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It started Wednesday when I went home from work sick at noon. Thursday, while I was home trying to recover, my 16 year old son, who was also home sick came downstairs complaining about very sharp pain in his stomach. I knew not to mess with that so I called my wife who took him to the doctor and then on the ER. Later that night he had an emergency appendectomy. Surgery was at 10 and he was out of the recovery room and in his private room by 1:00AM. All was well, but we are all tired and he is very sore. It isn't easy to sleep in those chairs next to the bed with all the sounds of a hospital. We hoped to bring him home Friday, but he had a bit of a fever so he stayed until Saturday.
My son was a bit worried, I could see him thinking, "Hey, don't I need that?" when I told him that they would just remove it. When he asked what it did, I said I don't think they know, but when they remove it there are no known side effects.
Very strange

While I was picking up my son from the hospital Saturday, my wife was taken to the doctor by my daughter for bad stomach cramps and she had a high temperature. She was too sick to drive herself. The doctor at the Urgent Care said she had a virus, gave her a shot for the pain and sent her home. Late Sunday night/Monday morning, her fever broke and I thought we would be on the road to recovery. My son was getting better every day, but still very sore.
There was no fever Monday morning but she was very uncomfortable and had a bulge right were her appendix is. I took her to the ER thinking how strange it would be for us to need 2 appendectomies in a week. A CT scan showed that it wasn't her appendix but a rather rare condition affecting her small intestine called intususseption.
This is when a section of intestine begins to push itself into itself. Think of holding a sock, and pushing it inside out from the end. She had surgery Monday night. Surgery went as scheduled, but not as planned. While it was successful in fixing the small intestine, she lost a lot of blood and had to spend the night in ICU on a ventilator. She received 2 units of blood.
When I told them she was a nurse, it was interesting to see how that changed their attitude. They treated her better, like one of their own.
After receiving the meds, she calmed down and drifted off into sleep.
My daughter got to experience all of this with me and is rather upset. It is the worst thing either of us have had to endure. She is on the ventilator as a precaution they say, but would not go into specific details. So I guess it is just a general protection in case they need to go in and stop bleeding.
We went home to sleep and be back early when they take her off the ventilator. If I understand the meds she is on, she will not remember all that. My daughter and I wish we could say the same.
My church is working on some help, so I'm sure meals will start showing up very soon. My daughter can drive and help with taking my son places.
My wife will be in the hospital until at least Saturday. When the intestine is cut like that it shuts down for a few days. After it starts up again, they want to watch her for about 3 days before they will release her.
Things are looking much better Tuesday. She was taken off the ventilator this morning and looks a lot better. Her blood gasses are holding steady and blood loss has been stopped since last night. She is well medicated and not too uncomfortable. There is no crowd at the ICU so she will stay there until tomorrow morning.

My day job is great and my boss told me that I could take all the time I needed to take care of her. There are some benefits to working for a very large company.

I'm sorry this is so long and probably filled with errors. I've never been so tired.   

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Wow Steve,

What a truly harrowing time for you all. I am very pleased to hear that your Wife and Son are on the mend and can only say that I wish them a full and speedy recovery, and you and your Daughter all the strength and peace you need to get things back to normal.

Chin up Mate

Cheers

Kim

Glad everything worked out Steve.

Both at the same time! Man! Looks like you have your work cut out for you for a while as they recover. I'll be praying for you and yours!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Man - too much to bear.  If bad things come in threes, seems your daughter is safe.  Strength to you all for speedy recoveries.  You and your family will be in our thoughts and prayers.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hang in there Steve. Sounds like the worst is over. Thank God for great surgeons, doctors, and hospital staff!

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Wow, Steve, what an experience. My thoughts are with you and your family.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

God's good Steve. Only a few generations ago you may have lost them both in a week. That would've been too much to bear. I'm praying for you & your beloved family for peace, and recovery.

Wow, Steve, a truly bad week, but it sounds like there's finally light at the end of the tunnel. Prayers to you all.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

shakespeare, in henry v i think it was, said something along the lines of "...that that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger".

you should be pretty strong now, as should the rest of the family.

best wishes that your collective recoveries continue apace.

