In the spring and summer of 2015, I developed severe acid reflux. I was working as a registered nurse in ICU at my community hospital full time and was involved in extracurricular activities such as teaching CPR, heading up a committee to create a procedure for Therapeutic Hypothermia and on the Skin Task Force to mention a few.

I lived with 3 cats and 2 birds. They brought joy into my life. My blue fronted Amazon parrot would sing duets with me. My yellow cockatiel Sylvester was adorable. I nick named the cats Queen Emma, King Lester and Prince Tiger due to their unique personalities. My sister and I spoke on the phone often and we occasionally took vacations together.

I was only able to eat small meals. I tried most over the counter acid reflux reducers with no improvement over several months. I was losing weight but since I was in 3X clothes, I decided I really needed to lose weight anyway. I started having severe fatigue in June. Around the 4th of July weekend I dragged myself into work. (You got double points for calling in sick on a holiday). My coworkers took one look at me and sent me home. I was having abdominal cramps, some diarrhea and fatigue. I took off 3 shifts in a row and headed to my doctor’s office early on Monday morning. I saw her PA who told me it probably was just a GI bug. I felt better in a few days and was able to return to work the next weekend without any problems except the fatigue. However, the following weekend I felt bad again but was fearful to call in sick because it would result in a verbal warning. I could be in hot water. You could potentially lose your job if you got too many occurrence points in a specified time period. So, I insisted on working the whole weekend. I felt worse each shift and by Monday night I was really struggling. My colleagues helped me alot so I made it through. They were wonderful!

After working 3 night shifts in a row, I slept Tuesday and went back to the doctor on Wednesday. The PA was more concerned. She scheduled a stat CT scan of my abdomen and pelvis on Thursday. I got through the CT scan fine. Friday morning my primary care doctor called me around 8:30 AM. She told me she was on vacation in Atlanta, Georgia but wanted to tell me the CT scan results herself. You know it is VERY bad if your doctor calls you CT scan results while she is on vacation…More to come on Part B!