Tuesday, June 23, 2009

ICU Stay

First off, thank you in advance for everyone that is reading this and following my story.

I left off in the last blog, when I went to my local hospital the third time. This is going to be my account of the events that happened to me but, during a huge part of the time I was in a comma so I got all this information from friends and family that were there with me the whole time I was dealing with my battle with Lemierres Syndrome.

I was waiting outside my house in Glen Carbon IL and my best friend Tim G came to my house to give me a ride to the hospital. I remember driving to the hospital which was only like 10 min. away but, when I got out of his car I don't remember anything that happened.

Tim was at my work at Big Daddy's drinking when I called him and after he dropped me off he asked me if I wanted him to come in and I told him not to so he went back to the bar. When he got to the bar he saw another one of my closest friends Brian. Brian left the bar the minute he heard that I was back in the ER for the third time.

This is an account according to Brian....He came to the hospital and said that we waited in the waiting room for like 3 and a half hours then I was taken back to the ER and saw the doctors. He said that I wasn't in there for like 15 min before they had me in a gown and they told him that they were taking my by ambulance to St. Louis to Barnes. At that point he held my hand and asked if I wanted him to go with me and I told him to take my cell phone and wallet and not to worry about me that I would be fine and to call my dad and my brother in the morning and tell them where I was going. He said okay and by the time that I was in the parking lot I crashed and I took a helicopter ride to St Louis.

One the way in the helicopter they found out that Barnes ICU was full so they took me to St. Louis University Hospital. That was on December 16 the day that my life turned around. As I said before I don't remember anything from this point on. I have tried to get the story from different friends and family but, its so hard to talk about.

Well it is hard to believe that I was at this point on Life Support.....alot of people told me that they didn't know for five days when I got to STUH what was wrong.....I had a really high fever and I still had the sore throat.

I will never forget all the nurses and the doctors that saved my life in ICU. Doctor Kaplan is the man I want to say that but, I was in a chemical induced coma for ten day in ICU and I finally woke up on Christmas morning...

I could blog about my comma for days, weeks, years, about all the dreams and stuff that I remember but, the only reason that I lived was because the doctors told me that my size saved my life. I lost 150 lbs in a month......and a normal person would have made it. And also that I have put my trust and faith in Jesus Christ. My dad was my best supporter in this, we always haven't had the best relationship but, he was by my side the whole time that I was in the hospital. So I ended up staying in ICU for 19 days total.

While I was in ICU my blood pressure dropped to 60 over 35 and I had a temp of 107.4. I still can't believe it when I hear it from friends and family. But, the blood pressure medicine that they gave me had side effects to it that cause my blood from my feet to rush to my heart to keep me alive. So because of that I got a really bad case of gang green on both feet. They doctors were worried that it would spread to my legs and they said that if the black got any higher that they would have to take my legs from the knee down but, thank God that didn't happen but, I was left with gang green on both feet.

So the day finally came when I got out of ICU and went to a normal room. One thing about being in a coma, is that I couldn't even lift my head up to eat. I couldn't lift my arms or anything. But, like I said before my dad was there the whole time to take care of my along with my friends and family. One of the main people that helped in my recovery was a great friend named Camille that is a nurse at Children Hospital. She stayed with me every chance she could.

I really could spend alot of time telling more about ICU and I will never forget it but, I want to thank everyone that came to see me up there. It was because of all of you that I made it. The nurses and doctors told me that I have never seen any family and friends that I had. I'm very lucky. But, there will be more to come thank you so much for the support.

My first Post

Hey everyone,

My name is Adam Elliott and this is my story. I was 26 years old and I was just a normal adult trying to make it in this crazy world. I was working two jobs and one of my favorite pass time is playing poker but, my life would change in December of 2008.

I was working at a bar/restaurant called Big Daddy's they have four locations in the Metro Area, I was doing everything I could to make ends meet. I was cooking, bar backing, working the door, anything I could do to make my bosses happy. I remember I was working a long shift on a Monday night and I started to get a tickle in my throat and I remember thinking to myself that "Oh man I'm getting sick." Well that was the beginning of a whole process that I have been dealing with since December.

I ended up working my whole shift and then when I had went home I knew the next morning I was sick. I knew something didn't fell right and like every one that doesn't have insurance I thought about going to the ER. Well I waited a while and with the help of my brother who I'm really close with I went to the hospital.

When I got to the hospital for the first time I waited I think for 7 hours before I saw the doctors and nurses. I had a fever and my throat was killing me. They told me they would run some test for strep and other test but, I should be fine with some rest and some medicine. So I left the hospital feeling a little better and got the medicine.

I went to sleep that night with my new medicine and a bill at the hospital I couldn't pay and all that I could hear in my mind is the doctor and nurses saying to me that if I felt worse to come back......

The next morning I woke up and I felt terrible. I took my temp and it was at 104.2, wow I will never forget that, so I called one of my great friends to take me back to the hospital again.....

When we got there it was the same story as before long wait and no doctors......Then when I finally got in to see the in take nurse she almost turned green when see saw my temp.....But, the only thing they did that time is got my fever down and told me to go home and rest....Well at that point I had been in the ER twice now and I knew that I had to go to work that night because I needed the money and didn't have any time to take off work.....So I went to work.....

The next two days I was off work and I slept.....and it was the best sleep that I have ever had in my life because I was so sick....I got up to try and get something to eat because I was sooo hungry but, I couldn't with the sore throat that I had.....but I tried anyways.....

Then I feel asleep on my couch, slept for about an hour and woke up sicker than ever and called my brother one last time that I remember before my journey with lemierres started.....I told him "Brad, I tried to stand up to go to the bathroom and I almost fainted, what should I do?" His respond was funny to me at the time but, it really was the best thing that I could hear. He said "Get your butt to the hospital now!!!!!" But, I was thinking to my self that I had already been there twice what was the point. But, I called another friend and he came and took me to the hospital.

That is the last thing that I remember before my long journey began back in Dec. I will update my story so the word can get out about this terrible disease!