Eight years ago, when Matthew had his
colostomy bag put in, he ended up back in the emergency room days later with a
small bowel blockage… this was one of the scariest times in my life and my
biggest fears going into this surgery. Last time we went to the Auburn ER and
they put an NG Tube in and instantly drained over 2200 ml of bile. They were
shocked and quickly did studies to verify it was a blockage. They then had him
transferred by ambulance to Allenmore Hospital in Tacoma because that is where
his doctor did the surgery. He went into the hospital on a Monday, and his
doctor was on vacation. I was told that if
he had to have surgery he would most likely go septic and die so they wanted to
wait out the blockage and see if it would pass on its own. On Friday, when his
doctor returned, he told me that if the blockage didn’t pass over the weekend,
he would have to go in and do surgery. That is when I lost it and had EVERYONE
I knew start praying. We had one weekend for it to pass. That is when Sunshine
came in with her recommendation to drink what I like to call “the Poison” that
saved his life. He was miserable that day, but it worked… and on Monday instead
of doing surgery, he was discharged from the hospital.
So… on Thursday evening when Matthew told
me that he thought he had a blockage, I did not want to believe it. In fact, I told him to give it time and let
it pass. I was so tired, I just went to sleep and had him suffer in pain all
night. The next morning, he was still in pain, and nothing was passing so we
packed our bags and headed to the Emergency Room. This time, instead of going
to Auburn, I went straight to Tacoma General where they did the surgery. I have
been through this rodeo before and did not want him to have to go through the
ambulance ride again.
They quicky did an assessment and found
him a bed in the hallway of the trauma section of the ER. It didn’t take long
for him to go back for scans and confirmation that he did indeed have a
blockage. I will be honest, I completely lost it… full blown tears in the
hallway of the ER. I do not like crying in front of people, but I couldn’t hold
them back. My biggest fear had come true. Of course, the guilt that I made him
suffer all night instead of bringing him in the night before also weighed heavy
on my heart. Then to top it all off… the ER doctor informed me that he was in contact
with General Surgery. When I asked if he contacted the surgical team that did
the original operation his response was “not yet since they wouldn’t do this
surgery anyways”. I lost it even more… memories of being told that he would not
make it if they had to do surgery came blaring to the forefront of my mind. I
had to push them back and remind myself that God was in control and walking
with us step by step. Thankfully, he did listen to me and got ahold of his
surgical team. We were also transferred into a room since the case was more
serious than originally expected.
Side note, the admitting doctor came in
to introduce himself and congratulated Matthew for being clean and sober for a
year and sorry for relapsing. Matthew and I both had looks of confusion and he
quickly started backpaddling. We were able to convince him that Matthew was not
an addict but here for a bowel blockage and he quicky realized he had looked at
the wrong patient information before entering the room… he apologized and said
he would return after going through Matthew’s chart. He was very apologetic when
he returned… and finally admitted Matthew into the hospital.
The plan going forward with the surgical
team was for Matthew’s bowels to have rest and get his pain under control. This
meant that they wanted the NG Tube to be left in, and he was not allowed to
have anything by mouth except for a few ice chips for comfort. I was much more
comfortable with this plan.
On Saturday, I was able to leave
Matthew for awhile to go home and get more migraine meds and items I forgot
from the house. I realized I forgot to take my preventative shot a few days
before so between that, the lack of sleep and stress my migraine was out of
control. When I was home I was able to get the Argentina items out for my niece
Elizabeth to go through for her end of the year project on Chile since they share
a lot of similarities.
I was also able to swing by Faith and
go to Aliya and Simon’s wedding reception. It was a lot of fun to see friends
and family and be able to participate in this special event. After a couple
hours, I snuck out to get back to the hospital and be with Matthew…
It was a long Holiday weekend as we waited out the blockage. Thankfully, someone from Matthew’s surgical team came in every morning to check in on him. We had a lot more faith in her than we did our weekend “hospital” doctor. The hospital doctor told us on Sunday that he would be discharged the following day when he was still on his NG Tube fully and not allowed to have anything by mouth. I looked at her like she was crazy… and was reassured we could appeal the decision if needed.
Originally, I was excited that we were
going to the same floor as before… but it was kind of like the twilight zone.
