The Hardest Year of My Life Part 7

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(My Second Near Death Experience)

When I got to the hospital they were ready for me.  They took blood tests right away and confirmed that I had preecclampsia.  My uric acid levels were high, indicating kidney problems.  Actually, the reason I was retaining so much water was that my kidneys weren’t functioning.  There was protein in my urine indicating internal bleeding.  I was told I had damage to all my vital organs.  The nurse told me that had I not gone to the hospital, I probably would have gone into convulsions or a coma.

I was saddened that in spite of my request, Jason didn’t come to the hospital right away, but I found out later he stayed to research what I might have!  Would you believe my phone died when I got to the hospital?  What are the chances of it quitting right then?  Anyway, I couldn’t  reach Jason, but he finally got to the hospital with print outs of everything that could possibly go wrong and proceeded to scare me more than I was already.  (Insert smile here.)

I was taken for an MRI because of the numbness in my face.   The neurologist said that my MRI was fine, but that I did in fact have Bell’s Palsy.  For those of you who don’t know what it is, as I didn’t, the left side of my face was paralyzed.  The paralysis was happening slowly and he told me that it would probably get worse.  At that point I could still move my cheek a little and open and close my eye.  He told me that the prognosis was generally good for a case like mine.  I kept asking him over and over if it would go away.  All he would say was that generally it gets better.  Finally, he admitted that some never regain movement.  Especially at this point in my life this was really hard to hear.

My husband was a little hurt that I wanted my mom to stay with me in the hospital instead of him, but I was allowed to keep my baby with me, and I needed someone who would be able to help me at night.  Jason has always been a great help with the kids, but when it comes to night duty it is all up to me.  I found this out at the hospital when we had our first!  Also, I knew my mom would talk to me and help distract me, whereas Jason would have been more likely to sit and read a book.

Continue to Part 8.