming and crying like a crazy woman because I was feeling so sick and the pain was now a 10. Anyhow the ER staff rolled their eyes and pushed us out the door. We got home and the pain meds that they had given me at the ER were already wearing off. I was back on the bed rocking back and forth. I'm not sure what Robert was thinking because the ER doctor just told us both that NOTHING was wrong with me. I can't begin to explain how bad I was feeling. About 2 hours later I tell Robert that we have to go to another hospital. I no longer cared if the ER staff was going to roll their eyes at me and claim that I was there to seek drugs. Lucky for me when I arrived I was immediately taken back to a room. (perhaps it was because I was now screaming bloody murder and rolling around on the floor) The ER doc ordered some blood work ASAP and a catscan. An hour later we found out about the kidney stone (the one that the other hospital somehow missed) and we learned that my kidney was three times its normal size. I was admitted to the hospital and just 12 hours later that very next morning things became MUCH worse. I only remember parts of it. Apparently I developed a temp of 106* and a full code was called. That's when a dozen people run into your room and cut of any clothes that your wearing. Then they begin to pack you in ICE. It was horrible. Finally my temp dropped enough and I was taken to the OR where a tube was placed in the lower part of my back into my kidney so that it could be drained. The next day the labs came back and said that I had gone into septic shock. Later that night the infection began to win its battle and I became much sicker. I was given a blood transfusion and that seemed to help. They started me on 4 different types of antibiotics and lots of other meds that made me very loopy. About 7 days later I was doing much better and got to go home. However, I still have a tube hanging out of my back which drains my left kidney. I have my mediport in my chest which is used for all of the drugs I have to take, including IV antibiotics 3 times a day for the next several months. I also STILL have that 6 mm kidney stone. It's not safe to remove it yet because of the sepsis. If they try to take it out they could blast the infection all over my body and that wouldn't be good. However, I do have a little machine that delivers pain medication into my IV and that helps some, but if you have ever had a kidney stone then you know the only way to be pain free is to remove the stone. We are hoping to do that in a few weeks when the infection is a little more under control. Anyhow, so I was home for 3 days when I got out of bed and felt very dizzy and short of breath. So back to the ER where they found that I had a pulmonary embolism. After another 3 days in the hospital the tiny little clot was dissolved and I got too go home. Of course I also got another drug to add to the growing list and this one is taken with a small injection into the tummy. It's actually NOT bad at all. However the bruises that it causes are rather painful. So now I sit at home. The antibiotics are HORRIBLE. My tongue is smooth like a frogs skin and the tip of my tongue is covered in a million painful bumps (like when you bite a taste bud). I can't taste anything and everything that I try to eat burns my mouth. Bread is the worse. I think it's the yeast in it that causes the burning. The insides of my cheeks and lips are covered in tiny sores. I also feel really dizzy and it feels like I have a head cold. My balance is all screwed up. Has anyone ever had this side effect with antibiotics before? I'm taking Merrem also called Meropenem. I don't know how much longer I can handle this stuff. It feels like it's slowly killing me. WOW. I wrote this long post and now I finally begin to feel ill. I'm going to bed. Thanks for your prayers. For the first time ever I am actually asking people to pray for me. This is one of the tougher medical challenges I have faced. If this post makes no sense, blame the antibiotics.