“I’m scared and alone and I need you to tell me everything will be okay,” I texted my best friend.
Thirty minutes ago, I was insisting to be admitted. After two rounds of mast cell induced ureteral obstruction, I refused to experience the worst pain of my life again. Pills weren’t enough; I needed continuous IV medications, I told the ER doctor. So they admitted me to the neurology floor.
But maybe this was a bad idea? I looked down at my IV and then the door. I can outrun them, right?
I had been admitted to the hospital once before. Similarly, it was midnight, I was alone, and my ureter was obstructed (that time by a 6mm kidney stone). In fact, I was in another state attending a work conference. My mom offered to fly down, but I declined. I found solace in the quiet room.
So why was I terrified of hospitalization this time?
Because this time I knew I had mast cell disease. This time, I knew my doctors would not know how to help me. This time, I needed to educate and convince my care team to listen to me. This time, I knew any treatment was a gamble.
The admission process made me feel like a criminal entering jail. The hallways were empty and the rooms were dark. The head nurse searched my belongings and confiscated my pill bottles. I pleaded to keep my medications, explaining I had to use specific manufacturers or else I risked another reaction. Why do they need to lock up my antihistamines? If they don’t trust me with my own medications, how will they trust me about treating my disease? I began to cry. The nurse promised to deliver my morning doses on time.
Next came the doctor, a neurologist. He asked me what pain medications I could tolerate. I replied oxycodone and fentanyl. He told me they don’t administer fentanyl on the 7th floor. He suggested morphine and I began to hyperventilate. Why am I on this floor if they can’t give me the medication I might need?! I told him morphine will kill me and fentanyl is the only medication for extreme pain that I am sure is safe. I had tried other pain medications that week and lost my vision for two days. In the ER, two doses of fentanyl only reduced my pain to level 8 on the pain scale.
The doctor agreed to continuous IV Benadryl and oxycodone (luckily my pain was more manageable at this point). The nurse left the room and my friend who brought me to the ER said goodbye. I looked out the window to regain my bearings, but my city was unrecognizable in the darkness, and began to lose my shit.
You should know, mast cell reactions also can induce a sense of doom. The doom fogs all logic and invites fear to fill every thought. This chorus of fears echoed in my head:
- I am going to die.
- They are going to deny me my medicine and I am going to suffer. And then I am going to die.
- I am going survive, but my hospital bills will be unsurmountable and I will lose my home. I will be homeless. And then I will die.
- I am never going to have children and I am going to die alone even if it takes me awhile to die.
- I am never going to feel joy again.
The nurse returned and asked me if I needed anything.
“I’m scared,” I squeaked.
The nurse walked over to my bedside and I began babbling how scary mast cell disease can be. She said she had never heard of MCAS, so I explained my triggers and daily challenges. The nurse listened patiently for over fifteen minutes and I felt better.
As she left the room, she said, “I won’t put the bed alarm on.” Way to ruin a moment.
I didn’t sleep at all. Pain medicine and Benadryl give me insomnia. I took black and white selfies of my tear-stained face and wrote lines for a melodrama I creatively titled “Girl in the Hospital.”
My anxiety subsided as the sun rose. I hadn’t had a reaction. I didn’t need Fentanyl. I hadn’t ripped out my IV and ran. I survived my night in my hospital with mast cell disease.
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