MRI And A Trip To The ER

This past week was quite busy for me and my family. On Tuesday I got to have lunch with my god sister who I haven't seen since Christmas break, and is going back to college for summer school and then working as a camp counselor for an overnight camp, so it was great to be able to get to see her before she left. That same afternoon,    I had an appointment with my pain management doctor for my monthly appointment. So when I got home that afternoon I was pretty exhausted. I stayed home from Bible study on Tuesday and went to bed really early, because I had to get up at dark thirty in the morning on Wednesday, because I had to be at Dell Children's Day Surgery Center at 5:45 AM for an MRI of my TMJ. Dr. Carrasco wants to make sure everything looks good with my jaw, and that it is not a factor contributing to my swallowing issues. I have to be put under general anesthesia when I have an MRI, due to the muscle tremors I have from my muscle disease, the "sedation" used at the ARA center's around Austin aren't enough, so they are done at the hospital by an anesthesiologist.

Since I was just at the Dell Surgery Center a month ago, and have had countless procedures there, we know all the nurses, and have had pretty much every anesthesiologist there. The nurses all say to each other, our friend is here, and when I left said we'll see you next time, which you don't usually/don't want to hear from the staff at Surgery Center's. It is still nice to have a good relationship with everyone there, and that they all know me.


The procedure went well, and went home around 11:30, with my grandfather being a doll and stopping to get me a sausage biscuit from McDonalds (since I had nothing to eat since 9:00 the night before. We went home, and I was feeling OK, and around 1:30/1:45 I had some cereal. At around 3:30 I started getting a headache, but it wasn't really bad, and I thought I would just sleep and have some sips of ginger ale, and would feel better. At 4:15 I started vomiting, and I took my heavy duty anti-nausea medicine (phenegrin), and continued to vomit, even after two different versions of it. Finally at around 6:00 after vomiting four times and not being able to keep anything down, and having a killer headache, my grandmother made an executive decision to take me to the ER. She was concerned not only because of dehydration, but of aspiration pneumonia due to my severe swallowing issues.



So we headed to the Dell Children's ER, since my procedure was done at Dell. I have never had problems with anesthesia, but in January when I had my joint injections (which I've had numerous times) I had this problem. We/the doctors and I determined that it was a reaction from my oral chemo (the Cell-Cept) and the anesthesia. So when I had my MRI a month ago I stopped the Cell-Cept a day or two days before the procedure, and they gave me IV zophran (anti-nausea med) and decahedron (IV steroid that helps with nausea) and I had no problem. But I realized on Wednesday while waiting for the procedure, that even though I hadn't taken my Cell-Cept that morning I took it the night/day before the procedure. But since they were giving me IV zophran and decahedron like last time, everything would be fine, but it wasn't. Even though I'm 21 and am an adult, because I got my procedure at Dell and Dr. Carrasco's at Dell, they had no problem treating me. While I was waiting they gave me oral zophran to try and help hold me over, but twenty minutes later I was still vomiting. My mom came to the ER after she finished teaching class at Huston-Tillotson University. She could tell I was extremely dehydrated, and so did the doctor. We told them when this type of reaction happens I just need IV benadryl, phenegrin, and dillotid (a pain medication), and fluids, to help me sleep through it. They gave me the IV phenegrin and Benadryl, which helped a lot. I still had a bit of a headache though, and they usually don't use dillotid on kids, but since I was an adult it was a different situation. They gave me IV toridol (which is an NSAID in the motrin family) which helped tremendously. They sent me home at midnight and I slept until 1:00 PM and woke up feeling a lot better yet exhausted.


As you can see, Wednesday was a very tough day for me. I felt absolutely miserable, and besides begging my family and the doctors for relief, I kept just saying please help me God, please help me. As I reflect on that experience, I think back to some discussions we have had in my Tuesday Bible Study about Jesus healing people. There are various stories about Jesus miraculous healings, from the woman with blood being healed from just touching his cloak, healing Simon's mother in-law from a fever and then she got up and served them. I thought about how God used modern medicines, and the doctors and nurses to heal me from this reaction I had. I think that the Lord uses various ways to bring healing to others, and they may not all be miraculous like the ones in the Bible are. 1 Corinthians 12:9 says, "To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;..." I love this verse, because it makes me think about how the Lord gives doctors the ability to heal people, through education and prescribing medications. Not all may use these gifts, but many are true healers. I believe that the Lord answered my prayers to help me, by having the doctors and nurses give me medications that helped me feel better.


I am now back to my "sick normal" and am thankful to all the doctors and nurses at the Dell Day Surgery and Emergency departments. They helped me get through a very painful and uncomfortable situation. And thank you to all of you who continue to pray for my healing, the Lord is answering it in ways that are different then are expected. I hope everyone has a good weekend and a Happy Memorial Day!!!!




Joyful Love
         &
Blessings In The Lord
Alexandra K. Acosta