So I think I got a little cocky about how easy things have been. Sunday, I allowed myself to get absorbed into some small tasks and some gaming to the point where I completely lost track of the day. Before I knew it, it was 7PM. I didn’t think much of it at the time. I called my mom and made some dinner and essentially settled in for my Sunday evening viewing.
Around 11PM I started to feel an extreme and persistent pain in my lower right side, near the back. I hadn’t done anything that I could think of to account for it, particularly anything that would have jerked my back, but there is was.
I headed to bed and took a Tylenol PM to hopefully reduce the pain to allow me to sleep. The pain was not to be abated though and I found myself in a bit of duress. Eventually when nothing else helped (I tried the bed in the zero gravity position and it didn’t reduce the pain at all) I opted for the one thing that seemed like it could help, I caused myself to throw up to eliminate the dinner I had eaten out of concern that it could be causing a blockage at my stoma that could be translating to pain somewhere else. Eventually I started to feel better and was able to get to sleep around 2AM.
Monday morning I got online and researched my symptoms after deciding that it was near the kidney that I was feeling the pain. A result of the search indicated that pain like that could be the result of significant dehydration. Looking back then at Sunday I realized that I probably only consumed about 24 ounces of fluid that day and that after my last induced vomiting I had brushed my teeth and drank some water, which probably made the difference.
Monday has gone by with no repeat of the condition and I have once again been reminded not only of my on mortality, but also of the importance of not taking for granted things that are now different. Due to the ileostomy I am much more at risk for dehydration which is not a problem on days that I work since I keep both a glass and a bottle to fill it from in my office and am constantly drinking fluids. It is something that I need to keep in mind though on days that I work from home, or am just off since those are the times where I am most likely to forget.
Cheers.