Long time no see! Well.........................................it's quite the lengthy story, but I'll 'try' to condense the story.
So the last time I blogged was 2 weeks ago today. On that day, Blake told me he had a really bad stomach ache. I figure from all of the stress of his shoulder surgery coming up in June, the symptoms he was having reminded me of an ulcer. We noticed his hands (on Thursday night) started to turn red with white spots. I suggested going to the doctor/urgent care, but we didn't end up going.
Friday morning, he said he could barely move it was so bad. He then left work around noon, explaining that his stomach felt like it was going to explode. We (he) ended up in the ER for the remainder of the afternoon, and was admitted to the hospital in the early evening.
Now, let me take you back to being in the ER. I wasn't in a tizzy until Blake's text to my question of, "should I come?" said, "It's bad. OMG it's bad. I may have to get transferred possibly have surgery." Instantly, I panicked and left work. THEE LONGEST DRIVE of my life to Webster City in the mean time. The doctor took an x-ray of him and said he "thought" he had a cyst on his pancreas. Don't worry folks, it later became know it was "just a shadow from his kidney."
Way to FREAK us all out. Anyways---the outcome? Acute Pancreatitis.
What is [acute] pancreatitis? Well, according to WebMD (insert eye roll): it is a disease in which the pancreas becomes inflamed. Pancreatic damage happens when the digestive enzymes are activated before they are released into the small intestine and begin attacking the pancreas. So...sudden inflammation that lasts for a short time (cough bullshit cough). It may range from mild discomfort-severe (severe is where he was IMO). His white blood count was through the roof, and his lipase enzymes weren't too hot either.
This is serious stuff folks. I had no idea how significant your Pancreas is until now!
We spent the weekend in the hospital, his water and food intake was minimal...like nada. Maybe some jello and chicken broth here and there, and water was 12-20 oz. PER DAY at most. This coming from two people that drink 1+ gallons a day, is torture! But other than his lame diet, it wasn't so bad, with cable. (We don't have TV at home, so this was the silver lining---ha!) His pain was a roller coaster throughout the weekend and by Sunday things seemed "OK." He was discharged.
Come Monday/Tuesday...he went back to work. By Wednesday of last week, he was back in the hospital in severe pain again. I felt terrible. Same thing, but just taking more time to heal, basically. The poor guy lost around 20# by the time he got home...he's officially putting it back on, don't worry! It was mostly because they were giving and taking away food and drink based on his pain level and slowly building to a point where he didn't feel like crap after every time he ate.
He was discharged this last Saturday and seems to be officially doing "OK." Pain here and there, as long as he's resting when he can and not eating fatty foods. All I've seen him eat in the last 5 days is chicken, jello, tons of yogurt, and some Powerade Zero's.
Hopefully this will all subside, because we really need to prep for his surgery in a few weeks.
And that's why I've been MIA.
