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First off, for anyone who takes the time to read this, thanks. It will be kind of long.
We were driving home from Memorial Day vacation at my folk's house. She had been complaining about sharp, shooting pains in her sides for most of the weekend, but we thought it was just gas. She started crying out in pain on the way home so as soon as we got home on monday, we dropped of the dog and I brought her to the ER.
We got there around 8:00 pm on monday evening. Given her symptoms, I figured it would be a while before we got out of there and man was I right.
They first gave her a pregnancy test to check for an ectopic (sp?) pregnancy. That came back negative.
They then did a pelvic exam to check for ovarian cysts. Negative... sorry if thats kind of graphic. It was not fun to watch.
Finally, they did a CAT scan. The scan revealed severe infection, inflammation, and swelling of her colon. They diagnosed her with Diverticulitis. Its a disease where they colon develops "pockets" caused by low fiber diet, lack of exercise, and generally old ago. Lots of people have that happen when they are older, but not when they are 24. When the pockets become infected, they start to swell leading to Diverticulitis. If its bad enough or not treated, the infected part of the colon would need to be removed and sewn back together. In some cases, the pockets can rupture. The only way to fix that is with a Colostomy bag. You have to understand, my beautiful wife is only 24. A Colostomy bag would suck.
We admitted her to the hospital on tuesday morning around 2:00 AM. They put her on some IV med hoping she would respond and the inflammation would go down. I stayed with her until around 6:00 am, went home, got ready for my tuesday morning meeting at work (normally would be on monday) and headed off. We were both very scared at this point. I admit, I almost lost it a few times.
I bailed out of work around 10:00 am and spent the rest of the day in the hospital with her. I also did a lot of running around for her doing various errands she normally does. One thing you have to understand is I am on call 24/7 for work to deal with client complaints. I can not have my phone on in the hospital room and there have been more complaints than usual lately so its just added stress.
She kicked me out of her room around 8:00 pm so I could go home and get some sleep but I knew she would be bored and lonely so I went back around 10:00 pm after eating. I stayed with her until around 4:00 am wednesday, went home, got some sleep, woke up at 7:30 am and started getting ready for the day. The house was a mess (we still had not unpacked from vacation) and I had to meet a few of my subcontractors to go over some stuff. Other than that, I cleared the whole day from work because the dietician would be coming by her room and I wanted to talk to her. I got a call from my wife saying they were going to let her out around mid day so I frantically started cleaning knowing she would not be able to do much of anything and she needed to rest.
She basically has to eat a high fiber diet for the rest of her life. For the next few weeks, she has to slowly incorporate solid foots into her diet. Otherwise its all liquid. We went to the store and picked up a lot of food based on what the dietician told us. She is also going to have to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day for the next while which means I have to go buy a decent treadmill. If she does not do these things, the pockets could flare up again and we could have another repeat on our hands. From what I understand, its a very long term deal.
During this time, I started an independent study math class at Northwestern. I have not had any time to do homework so I am a few weeks behind. I had to buy a new laptop as well. We have pretty good medical insurance but I am sure it will be expensive.
My little sister is staying with us for the next few weeks to help out. My wife stayed home today and rested all day. Her and my sister played guitar hero and watched movies. I worked, came home, mowed the lawn, cleaned, spent some time online. Its currently 9:30 and although I should be catching up on sleeping I am typing. This whole experience has been very draining on me physically and emotionally. I could NOT stay focused today at work due to lack of sleep. I naturally worry about things a lot and I worry about her more than I should for some reason. Maybe it is because she is my wife and well... she is kind of a ditz lol.
The upside to this is I found out my wife is pretty good at Guitar Hero and she gets very loopy on pain killers. Its funny to watch some of the stuff she does/says.
Any thoughts or prayers would be great. I am very happy tomorrow is friday...
We were driving home from Memorial Day vacation at my folk's house. She had been complaining about sharp, shooting pains in her sides for most of the weekend, but we thought it was just gas. She started crying out in pain on the way home so as soon as we got home on monday, we dropped of the dog and I brought her to the ER.
We got there around 8:00 pm on monday evening. Given her symptoms, I figured it would be a while before we got out of there and man was I right.
They first gave her a pregnancy test to check for an ectopic (sp?) pregnancy. That came back negative.
They then did a pelvic exam to check for ovarian cysts. Negative... sorry if thats kind of graphic. It was not fun to watch.
Finally, they did a CAT scan. The scan revealed severe infection, inflammation, and swelling of her colon. They diagnosed her with Diverticulitis. Its a disease where they colon develops "pockets" caused by low fiber diet, lack of exercise, and generally old ago. Lots of people have that happen when they are older, but not when they are 24. When the pockets become infected, they start to swell leading to Diverticulitis. If its bad enough or not treated, the infected part of the colon would need to be removed and sewn back together. In some cases, the pockets can rupture. The only way to fix that is with a Colostomy bag. You have to understand, my beautiful wife is only 24. A Colostomy bag would suck.
We admitted her to the hospital on tuesday morning around 2:00 AM. They put her on some IV med hoping she would respond and the inflammation would go down. I stayed with her until around 6:00 am, went home, got ready for my tuesday morning meeting at work (normally would be on monday) and headed off. We were both very scared at this point. I admit, I almost lost it a few times.
I bailed out of work around 10:00 am and spent the rest of the day in the hospital with her. I also did a lot of running around for her doing various errands she normally does. One thing you have to understand is I am on call 24/7 for work to deal with client complaints. I can not have my phone on in the hospital room and there have been more complaints than usual lately so its just added stress.
She kicked me out of her room around 8:00 pm so I could go home and get some sleep but I knew she would be bored and lonely so I went back around 10:00 pm after eating. I stayed with her until around 4:00 am wednesday, went home, got some sleep, woke up at 7:30 am and started getting ready for the day. The house was a mess (we still had not unpacked from vacation) and I had to meet a few of my subcontractors to go over some stuff. Other than that, I cleared the whole day from work because the dietician would be coming by her room and I wanted to talk to her. I got a call from my wife saying they were going to let her out around mid day so I frantically started cleaning knowing she would not be able to do much of anything and she needed to rest.
She basically has to eat a high fiber diet for the rest of her life. For the next few weeks, she has to slowly incorporate solid foots into her diet. Otherwise its all liquid. We went to the store and picked up a lot of food based on what the dietician told us. She is also going to have to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day for the next while which means I have to go buy a decent treadmill. If she does not do these things, the pockets could flare up again and we could have another repeat on our hands. From what I understand, its a very long term deal.
During this time, I started an independent study math class at Northwestern. I have not had any time to do homework so I am a few weeks behind. I had to buy a new laptop as well. We have pretty good medical insurance but I am sure it will be expensive.
My little sister is staying with us for the next few weeks to help out. My wife stayed home today and rested all day. Her and my sister played guitar hero and watched movies. I worked, came home, mowed the lawn, cleaned, spent some time online. Its currently 9:30 and although I should be catching up on sleeping I am typing. This whole experience has been very draining on me physically and emotionally. I could NOT stay focused today at work due to lack of sleep. I naturally worry about things a lot and I worry about her more than I should for some reason. Maybe it is because she is my wife and well... she is kind of a ditz lol.
The upside to this is I found out my wife is pretty good at Guitar Hero and she gets very loopy on pain killers. Its funny to watch some of the stuff she does/says.
Any thoughts or prayers would be great. I am very happy tomorrow is friday...
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