My lovely wife who I've been with for over 25 years came down with a stomach virus Wednesday. Vomiting with "coffee grounds" in the blood, severe cramps so bad we had to go to the ER. They run a bunch of tests, blood, urine, fecal, xrays, etc. Diagnose gastritis and send us home with a nausea med and a H2 blocker. She gets home and starts retching violently. More coffee grounds. Pain at a 10. Call the ER at midnight and the nurse supervisor says ride it out, these things some times take days to resolve. More retching, more pain. She's exhausted. Thursday she's in pain all day. I go and set up a Hunter Safety class and she calls me - I could barely hear her - the pain is unbearable. I race home the 2 miles and call her doc on the way. He says get her in, so I do. Same ER and we're getting the cold shoulder...like you can't handle a little stomach flu? This time I demand a CAT scan. Along with the same other tests, they oblige, but she has to drink down 2 large cups of contrast media. Yeah right. She hasn't been on solid food in 3 days.
We got there at 5pm. She finally gets it down around 10:35pm they take her to the CAT. We wait for another 2 hours for it to be read...by a guy in Australia no less. All of the sudden she a very popular patient and we are receiving care meant for a king. Then at 1:30 the doc finally comes in and tells us there's a softball size tumor on her ovary. [bleep]. That's pushing on the small bowel and cutting off the stomach "drain" causing backup and vomiting. They find a bed at 3am in a bigger hospital an hour away. I follow the ambu in a daze. We've seen all manner of docs and surgeons today. They relieved her pain with morphine and a NG tube. Surgery is Monday am. Tumor, plus probably all female plumbing, depending on malignancy.
I'm numb. She is my rock and my true north. We have to beautiful boys. It's been...I dunno..40-50 hours? I have to get my schit together. If'n you say prayers every night maybe give Beth a mention? I'm kinda lost and probably rambling..
