Mum went to the doctors and was referred to an ultrasound. But still, nothing had shown up and came back clear. What is going on? There has got to be something they’re missing.. I could now sense each day that passed, Mum was becoming frustrated. The Omeprazole and the painkillers were only providing her short term relief. She would top up on her hot water bottles to ease it for a while. She was still experiencing pain that was now causing constipation and she would be in the bathroom for quite sometime – even at times for over 20 minutes.
She went back and forth to the doctors and was finally sent to another hospital to have an Endoscopy as the diagnosis was possibly gallstones or stomach ulcers. She had been on the phone to Uncles Frances and Yvonne about it and they were very concerned. They advised her to push to have more tests because it did not add up. But getting referred to tests under the NHS is a long waiting process especially with the current pressure they are under. Also, there had been other issues she was experiencing and had explained to them that anything that was high in fat or oily made her feel nauseous and aggravated the pain making her have sudden stomach cramps that she had to lie down to relieve it. Even a packet of crisps sometimes set it off. Whenever she had been in touch with family and discussed it, they were equally as baffled as we all were.
Mum was tired and one night I came into her room and quietly asked if she was asleep. ‘Uhh…a little bit tired, love’, she murmured. ‘My stomach really aches…it comes and goes’. I sighed and climbed into bed with her and gave her a cuddle. But she told me not to cuddle her too close as the left side of her back was tender. ‘This isn’t right mum, why can’t the doctors find anything?’ I whispered to her gently. ‘Are you sure that is what the doctors reckon? We have to get to the bottom of this!’
‘I don’t know, love..let’s not talk about it anymore tonight. I’m shattered’.
Mum’s appointment day soon arrived. Luckily I had some time off work and we booked a cab to the hospital. It was a local anaesthetic and when she came back out, they gave immediate results that it was clear. ‘What? This is getting ridiculous now!’ It started to really wind me up. I looked at the results in her hand and she handed it over to me. ‘I really don’t understand this, it’s making no sense Mum. I’m getting worried’. ‘Kate don’t you start worrying, I’m as confused as you are..we’ll see what happens, OK?’. I started feeling tears well up but I didn’t want her to notice.
The atmosphere at home started to get very tense and stressful. Mum was constantly going to the doctors and it was getting beyond ridiculous. More issues started to occur such as problems with her calcium levels. She had undergone some more blood tests and they noticed nodes in her neck that might be causing her to have high calcium levels in the blood and was prescribed a high dose of Vitamin D. She took it every morning with her other medications which she of course, had to renew. Nothing seemed to work. I was watching her weight decrease dramatically and by this point, Max and I knew something was seriously wrong.
It was very quiet one evening. Mum was turning her nose up at most of the meals she cooked and even the smell was making her feel queasy. She had gone to sleep on the sofa after feeling exhausted from the stomach pains. Max was relaxing with the dog in his room and I was watching TV in my room. I must had drifted off to sleep for a few hours and got awoken by Mum knocking on my door at around 4am.
‘Kate..are you awake?’ I jumped up with shock and heard her moaning in pain. ‘Please, Kate…can you call an ambulance?.. I don’t feel so good…’
‘My god Mum! What’s the hell is wrong?’ Max overheard and rushed out of his room. We watched her and my heart was now racing with panic. She was crying and crouched over on the floor in a fetal -like position.
‘Call them now!’ she cried out in agony.
My hands were trembling and went to dial 999.
Butterflies and Rainbows - Katie's Journey 