BLUF: Michael will have what we believe will be outpatient surgery on 11 Dec. We ask you pray for no drug reactions, no complications, total fix and the flu bug to LEAVE OUR HOUSE (arrived Thursday)!
Those who know Michael well, may have noticed he's been "off" his game lately. He seems pre-occupied at times, a bit
grouchy tense when not engaged in a conversation, he isn't eating much, isn't working out much, often is seen holding various spots on his stomach and staring into space. Some of you have noted he isn't on outings with the kids and I on his days off (no marriage problems to report). I have been authorized to share his secret; he has been in chronic pain for months. He has had many sleepless nights of pain. I have no idea how he has managed to keep up the pace he does, feeling as poorly as he has.
For a man who doesn't take drugs, had never had an I.V. or stay in the hospital, and is in good shape, this year has been a rough one.
It started with Acid Reflux which turned into Gall Bladder, and was pooh-poohed by the clinic until it was acute and gangrenous. Surgery was a rough recovery. His body didn't like the drugs, there were a couple of complications. Then the heart scare in June/July. While we were traveling he began to have sharp pains in his right "side."
We got back to Misawa and all our docs had moved. This meant starting over with doctors who don't know you and are looking only at records. Michael had a couple of appointments with whoever he could get into when it was particularly bad. Unfortunately, it would seem some docs don't look further than the "obvious." The obvious in this situation is that Michael is "older," was complaining of lots of pain when working out, and had just had surgery. The obvious dx was "surgery adhesion" or, you know, someone trying to game the system and get out of PT tests. The cure seems to be lots of laxative?
We googled the pains he was having and none of the things we found looked good. Michael continued to wait. It seemed pretty pointless to continue going to appointments as they kept saying, "It's surgery adhesions and you'll need to learn to live with the pain."
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| Unique pain management techniques? |
Michael continued to cope with the pain (non-medically - which explains the tense blank looks, the deep breaths, the holding of stomach). He finally went in to see his new PCM (Primary Care Physician), who BTW we really like. Nolan has seen him too. He listens. He ordered an ultrasound. Five months of chronic pain and finally a test. They found a hernia and referred him to surgery. The Surgeon wanted another test as he thought he found something else. They discovered two more hernias. I maintain it's all the crunches... ::snort::
In any event Michael will have a triple hernia surgery on the 11th of Dec. He is counting down the days to feeling better. This should be three laprascopic incisions and should be out patient. He will be on convalescent leave until 25 Dec. You won't see our family around much because the winter driving ban on "someone" has been reinstated....so don't worry...we're just cocooning.
Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...
