More drama, more excitement, more faith required to trust in the existence of a greater plan. Yesterday started out like any other day – went to work, felt a little better than earlier in the week, was excited for Friday night (margaritas, apps and games with friends)... As the morning went on, even though the cough was slowly improving, I had decided that if time allowed, I would go ahead and get a chest X-ray just to get it done. So before lunch I went and had a chest X-ray to rule out pneumonia – by the time I made it back to the office, the radiologist had already called and was very concerned. No pneumonia, but they could see some air below the diaphragm (unless you've had recent abdominal surgery, you shouldn't have free air in the abdominal cavity). Are you kidding? I felt fine – no fever, slight stomach ache which I had accounted as muscular due to the coughing... but, Dr Vose was very concerned by the report and said I needed to go to the ER – do not pass go. Trying to be compliant, I went. Once at the ER, they repeated the Xray and found the same thing so I went for a CT. The CT showed significant air in the wall of my colon as well as free air surrounding the colon. To a surgeon, this is a surgical emergency. The problem is, that I was sitting up talking, looking fine, vitals stable... and that CT belongs to a very sick patient. To no surprise, I (not being a surgeon) wanted to go home, figuring that the air had been there for who knows how long and was in the process of getting better. To make a long story short, that was not in the cards and after talking to the surgeon I realized why – since I'm on steroids for the reaction going on in my lungs, it's possible that my body is not able to mount a normal response to infection/inflammation... and on the inside, I could look much worse than I do on the outside. Nebraska felt it was in my best interest to go to surgery last night and have my colon removed, thankfully the surgeon here had the benefit of seeing “me” in addition to the scan and felt that a watch and wait approach was reasonable - With the understanding that if anything changed in the slightest, I would be in the OR. Sooo, after much discussion (going to Omaha by ambulance, Omaha by private car, staying here) it was decided at midnight that I had to stay here, be watched like a hawk, start more antibiotics, if no change by Monday, re-evaluate trying to set up an ambulance ride to Omaha.
So now I sit, hungry and waiting. Praying that God's plan is to have this miraculously resolve and this will be to His glory.
“Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.” ~Psalm 86:6-7
