Where have I been?

Thursday, November 4, I woke up at 2:30 in the morning with pain in my belly. It went on for four hours so I decided to drive myself to the 24 hour emergency care facility. They took a CT scan of my belly and I had a five pound mass! Holy cow! The doctor said "You need surgery" and went off to find me the best doctor in American who is Dr. Jenison. I left the emergency facility and went home to wait for Dr. J's office to call. I did some dishes and headed to Dr. J's. He was still in surgery, but he saw my CT scan and the patient manager told him that I walked into the office bent over in pain so he said just to have me admitted. I went back home, finished the dishes, packed a bag, and waited for the hospital to call me when a bed was ready. My brother, Jim, came and picked me up and dropped me off. Now the fun begins!

I got checked in and the surgery prep began. I didn't know what time I was going to have surgery yet, because I was on stand-by. The gave that stuff to drink to clean out my guts, but after a half gallon of that stuff I was feeling pretty bad and sick to my stomach. Between the drinking and the IV my belly was really filling up with fluids and the pressure was getting painful. They gave me some percocet (spelling?) which really upset my stomach and I ended up hugging the toilet. Since I couldn't drink the stuff it was a matter of cleaning me out from the other end.

I went down to pre-op about 4 p.m. and had to have a chest x-ray. The joseling around on the gurney was not fun. The more I laid there the worst I felt. After about three or four hours in pre-op I asked to go to the bathroom. The nurses walked me down and when I went to get up I passed out and did a Steven Tyler! My son was there and heard me hit a table that was in the restroom and then I hit the floor. The was IV fluid all over the floor, I was all wet, and the nurses were frantic. They helped me up to a wheelchair, cleaned me up, and got me back to my bed. Next they had to take me to get a CT scan of my head to make sure I didn't have a brain bleed that caused me to faint. More bouncing around and I was blowing chunks. No broken bones, no brain bleed, so they could go ahead with the operation. Since I had fallen on my stomach, I was really in misery. I couldn't even cry because it hurt so bad.

Finally surgery happened at 6 p.m. and lasted to 11 p.m. Besides the mass, I had 3 liters of blood in my belly. I have to say the staff at Akron General were absolutely wonderful! It was like being at a five star hotel except for the being sick part! I truly appreciated all the care and support I received from all the staff and doctors. When I was really suffering, they held my hand and I felt how much they really cared.

I am recouping for a few days at my brother's Mike house before I go home by myself. I am not allowed to drive for a month. I have an appointment in two weeks to get my staples out and will be off work for six weeks. Glory, I feel like I have been run over by a truck and they backed over me a couple of times for good measure. I am feeling better every day and will just spend the next six weeks taking care of me. I will check in if I get a chance.