Friday, December 07, 2012

Another Surgery


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." 
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...

5 comments:

Linda said...

Oh my word, DeEtta!!! No wonder he was in so much pain. Praying this is an easy fix.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Yep - I think I showed remarkable restraint not to say more and list Doctor's names. It really angers me that they assume eveyrone is out to game the system....and simply won't listen. I am very thankful our PCM is a good doctor and we plan to schedule appts far enough out that we can see him more in the future. LOL

Now with the rant over - we DO like my new PA as well. Michael just found a couple of clunkers. LOL

Laura said...

So thankful for the new doctor who took the time to actually figure it out. Wow. Sorry for all that Michael has been through. Will be praying for all...

Janette said...

I am so glad they found the source!!!
Praying for relief.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Thanks all. We are relieved it was THIS and not one of the other googled problems.