None of his previous nursing/CNA staff was around… every once in a while, we
would see someone we knew but the atmosphere was so different. I know part of
it is that Matthew felt miserable this time around. During his first stay, he was
known as the local jokester, and they would cheer him on as he did laps around
the hospital. This time it was a lot more somber, and I was his only
cheerleader. Come to find out, they work on three different floors, so our
regulars are probably on one of the other floors.
Thankfully, I when I went home on
Saturday, I picked up my Bible Study. I brought my Mate originally, so each
morning I was able to have an amazing quiet time with God. Time with God helped
me keep my focus on the fact that He was in control and not allow worry to
consume me. It was a daily battle I had to face… but one that I was able to win
whenever I refocused on God. Of course, sending messages to those praying for
us also helped.
I also brought food to supplement the hospital food, so I didn’t have to eat out so much… which is a good thing since the cafeteria was closed for the weekend and the options at the café were limited. I had enough food for one meal a day through Monday… unfortunately the hospital stay was longer than that.
Saturday, I think it was another 2000
ml. Sunday, I think it was around 1600 ml. Monday, he went hours without the suction but
still got around 1200 ml once they started it back up. Tuesday and Wednesday it
was less than that but I’m not sure how much.
On Tuesday, the surgical team decided
to do the Small Bowel Follow Through Study. Unfortunately, since he is allergic
to dye, it took all day for them to prep him for the study by giving him 3
doses of prednisone. They finally took him back at 3:20 am… don’t worry I was
fast asleep. The goal of the study is two-fold. First, it allows them to see
where the blockage is or if there is a leak somewhere in the bowels. Second,
there is a possibility that the dye would push through the blockage.
On Tuesday, German and Mariah stopped by
to visit. It was a nice change of pace to have friends visit. German was able
to take Matthew on one of his walks and I was able to just sit and visit with
Mariah. I didn’t realize how much I craved that kind of interaction.
On Wednesday, we were pretty sure that
the blockage was pushed through. His bag filled up multiple times throughout
the day… more than any day since surgery. We celebrated every time… We had all
the medical team come and visit today. The surgical team wanted to see the
results of the x-ray at 3:30 and if all looked good, they would let the NG Tube
come out and move towards a liquid diet. The ostomy/wound care came up with a
plan to help the urostomy seal not leak and get us enough supplies for our office
visit. They also cleaned up all the wounds and showed me how to take care of
everything at home. The new hospital doctor was so much easier to work with and
taking care of Matthew’s needs much better. We finally got confirmation that
the blockage had passed in the evening and Matthew was able to take out the NG
Tube and go to a clear liquid diet.
On Thursday morning I woke up to quite
the scare… this time it was not Matthew’s health but my own. Once I quit
worrying about Matthew, my body went into relax mode and I started getting a
cold… overnight it got so bad that I woke up and could not breathe. My throat
was completely closed off and no oxygen would pass through. I was able to get myself
out of bed over to a garbage can and attempt to cough out the phlegm. Eventually
the commotion woke Matthew up and watched me struggling to get air. Finally, I
was able to cough through and spit out enough gunk and air slowly started passing
through. My morning trip to find food also included a trip to the pharmacy to
get meds for me so I could kick this cold to the curb.
The doctors were very happy with
Matthew’s progress and his diet progressed throughout the day. He was on a full
liquid diet for breakfast and lunch and then a full diabetic diet for dinner.
Of course, he still took it easy and only had a toasted cheese sandwich with
chicken noodle soup. Our plan going home
is for him to continue with softer foods for a while since we don’t want a
repeat.
Matthew was finally released from the hospital on Friday. We were both ready to head home after being there another week. Before he was discharged, one of the doctors came in to remove his staples. It was nice to save a trip back to the office to do this step. Now we are back at home… ready to recover (the both of us) and get the rest we both desperately need.
It was so nice to be home for the
weekend before having to go back to work, but I was also exhausted and still
recovering from being sick. My Uncle Duffy came over for the weekend, so we had
Jimmy and Karen and Seth over for dinner as well. Matthew was able to visit for
a little bit, but he spent most of the time recovering in bed. We played one of
my parents’ new games and visited the night away. Kim was in town, so I also
was able to spend some time with her on Sunday. I have been enjoying the time
with my family lately.
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