Day 5: Liquids went in and liquids came out

The last two nights were some of the worst nights of my life. I got severe diarrhea from the antibiotic I was on. It started out with gurgling and general uneasiness in my stomach about half way through day 3, which I attributed to the liquid diet, but symptoms slowly progressed to full scale watery diarrhea and intestinal pain by yesterday morning. I only slept about 2 hours during the night on Saturday because every time I'd relax and almost fall asleep I had to jump up and go to the bathroom!

Yesterday morning my mom called the oral surgeon on call at the hospital (since it was outside of regular office hours) and told him what was happening. I had a feeling it was the antibiotic (I've had diarrhea from antibiotics in the past but never like this!) but I didn't want to stop taking it and risk infection. He confirmed that it was probably from the antibiotic so he prescribed a different antibiotic that's supposed to combat the effects, and I was to force myself to drink at least 2 litres of fluids. The new antibiotic didn't come in liquid form so I had to crush it and mix it with juice which tasted awful. I almost vomited a few times because it was so bitter and I already felt ill.

The surgeon said that if I wasn't improving by yesterday evening that I'd have to go to the hospital and receive IV fluids. I waited and nothing improved, even with the forced fluid intake, and by 7 pm I started vomiting and couldn't keep anything down so I went to the hospital. The 5 hour wait in emergency was horrible, 4 hours of which I spent on the toilet or laying on the floor in the washroom. When I was finally called in they gave me a shot of anti-nausea medication in my hip, pain medication through IV, and 2 litres of IV fluids. This seriously saved my life! They sent me home this morning at about 5 am with some more anti-nausea medication which, thankfully, I haven't had to use, and the diarrhea is now much better.

I've been feeling a little bit weak today, like I regressed to day 2 status, but without the nausea I'm eating well and improving quickly. Again a big thank you to everyone who has been encouraging me and giving me tips, as well as calling and emailing and dropping by to see how I've been doing. It's only uphill from here!

Here are some pictures from day 4, before I went to the hospital.

And here are some pictures from today. The bruising has definitely shown up now on my cheeks and neck! Other than that, there isn't much change between yesterday and today except that I look even more exhausted.