I want to apologize to everyone prior to writing this post for the lack of updates lately. Kelly has been updating facebook with new
information each day, but until now, I have simply not felt physically able to
type for any extended period of time.
The last two weeks have been filled with ups and downs on a scale
that boggles my mind. I speak on a personal scale of course, I don’t really
have any idea of how the last two weeks have been for most people. I have had surgery, dealt with complications,
undergone procedures to uncomplicated them and finally, been granted sweet
release from the hospital.
First and foremost, the cancer is gone. The surgery was a complete success from that
standpoint and as of this moment, there is no cancer in my body. I know this because of the pathology report
that was done on the lymph nodes and small blood cells that were removed along
with the small piece of my colon. No
lymph nodes were cancerous and no cancer cells were found in those small blood
cells so that definitely qualifies as an “up” on my roller coaster ride.
While I was recovering, things were looking good. I was eating solid foods and there was talk
of going home in a day or two. I still
would have missed my Super Bowl on my own couch timetable, but I’d have been perfectly happy with that. This is where the roller coaster took its
first downhill plunge. On Friday
afternoon, right after I had gotten food, I started to feel hot and
sweaty. I thought maybe I was just
adjusting to solid food again, so I really didn’t think much of it. I got a little more concerned later that
night when it didn’t stop and actually got worse. By
Saturday afternoon, I was getting worried and the doctors determined that my
intestines had gone to sleep. They told
me that this happens about 40 percent of the time in these surgeries and that
it would straighten itself out.
I don’t have to tell you that when the intestine shuts down,
the mail stops moving. Air becomes
trapped inside there and with nowhere to go, it begins to cause a stomach ache. After a day of this, I had a whopper. The nurses and doctors kept asking me if I
felt nauseated and I didn’t so I told
them no. It was really frustrating
answering that question over and over again.
On Saturday afternoon, in one brief moment, the reasoning for the
repeated question because crystal clear.
I was sitting up in bed watching TV while Kelly was talking on the
phone. My stomach lurched and I knew I
was going to be sick. I glanced over at
Kelly as if to ask for help and before I could get words out of my mouth, I got
lots of puke out. It was brown, smelly,
and everywhere. It was exorcist puke. I began to panic because I couldn’t draw
breath and yet my stomach continued to heave.
Finally, it was over. I sat on
the bed covered in my own vomit, shaking, and drooling trying to figure out
what the hell was happening.
It was explained to me that with the intestine sleeping,
everything that enters the stomach has got to go somewhere, and the only
somewhere it could go was up.
After a few minutes, a nurse came in with what they referred
to as an NG Tube. This is a tube that
goes up your nostril and down your throat into the stomach. It is then connected to some suction and used
to empty out the stomach in hopes of restarting the intestine. I have a bad gag reflex, so the idea of this
tube was especially terrifying. It took
three tries, more vomit, and a lot more sweat and gagging before the tube
finally got to where it needed to go. I
couldn’t talk without gagging, I couldn’t turn my head without aggravating my
nose and my throat, and I knew I wasn’t going home nearly as quickly as I
wanted to.
The tube did have the desired
effect though. Immediately after the
suction started, the container filled with the same junk that I had been puking
up minutes before.
I was devastated. I had gone from being on the verge of being
released to being there a minimum of three more days. The nurses were all encouraging and the
doctors continued to tell me that it was just a matter of time before the
intestine started working again.
Thankfully, they were right and after a couple of days the tube came
out. (much easier than it went in, I
might add). From there it was just a
waiting game while we got back on clear liquids and solid foods again to make
sure that my stomach could handle it.
They teased us with the thought of
a Friday afternoon release, but that didn’t happen so we had to wait until
today to get the boot.
I have lots more about the
hospital stay to talk about, but this is getting a bit long.
I Will Win
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