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MY HUSBAND, DWAYNE, AND I FOUND OUT WE WERE PREGNANT ON JULY 8, 1998. WE WERE EXCITED, SCARED, AND A LITTLE DISAPOINTED. WE WERE NOT MARRIED AT THE TIME. WE WERE A LITTLE DISAPOINTED AT US NOT BEING MARRIED YET. WE HAD BEEN LIVING TOGETHER FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS; BUT WE HAD RATHER OF BEEN MARRIED FIRST. WE TOOK PRECAUSTION, AND THE PREGNACY STILL HAPPENED, SO WE FELT LIKE MAYBE THIS IS WHAT GOD WANTED FOR US. AFTER TELLING OUR FAMILIES AND SEEING THAT THEY WERE JOYED TO HAVE THE NEW ADDITION OUR EXCITMENT GREW. DWAYNE WAS IN THE ARMY AND WAS SCEDULED TO GET OUT IN AUGUST. WE HAD ALREADY MADE PLANS TO TO MOVE FROM TEXAS TO KENTUCKY, WHERE HE WAS ORIGINALLY FROM. I STARTED MY PRENATAL CARE WITH MY DOCTOR IN TEXAS. HE SAID EVERYTHING WAS FINE, THAT THERE WAS NO PROBLEMS IN THE MOVE. SO IN EARLY SEPTEMBER, WE PACKED UP AND MOVED. IT WAS ALMOST LIKE A WHOLE NEW LIFE. MY JOB TRANSFERED TO KENTUCKY; BUT I WAS IN A NEW STATE, WORKING WITH NEW PEOPLE, AND HAD A BABY ON THE WAY. I SCHEDULED AN APOINTMENT FOR EARLY OCTOBER, SOON AFTER GETTING IN KENTUCKY WITH A DOCTOR DWAYNE'S SISTER IN LAW RECOMENDED. MY FIRST APPOINTMENT WITH MY NEW DOCTOR, WENT FINE. I HAD NOT YET HAD AN ULTRASOUND, SO HE SCHEDULED ME ONE FOR TWO WEEKS LATER. MY ULTRASOUND DETECTED AN ABNORMALTY OF THE PLACENTA. I WAS WORRIED; BUT MY DOCTOR ASSURED ME IT WAS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. HE DID HOWEVER WANT A SECOND OPINION. THE SECOND DOCTOR CLASSIFIED IT AS A CYSTIC PLACENTA, MEANING I HAD A CYST ATTACHED TO THE PLACENTA. IT WAS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A TENNISBALL. I WAS STILL TOLD NOT TO WORRY, THAT MOST ALL PREGNANT WOMEN HAVE THEM, IT IS JUST UNUSUAL FOR THEM TO BE THAT LARGE. THEIR ONLY CONCERNS WERE THE BABY GETTING ENOUGH NUTRIENTS. THEY WOULD WATCH IT CLOSELY WITH AN ULTRASOUND EVERY MONTH. I WAS A LITTLE RELIEVED. THIS WAS MY FIRST PREGNANCY, SO I WASN'T SURE EXACTLY WHAT ALL TO EXPECT. OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, I BEGAN TO HAVE A LOT OF PAIN IN MY BACK. I NOTICED I NEEDED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM A LOT; BUT WAS NOT ABLE. I THOUGHT THESE WERE NORMAL TO PREGNACY AND DID NOT WANT TO COMPLAIN TOO MUCH. I WAS ALSO WORKING AND THOUGHT MAYBE I WAS JUST WEARING MYSELF OUT. THE PAIN CONTINUED TO GET WORSE., IT WAS BEGINING TO GET WHERE I COULDN'T EVEN GET OUT OF BED ON MY OWN AND I WOULD GET UP LATE AT NIGHT TO SOAK IN SOME WARM WATER TO TRY AND EASE THE PAIN. FINALLY, I CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THIS PAIN COULD NOT POSSIBLY BE NORMAL. I WAS TAKEN TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM ON FRIDAY OCTOBER 21. THE NURSE, WAS QUICK TO SAY I PROBABLY HAD AN URINARY TRACT INFECTION. ( SHE WAS KIND OF SMART ABOUT IT, SO I THINK SHE THOUGHT MAYBE I WAS FAKING IT OR SOMETHING.) I WAS THINKING "LADY, I HAVE HAD AN URINARY TRACT INFECTION BEFORE AND THIS IS NOT IT". SHE WAS THE NURSE, SO I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING. THE BABY WAS MONITORED AND HE WAS DOING FINE. THE RESULTS CAME BACK, THAT I DIDN'T HAVE AN INFECTION. MY DOCTOR WAS CALLED AND HE SAID TO KEEP ME OVER NIGHT. AT FIRST I WASN'T GIVEN ANYTHING FOR MY PAIN; BUT THEY WERE GETTING SO BAD, DWAYNE TOLD THEM THEY REALLY NEEDED TO GIVE ME SOMETHING. SO FINALLY I WAS GIVEN A SHOT AND THAT'S ALL I REMEMBER UNTIL ABOUT 9:00 THE NEXT MORNING. WHEN I WOKE UP, MY DOCTOR CAME IN HE SAID HE FELT STRONGLY THAT ONE OF TWO THINGS WERE GOING ON. I HAD EITHER PULLED A MUSCLE IN MY BACK, OR I HAD A KIDNEY STONE. HE FELT IT WAS A PULLED MUSCLE, BECAUSE I HAD NO TRACES OF BLOOD IN MY URINE. SO I WAS SENT HOME WITH A PRESCRIPTION AND TOLD TO TAKE IT EASY FOR A FEW DAYS. AFTER TAKING IT EASY FOR THREE DAYS, MY PAINS WERE GETTING WORSE. I CALLED MY DOCTOR AND HE SAID TO COME IN. WHEN ARRIVING AT THE DOCTORS OFFICE, AN ULTRASOUND WAS DONE TO LOOK AT THE CYST. EVERYTHING SEEMED NORMAL. I DID HOWEVER, HAVE BLOOD IN MY URINE THIS TIME. I WAS SENT TO HAVE X-RAYS DONE TO DETECT IF IT WAS A STONE. I HAD A SMALL KIDNEY STONE, IT WAS BLOCKING PASSAGE WAY FROM MY KIDNEY TO MY BLADDER. I WAS TOLD I NEEDED A SIMPLE SURGERY DONE TO PUT IN A STINT. THIS WAS A TINY TUBE CONNECTING MY KIDNEY TO MY BLADDER AND BYPASSING THE STONE. I AGREED AND WAS ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL. I HAD THE SURGERY DONE THAT NIGHT. IT WENT FINE. THE BABY WAS DOING GREAT. I WAS GOING TO STAY THE NIGHT IN THE HOSPITAL AND GO HOME THE NEXT DAY. LATER THAT NIGHT, MY PAINS BEGAN TO GET WORSE AND I WAS CALLING FOR PAIN MEDICATION EVERYTIME I WAS ALLOWED IT. THE NEXT MORING, MY DOCTOR INFORMED ME THE STINT HAD NOT WORKED AND I WOULD NEED ANOTHER SURGERY TO PUT A DRAINAGE TUBE DIRECTLY OUT OF MY KIDNEY INTO A BAG. I WOULD HAVE TO HAVE THIS FOR THE DURATION OF MY PREGNANCY. THEY DID NOT WANT TO BREAK UP THE STONE, BECAUSE MY PREGNANCY, THEY THOUGHT THESE OTHER PROCEDURES WERE SAFER FOR THE BABY. I AGAIN AGREED TO HAVE THE SURGERY. THE HOSPITAL I WAS IN WAS A SMALLER HOSPITAL AND MY DOCTOR FELT I NEEDED TO GO TO A LARGER HOSPITAL TO HAVE MY SECOND SURGERY DONE. THE NEXT DAY, OCTOBER 29, 1998, AND MY TWENTY SECOND BIRTHDAY, I WAS TRANSFERED 50 MILES AWAY TO ANOTHER HOSPITAL. I DON'T REMEMBER MUCH ABOUT THE SURGERY. |
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