Bad news, bad day--update 3/12/2010
Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 10:32 pm
Ok, I wasn’t going to share this with he forum because I didn’t want people treating me with kid gloves, but, I think it’s time to let everyone in on this.
I spent the better part of yesterday balled up in a fetal position experiencing more pain than I have ever endured in my life (and I constantly do stupid things to hurt myself so that’s saying something). I resisted going to the emergency room hoping things would pass; they didn’t. And, at about 2 pm today I was transported to the emergency room at the Cleveland Clinic (Wooster campus) where I spent the day being re-hydrated and received a heavy dose of two antibiotics. I was showing early signs of sepsis and my colon was inflamed and bleeding (more on that latter). I am home now and doing better and not in septic shock, thank God.
I should back up and explain how I got here I guess. Close to a year ago I was going to the bathroom and urinated what looked like pure blood, at the end of the stream I passed gas from my bladder. Being pretty sure that men weren’t supposed to fart from there I called the doctor who began screening for cancer. The initial tests were not encouraging but the subsequent ones have been inconclusive (apparently everybody has some cancerous cells that may never grow and the only way to tell ,in some cases, is to remove a section and examine it).
Anyway, in the mean time, the source of the gas was discovered; Diverticular disease that has progressed to the point that it has cause several fistulas, the bladder one is a Enterovesicular fistula that is causing infections and wreaking havoc. So, simple enough, the just have to cut me open and disembowel me...they call it a bowl retraction. Not a big deal usually, however, without going into a lot of disgusting and depressing details, I am a very high risk for surgery.
I’m not sure how fast things will progress now; I am scheduled to talk to a surgeon on Friday the 12th. I finally asked forst surgeon point blank the other day and he admitted that the reason he switched the venue for the surgery (from our local hospital to a high risk unit at the Cleveland Clinc) and referred me to the new doctor is because he’s convinced he can’t do the surgery without killing me. As it stands now, even with the specialists and the high risk unit the risks are still very high and I may require a few other operations before they can even attempt this. As an added fun bonus I get to wait after the surgery (assuming I make it) to have them dissect the removed section and look for cancer...so the fun could start all over again.
The option of not having the surgery is not really an option either as today I learned why you don’t want to risk death by sepsis. Apparently actual septic shock is even worse than what I experienced the last two days and is a slow miserable process that will happen over and over until I die if I don’t have the disease removed.
So, that’s where things stand right now. I wasn’t sure about sharing this but the few people who knew have almost all encouraged me to share this with the board. I really appreciate everyone here, you guys have been like family and as my uncle reminded me today when he rushed down to the ER “why didn’t you tell us? FAMILY should know these things.”
One last thing, if you believe in prayer I’d appreciate it if you keep me in mind every now and then. Thanks– Jim
I spent the better part of yesterday balled up in a fetal position experiencing more pain than I have ever endured in my life (and I constantly do stupid things to hurt myself so that’s saying something). I resisted going to the emergency room hoping things would pass; they didn’t. And, at about 2 pm today I was transported to the emergency room at the Cleveland Clinic (Wooster campus) where I spent the day being re-hydrated and received a heavy dose of two antibiotics. I was showing early signs of sepsis and my colon was inflamed and bleeding (more on that latter). I am home now and doing better and not in septic shock, thank God.
I should back up and explain how I got here I guess. Close to a year ago I was going to the bathroom and urinated what looked like pure blood, at the end of the stream I passed gas from my bladder. Being pretty sure that men weren’t supposed to fart from there I called the doctor who began screening for cancer. The initial tests were not encouraging but the subsequent ones have been inconclusive (apparently everybody has some cancerous cells that may never grow and the only way to tell ,in some cases, is to remove a section and examine it).
Anyway, in the mean time, the source of the gas was discovered; Diverticular disease that has progressed to the point that it has cause several fistulas, the bladder one is a Enterovesicular fistula that is causing infections and wreaking havoc. So, simple enough, the just have to cut me open and disembowel me...they call it a bowl retraction. Not a big deal usually, however, without going into a lot of disgusting and depressing details, I am a very high risk for surgery.
I’m not sure how fast things will progress now; I am scheduled to talk to a surgeon on Friday the 12th. I finally asked forst surgeon point blank the other day and he admitted that the reason he switched the venue for the surgery (from our local hospital to a high risk unit at the Cleveland Clinc) and referred me to the new doctor is because he’s convinced he can’t do the surgery without killing me. As it stands now, even with the specialists and the high risk unit the risks are still very high and I may require a few other operations before they can even attempt this. As an added fun bonus I get to wait after the surgery (assuming I make it) to have them dissect the removed section and look for cancer...so the fun could start all over again.
The option of not having the surgery is not really an option either as today I learned why you don’t want to risk death by sepsis. Apparently actual septic shock is even worse than what I experienced the last two days and is a slow miserable process that will happen over and over until I die if I don’t have the disease removed.
So, that’s where things stand right now. I wasn’t sure about sharing this but the few people who knew have almost all encouraged me to share this with the board. I really appreciate everyone here, you guys have been like family and as my uncle reminded me today when he rushed down to the ER “why didn’t you tell us? FAMILY should know these things.”
One last thing, if you believe in prayer I’d appreciate it if you keep me in mind every now and then. Thanks– Jim