Vacation, and a hospital stay?

So, I get to Minnesota on June 16th and all was well.  We were hanging out with family, going here and there, and enjoying our break from work.

All of a sudden, on June 23rd, I had to go down to the Appleton Hospital.  I was experiencing some major pains in my upper abdomen.  The pains were so horrible, it led me to throwing up like every 15-20 minutes, increasing to about 5-10 minutes after a couple of hours from the first round.

They got me all checked in quickly there.  Thank goodness I already had a chart on file when I needed a TB test done a couple of years back.  I was barely there for about 30 minutes before they made the final decision that I had to be transported by ambulance an hour away to Willmar, Minn. 

The diagnosis came down to pancreatitis.  It came from the fact that my lipids, cholesterol, and triglycerides were way out of whack.  The levels were extreme high and way over the normal, and instead in a seriously dangerous area that effected my healthy dramatically.

I ended up staying in the hospital for six days.  It was a horrible experience.  I wasn’t allowed to eat for almost three days, having to live off of saline through IV, morphine for pain, and some kind of medicine for nausea. 

I now have to watch what I eat at a different angle: low fat diet.  I have to eat smaller portions (that should be a given for anyone!), watch the fat content, and eat more often.  This means more snacks, which are equally as healthy to the low fat content.

It isn’t as hard as it sounds, especially since I feel like I have been given a chance to start over.  I can barely eat as it is.  I just put smaller portions on my plate when we eat at home.  When we eat out, I just cut the portions in thirds or in half and take the rest home to eat the next day.

Tonight was the first time I had eaten out since being on this new diet.  I did fairly well!  I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and french fries.  I normally order broasted chicken and fries.  I can’t eat that anymore.  I only ate half of the order, and took the other half home.

I am grateful this happened here versus back home in Las Vegas.  I would have been just another number and pushed out me out a lot more quickly than I was at the hospital in Willmar.  They would have problem sent me home still in pain, barely through a decent treatment to cure the problem, just with a higher dosage of pain killers and medicine for nausea.  They really took care of me over there!

I have learned my lesson and appreciate I have a second chance to make things right.  Had I ignored the problem and dealt with the pain, I could have died.  Literally!  It was a pretty bad case!

For now, I will enjoy life properly.