Hubby in the hospital

[dixie_belle]

I love living where we do. No neighbors. No noise. No traffic. No close hospital. I don't love that last one quite so much.

My husband needed to go to the emergency room. I won't go into specifics, let's just say he had blood coming out of a place where it wasn't supposed to, and leave it at that. So I bundle him into the car and drive the hour and a half to the regional hospital. We sit in the waiting room a good two hours, or so (what???) and then we get a room. Doctor comes in, takes one look and says he is going to admit him right away. By this time it's ...oh....6:00pm. They schedule him for a CT scan to see where all the blood is coming from. We wait....we wait.....finally at 7:30 I have to leave. We had left our two dogs in the house and they needed dinner, so did the cats and the horses. I'm home an hour and a half later and keep calling. He isn't in the emergency room anymore, but he isn't in his room either. Finally, near to 11:00 he picks up the phone in his room. He had the scan and they think he may have colitis.

This morning I'm going to do my chores, feed dogs, cats and horses. Let the horses out into the pasture, lock the dogs in the laundry room (just in case I'm gone for a long time) and feed the outside cats. Then I'll head on out to Owensboro.

He is going to have to have more tests today and no one is quite sure when he will get to come home. I get the sneaky suspicion that I'll be doing this drive back and forth for a while.

We have no family up here so someone has got to be home in the evenings.

I did a little research on colitis last evening but I will get to talk to the doctor/nurses today and we'll see what the additional tests show.

It really scared us, though.

 

[Sonya]

That is very scary, especially when the hospital is so far away. The good thing is colitis is manageable but something he will deal with constantly off and on. My husband has colitis, he is currently in remission but it can flare up at any time. He does a regiment of many things and that seems to help...aloe, Apple cider vinegar and other supplements. When it flairs up he goes on prescription meds as well as medicinal suppositories. It's very frustrating as nothing in particular seems to flair it up, he has tried gluten free diets and that actually made it worse. Colonoscopies are a must and my husband has to have one every six months. Good luck, if you have any questions, he can probably answer them for you.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Emergency rooms are terrible. Good luck with test results. It is hard to balance life with someone in the hospital.

 

[7fluffyfriends]

I am sorry - scary, frustrating, and maddening.

Hang in there. Went through something a bit similar last year with lots of extra chores and driving as husband dealt (and still is dealing) with long term illness - there is light at the end of the tunnel!

I learned that the animals are a bit more flexible with creative solutions than I originally feared!

I also learned that occasionally having that large glass of wine is a good thing....

Thoughts and prayers!

 

[paintponylvr]

Yes, you are in our thoughts and prayers being said!!!

PLEASE let us know how things are going and you can lean on all of us!!

 

[dixie_belle]

Latest results. He doesn't have colitis. He has a section of colon that has a compromised blood supply and is dying. (All the blood that came out was probably the ruptured blood vessel.) We are waiting to talk to the guy who did the colonoscopy to see what the course of treatment is. Evidently this section will not recover by itself. It is the specialists call to either send him home and wait and see if it becomes necrotic or to remove that section surgically. Right now we are in a holding pattern, waiting to talk to the specialist. I spoke to hubby this morning and he said he is up and walking around (dragging his little pole with his IV antibiotics) so they can see how good he feels. LOL If they are going to send him home, they will have to do so in the next two hours because after that I probably won't be able to go get him due to the major winter storm that will arrive here around 2:00. We are scheduled for 14 inches of snow/sleet/ice.

 

[Bess Kelly]

I am so sorry for your husband's medical issues. Of course, it impacts you! While surgery seems it may be an option (no one likes to hear that) but...... Since he is an adult, able to reason, you all need to make a "schedule" so that you are not driving each day. Every other or 3rd, if this is going to be an extended stay. It will relieve some of the stress for you both. Phones are great! Even a laptop with communication.

Just a thought! I wish you both well.

 

[7fluffyfriends]

Thank you for the update. I have always thought it would be great if the right decision could 'just' be made and any treatments carried out asap - anything to eliminate the wait, worry, and uncertainty.

But, we are horse people, doggone it, we can 'cowboy up' with the best and get it done!

If I had a magic wand I would at least eliminate the snowstorm!

While you are shouldering so much, try to take care of yourself - one night during a rough patch while hubby was in hospital, I took care of everyone early and crawled into bed at 4PM - crazy but it helped!

 

[Kim P]

I hope every thing gets better soon.

 

[Sonya]

Saying prayers. Keep us posted.

 

[dixie_belle]

Well, he came home today. The doctors decided to take a "wait and see" approach. There is a chance that the colon will self correct so they would prefer not to do surgery. He can resume his "normal" activities and we just have to watch him closely. If he has pain, cramps, blood, something unusual, we are to return him to the hospital right away. I had to get someone to drive me up to Owensboro to get him home because my car is still snowed into my garage (14 inches of snow, STILL). I bundled up and walked out of the neighborhood (took about 20 minutes of struggling thru knee deep snow) and a friend, with his four wheel drive vehicle, drove me up to get him. Now, I'm going to just throw this out there. I am not a risk taker. I don't go fast. I don't drive in bad weather. Basically, I'm a big scaredy cat. OMG. This drive was probably the most terrifying thing I have done in a long, long time. My car would never have made it. As it was, his SUV was fishtailing and just going all over the road (and you couldn't even see the road because of all the ice and snow). None of the roads up here have shoulders, they are just two lanes and they hadn't been scraped, for the most part. I was white knuckled and was just trying not to scream or throw up. He thought I was teasing, but I was really, really scared. If it would have been up to me, my husband would have stayed in the hospital until the spring. LOL

I told him that the next time I try to kill him with that green jello, I'm going to wait until the middle of the summer. LOL

He looks good, feels pretty good and I had put a chicken in the slow cooker before we left so he got a good meal tonight. They want him to eat real food (and let it pass thru his system) to make sure his colon is working properly. It just needs to be a soft diet, so I guess peanuts are out of the question.

I'm happy to have him home and we will be watching him closely for any symptoms.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Heard on the news your area was zapped with a heavy snowfall and wondered about you traveling. Hope everything settles down.

Did they know why the piece of colon died?

I guess with all the things that could go wrong with a body, it's amazing that more things don't...

 

[7fluffyfriends]

Am so glad to read you have him home. I bet he enjoyed real home cooking too!

Good luck with everything and congratulations for not screaming or throwing up in the car during your scary drive - lots of empathy for you!

 

[Kim P]

Glad to hear your husband home. I hope he recovers quickly. I hope the snow goes away soon and you have warm weather! I can't imagine that much snow!

 

[tagalong]

I hope that recovery - and spring - happen quickly for you and your hubby!