You okay, Dad?

Sam went with me to break Rick out of hospital-jail Wednesday morning (Jack's birthday) while Jack was at school. He kept asking Rick, "You okay, Dad?" He really was worried about him--it was very sweet. Turns out that Dad was not okay, and they wouldn't release him. Here's the whole story:

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  Friday 3/19- Rick went to the ER in the early A.M. after suffering a gall bladder attack. He was diagnosed with gall stones and told to consult a general surgeon to have his gall bladder removed.


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  Saturday/Sunday 3/20 & 3/21- Rick suffered from tightness in his abdomen, scheduled an appointment with his primary physician for Monday afternoon to get a referral for a surgeon. Sunday afternoon I called the nurse hotline because Rick was getting very uncomfortable. She recommended he go back to the ER. He did not go.


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  Monday 3/22- Rick's doctor directed him straight to the hospital for further testing. A CT scan revealed that he had developed adema (swelling) of the gall bladder. He was immediately admitted and scheduled for emergency surgery.


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  Tuesday 3/23- Rick's surgery went well. They were able to do it laporoscopically with a slightly larger incision in his belly button due to the size of his swollen gb. We were told that his surgeon was the best in the country--how's that for not knowing any surgeons and lucking out that this was the one God had in place for him?


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  Wednesday 3/24 (Jack's birthday)- Rick is told he can go home, but they don't release him until after 5 p.m. He arrived home about 6 p.m. and immediately began complaining about pain. Within an hour he was experiencing most of the symptoms inside the box on his discharge papers labeled "Call Immediately If Patient Suffers From the Following." We brought him back to the ER where they x-rayed his abdomen, checked his stitches and bloodwork. Everything checked out, so they decided the problem was the meds. We stayed in the ER until about 2 a.m. when they decided they were going to admit him for observation until they could get the drug combo right.


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  Thursday 3/25- Rick started feeling more like himself. He was discharged at 5 p.m.


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  Monday 3/29- Rick moved slowly for a couple of days, but was able to be completely off meds and work from home.


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  Wednesday 3/31- His first day back to work.


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  Monday 4/5- Rick went to his follow-up appointment where he was able to read the pathology report. The report stated that "multiple stones" ranging in size up to 1/2 inch were removed. They were gangrenous--as in gangrene!

When the surgeon pulled me into the little post-surgery consultation room, he told me that Rick's gall bladder was "rotten." I had no clue that an organ could become gangrenous! Rick has suffered for years with sensitivity to food. He has had an endoscopy, he was once checked for kidney stones, but no one was ever able to find the problem. Since the surgery Rick has lost 15 lbs. and has slowly added food back into his diet. Wouldn't you know it? He's not reacted to one thing he has eaten! We think he's been having gall bladder attacks for about a year-and-a-half and food sensitivity/GI issues for over four years. So, what flipped our lives upside-down for a week actually brought an end to years of suffering. Thank you, God!