What A Year

For those who have been trying to reach me by email; I apologize for the lack of response. I just got out of the hospital. All I can say is; "What a year!"

My dear husband and daughter both had appointments. My husband was scheduled for surgery this past Friday and of course, as many might recall my dear daughter, Jennifer had her appointment in Ohio regarding her diagnosis of Chiari on Thursday. On Tuesday of this week I began having horrible left flank pain. I went to work, but the pain became almost unbearable so I made an appointment to see my doctor. He thought I had diverticulitis, pancreatitis, or cholectytis since my appendix had already been removed. He sent me to the hospital for a CAT scan which revealed I have a rare condition named; "Epliotic Appendagitis".

The morning I learned my diagnosis the pain had become more severe, my doctor was ill and had to leave work so I went to "Dr. Google" since the nurse could not explain what was going on and told me my doctor wanted me to go the Emergency Room to be admitted. As I read the information on this condition I learned it was self-eliminating with time, pain meds, and anti-biotics. He had already prescribed me two anti-biotics so I tried taking Ibuprofen for pain, used a heating pad, and of course took my anti-biotics. I had no appetite, but forced myself to eat some chicken noodle soup. Obviously, I had decided to try this first. I should have went to the ER. By morning I was so very sick to my stomach and in pain beyond words. My husband took me to the ER and they admitted me to give me IV anti-biotics, and pain medication. The surgeon wanted me to have yet another CAT scan. It was so horrible since I was (please excuse the graphic wording) projectile vomiting. My husband was beyond upset with the state I was in. I was so sick, drugged up on Dilaudid and yet I was awaiting news from my daughter who was now in Ohio and waiting for her test results and second consultation.

I asked them to please not give me anymore Dialudid until after I spoke to my daughter. Finally, I heard from Jennifer and the news was what we expected. She will have surgery on November 7th. They will make a one inch incision behind the base of her skull, through the Dura and place a patch that will expand the skull area so her brain will no longer lie on her C2 vertebrae. She'll be in the hospital for about 5 days. The recovery time will be about eight weeks and the hospital will be sending out a visiting nurse and social worker two days a week. We are all going to pitch in to help her recover and take care of all the home and family things she would normally be doing.Please keep her in your prayers.

Back to the other part of this story. After I heard from my daughter, she offered to take my husband to the hospital at 5:30 in the morning so he could have the surgery on his foot. She is the sweetest, kindest, and thoughtful child/person. We hated asking her to do this, but our other daughter who lives in town has a three year old and college classes so after classes she picked up Jennifer's children from daycare and took care of them while Jennifer went with my husband and came up to check on me. Our grandchildren were out of school on Friday. Can you believe the timing of everything.

The doctor wanted me to stay in the hospital one more day.I practically begged to be released so he told me if  I could keep lunch down he would let me go home. Before this I had not had anything to eat or drink for 48 hours. I ate a small lunch (admittedly, I had to fight my body and brain to keep this lunch down) I made it home before I was sick again. The good news is, my husband is in pain, but doing well for a man who just had his foot cut open, a screw placed in it and stapled back together, my pain scale went from w big 10 to a 5 and I know each day will bring us all to better health.

There is no true reason for "Epliotic Appendagitis". I'm not obese, so the surgeon believes it may have been brought on by all of the physical work we've been doing around our home since the remodel. The best way to explain this is: our bodies have adipose (fat pockets) that protect the peritoneum (lining of our colons) each of these pockets have a blood supply with veins and arteries. These veins and arteries attach to the peritoneum and provide a blood supply. The ones in my body suddenly became twisted and turned creating bulges, inflammation, and infection. Thus the excruciating pain, The surgeon will not do any surgery unless I have a recurrence. I'm thankful for this and now am praying to have a quick turn around. This can last anywhere from 10 days to 4 weeks. Since even the nurses at my doctor's office and in the hospital had never heard of this I thought I would draw up a picture I hope explains it better. I sure am glad this is rare. I hate to think of anyone getting this.

If I wasn't the one living this past year I would not believe all of this could be going on in one family. Thank you all for your love, thoughts, and prayers,