Earlier this week I was admitted to the hospital after being diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis during an emergency room visit. I was released this afternoon and wanted to share an update with everyone. If you haven’t read the first article about my diagnoses I recommend you start here first.
My arms are still sore and I’m in a bit of pain, but the scary part is over. As I’m typing this I come to the realization that I could make a drinking game for every time I view a situation with toxic optimism. I’m not sure if that is even a term, but it feels fitting.
My kidneys and well everything else were not affected by this. Thankfully the doctors and I were able to notice the symptoms and treat it in a timely matter. There will be no permanent damage done so that is a blessing.
My CK levels needed to be at least 5,000 in order for me to get discharged from the hospital. My blood test from this morning came back a little over 4,000. When I was admitted Tuesday night my CK levels were over 8,000. Today is now Thursday by the way for anyone who finds this after April 2022.
My left arm is sore and hard to move from having two IV’s in it and being stuck many times to draw blood for testing. My right arm is still swollen and tight due to the rhabdomyolysis.
My treatment for rhabdomyolysis was simply resting and being flushed with saline around the clock. This is to clean out my system as mentioned here. I will have to follow up with a kidney doctor next week to ensure my CK levels and body overall is still improving.
I can’t workout for at least 15–30 days per my doctors. After returning to working out I have to start extremely light. I’ve been lifting 20 lbs dumbbells and the doctor suggested I start with 5 lbs and slowly build it back up.
I would just like to emphasize on the fact that working out in general or working out incorrectly did not cause this happen. It just sadly happened. Here’s a video about rhabdomyolysis from the Mayo Clinic’s Youtube channel.
I will have to take a week off from life basically just to catch up on all my rest and keeping myself well hydrated. So if anyone has any shows you’d suggest I binge watch over the next week please comment them below.
I won’t name the specific hospital I went to because I don’t believe in messing with anyone’s livelihoods but I do want to mention a few takeaways from this experience. I’m thankful for the care I received and to be better now than when I arrived.
However the overall experience at the hospital I received was subpar to say the least. I don’t know if my treatment had anything to do with the fact that I’m young and not being taken seriously or because I’m a Black woman.
- It took me an entire day to receive my daily medication and I had to request it from every nurse despite the doctor already approving it for me.
- When asked multiple times why I was not receiving my routine medication no one would provide me with a straight logical answer. They simply didn’t know.
- Despite every doctor and nurse mentioning how painful rhabdo can be I wasn’t given any pain medication until the day after I was admitted. This was only after one of my parents called the hospital to speak to the staff. It’s amazing how quick things get handled when a “real adult” starts calling.
- A close friend of mine took me to the ER and stayed with me until I was released. I highly recommend having someone at the hospital with you if possible to help advocate for you during rough times. After the ball was dropped so many times we finally were able to request to speak to the floor manager.
- I had to monitor my own body changes and point out when things got better and worse.
- I had to give blood multiple times during this short hospital stay. Each time someone came to draw blood I had to be “poked” repeatedly because they couldn’t get the vein on the first try. My arm and hand are now sore and swollen due to this. After a lot of tears and complaints they eventually brought me their IV team who got it right on the first try.
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