Steve, I caught this over at the AGF forum...I have been praying for you and your family for the last few days. REALLY hope things sort themselves out soon.

Prayin' for you guys at my house too Steve! And you have support from your home church which is a great blessing as well! Keep us posted...

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Thank you for all the prayers and kind words. Today is a good day.
When asked, my son said he doesn't need pain medication.
My wife was moved from ICU to a private recovery room. She is looking better and went for a short walk down the hall with me. She should be home on Saturday.
I had a good night of sleep last night. I was so tired yesterday. I have never been that tired. Another good night of sleep and I'll be doing great. Work is being very understanding as well.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Hang tough Steve! Glad to hear that there is some improvement. I went through the emergency appendix thing at about 13, talk about pain! Hope all is back to normal soon and Prayers from my camp! Remember, He only gives us what HE knows we can handle! You folks are like super heros!

Hi Steve,

So sorry to hear the news, great though that everyone is feeling better, hold steady, all is well.

Blessings,
Greg

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Gwaltney Guitars

Steve, sorry to hear you had such a bad week. Glad you made made it through the ordeal and that everyone is on the mend. I will be sure and add you all to my list.

On a brighter note, after such a bad week you are surely due an excellent one. Consider buying a lotto ticket.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

What a Test of Faith! Praying for you (all)! Considering changing your screen name to "Job"?

Steve--

Sorry to hear that things have been so crazy for you and your family. My thoughts are with you all.

-Jim

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

I brought my wife home yesterday from the hospital. What a relief to have her back home. She is in a bit of pain, but she's healing and home. It was a pretty hard week but I'm happy now and have a better perspective on life. There's nothing like being totally broken and built up again. While I'm not at all happy about this experience, I think I have have grown in many ways through it.
It will be a several month healing process for my wife. The incision is about 8" long near her umbilicus. Stomach muscles were cut and need to heal. She was able to walk up stairs a few times today.
Thank you for all your prayers.
My wife is an amazing woman, loved by so many. We have lots of help. We have meals coming every day. A friend took my truck away today and replace the rear brakes. He and his wife washed it before they brought it back. We were planning on a high school graduation celebration for my daughter next weekend. Four women came over and worked out all the details so that my wife will not have to worry about it. We will have food, a speaker, dancing, tables, chairs, power point presentation, PA system etc. all at a good friend's house.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I'd also like to go on more about matters of faith, but the rules of the forum don't allow for that. I hope no one minds that I say that He is good!
Thank you again for your support!

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Steve,

Very glad to hear the good news.

I believe that times like these can really teach us what's important in life. And it sounds like you have a great community to help you and your family through it.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I am so glad that everyone is on the mend. You and your family will be in our thoughts.

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Aoibeann

Steve: it is good to hear you and your family have made it out of the woods. Cheers!

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

No news is good news, right? I certainly hope so.

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Aoibeann

[QUOTE=Aoibeann] No news is good news, right? I certainly hope so.[/QUOTE] Pretty much.

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and concern!

It has been over 2 weeks now for my son, and he is completely healed.

For my wife, it has been a little less than 2 weeks. She is healing from her surgery. It will be a several month process. Her surgery was much more invasive. She is learning to take it slow and easy. A couple of days she over did it and it pretty much wiped her out. I have to make her stop moving and rest sometimes as she is an active person. She does not like that, and I have to be real firm and insistent, but she listens eventually.

Pathology reported that the cause was a benign tumor. This is great news because we were worried about any recurring problems and what follow up issue there would be, like perhaps cancer. None of that and there is no reason to believe this will recover.

Thank you again for all your prayers!

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Wow Steve, sounds like you've had a trying couple of weeks. I'm glad to hear your wife is on the mend and your family is doing well.

MAN!! Just read this!

Steve, I am glad to hear things are heading in the right direction. I donated part of my liver to my youngest son about 3 years ago, abdominal surgery does indeed take a good while to recover from. Tell your wife to take it easy, all that she wants to do will still be there when she is a bit stronger, and if she rests she will actually get to it sooner and it will be more enjoyable!

Take great care!

Shane

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Canada