Sorry to anyone who has wanted to reach me over the past couple of months. Things on this end have taken some dramatic turns.  I have been having stomach pain intermittently over the past 6 or 7 years, often resulting in my going to the ER.  Anyway, this February I was admitted to the ER with excruciating abdominal pain, and as it turned out they discovered a congenital defect with my colon (it wasn't attached on the right side to my abdominal wall).  Anyway, it twisted on itself, cutting off the blood supply, and half of it (along with my gall bladder and part of my small intestine) had died.  So all of the dead organ parts had to be removed in emergency surgery (during which my kidneys failed), after which more surgeries were required as a result of complications and to reconnect my small and large intestine. I spent 6 weeks in the hospital, 3 of them in ICU on a ventilator and dialysis with 27 tubes running in and out of me. I had four surgeries in all, and they really didn't think I was going to make it for a while. But in the end, they were able to salvage the parts of my organs that were still alive, and my kidneys started to work again.
So anyway, I'm alive , though still weak, and obviously not working.  I have a visiting nurse and physical therapist coming to my place twice a week. My stomach is still pretty sore (not to mention scarred), and I am majorly underweight and deconditioned. So I have a ways to go in my recovery.  My view of life has really changed. It is very fragile.

For those interested, my condition after leaving ICU and upon admission to Kindred Hospital follows:

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Choudhury, Carol  F    12/23/1973   DS00085285 315-A M Rohrer

reverse chronological retrieval for history and physical data

time span: encounter 03/21/07 00:00 to present

History and physical

      Signed, M Rohrer MD 03/23/07 06:46

Original entry with all addenda:
                                                                                                   [Transcription, 03/22/07 09:50]

HISTORY AND PHYSICAL

DATE OF ADMISSION: 03/21/2007

ATTENDING PHYSICIAN: Mark B. Rohrer, MD

CHIEF COMPLAINT: This is the first Kindred Hospital of Boston admission for this extraordinarily frail 33-year-old female transferred from Winchester Hospital after being hospitalized for ischemic bowel and congential volvulus.

HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS: The patient has a long and complex psychiatric illness and has been on a number of psychiatric medications. She has been treated for anorexia since age 15 requiring both inpatient and partial hospitalizations. She has had wide swings in weight and migraine headaches. After her bowel resection at Winchester Hospital, she was in the intensive care unit with multisystem organ failure. She went back to the operating room for a second bowel resection. The wound was left open and packed with saline gauze. She had acute renal failure. She had compartment syndrome. She was ventilated and dialyzed for two and a half weeks. She is now tolerating a mechanical soft diet and is on aspiration precautions secondary to delayed swallowing. She also has tube feeds. She has had a colectomy, exploratory laparotomy and cholecystectomy. She had a wound vacuum-assisted closure in place. She was found to have a calculus with gangrenous cholecystitis as well as an aberrant intestinal anatomy.

ALLERGIES: SHE IS SAID TO HAVE AN ALLERGY TO PAPER TAPE, BUT NO OTHER DRUG ALLERGIES.

PAST MEDICAL HISTORY: Otherwise is pretty much as I have mentioned. She states that her weight has fluctuated significantly, presently running about 90.8 pounds.

REVIEW OF SYSTEMS: The eating disorder, constipation, migraines, anxiety, depression.

FAMILY/SOCIAL HISTORY: She lives alone but is said to have had a husband of 2-1/2 years from whom she is now divorced. No children. Apparently does not smoke nor drink.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: GENERAL: A young woman who is extraordinarily thin and approximately 5' 9" tall. VITAL SIGNS: Temperature 98.8, pulse 106, respirations 16, blood pressure 116/84. HEENT: Temporal muscle wasting. Sclerae white. Conjunctivae pale pink. Extraocular movements are full. Pupils are equal, round and reactive to light and accommodation. Nasal mucosa is normal. Oropharynx is clear. She has her own teeth. NECK: Supple. No jugular venous distension. LUNGS: Clear to percussion and auscultation. CARDIOVASCULAR: Sl and S2 somewhat distant, but within normal limits. No murmur, rub nor gallop. ABDOMEN: Quite thin, really scaphoid with extensive series of scars both in the midline and the groins. There are Steri-Strips and a few sutures still in place. MUSCULOSKELETAL: Marked muscle wasting. NEUROLOGICAL: She is awake, alert and oriented x3. Appears somewhat withdrawn. No attempt was made to watch her walk this morning as she is quite deconditioned.

CURRENT MEDICATIONS: Fentanyl citrate; lactulose; venlafaxine; calcitriol; lansoprazole; Augmentin; docusate sodium; quetiapine fumarate; sertraline; prochlorperazine; lorazepam; acetaminophen.

IMPRESSION/PLAN: This woman has a multifactorial illness with an eating disorder, anxiety, depression, migraines, constipation, congenital volvulus, ischemic bowel and is now to be provided with adequate nutrition, occupational and physical therapy as well as speech therapy and psychiatric counseling. Our hope is to substantially build her up and be able to have her return home with further psychiatric care. There is no diagnostic information on admission. Her prognosis, certainly, is understandably guarded. She is a FULL CODE.

Hi all,

On May 6th,  I will be participating in Project Bread's 39th annual Walk for Hunger in Massachusetts.  The money that I raise by walking the 20-mile route will support 400 emergency food programs in 136 communities in Massachusetts. Of course, this is where you come in... 

This is my 3rd walk, and like last year, I am striving to become a Heart & Sole Walker.  Your support of me, and most importantly of hungry people in Massachusetts, can help me reach that goal. Please visit my personal page (click on "Make a gift!") to make a pledge on my behalf.

Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,
Carol

P.S.  My apologies to those who object to such events (a must see).