Ray is Sick

I don't have a snappy title for this one. Ray is sick. He's been a tad off for the last week or so. We all had colds and he and I have had sinus infections, so it is hard to tell when all of that stopped and the stomach symptoms began. He's been complaining on and off.

But yesterday he was complaining a lot and not feeling well. I asked him a number of times if maybe he should go see a doctor. No, no. He was okay. Then, about 4 pm, he came downstairs and said he had to go NOW to the ER.

Let me just say that in 15 years, Ray has never once even debated going to the ER. I was a little freaked out about it. We gathered the kids and various things for them (although we forgot shoes for Liam) and called Ray's mom to come up to help. I knew it would take her over an hour to get here, so we made arrangements to come and meet her back at the house later. Who knows how long a trip to the ER will take.

For the record, it was an hour and a half. The nurses and doctor latched on to the "bladder urgency" Ray had and assured him they believed him to have a UTI or stones. He was sent home with a prescription for Tylenol 3's and an appointment this morning to get a CT scan.

We spent a miserable night. Ray was tossing and turning. The T3's helped, but only minimally. And he had a fever that was up and down. As high as 103.6 at one point and I swore if it got to 104, he was going back to the ER.

This morning we called in a favour from a good friend (thank you SO much Jocelyn!!!) and left the kids at home with her while we traipsed back to the ER. I said "probably an hour or so", since I was under the mistaken impression that yesterday was an example of ER visits, instead of an anomaly. HA! The whole process of checking in and having the CT took 15 minutes. But we had to wait FOUR HOURS in the ER for the results. Seriously. 4 flippin' hours!

When they got the results, I didn't know what they were, but they meant business in that ER. The had him in, in a room, and told him to put on the gown. I shook my head and said, "Oh, you are not going anywhere, my dear." when I heard the gown comment.

The doctor explained to us that Ray has diverticulitis. I've added a picture of diverticula. It's when the colon has small, weak pouches. People can have these and never know. Most people have no idea. But sometimes they get infected and then people go to their ER or doctors, discover the problem, get some antibiotics, and go on with their lives. Occasionally with future attacks.

Ray has to one-up them all. He has one that has burst. It's not good. He's been admitted to the hospital and has already had a load of IV antibiotics. He'll be without food for several days. And they are also giving him a colon cleanse drink to make sure he is completely empty. Sounds like fun, no. I'm sure it is what Ray had planned to do with his Saturday night. After his colon has had a chance to rest and be treated with antibiotics, they will slowly give him some more food and see if it has healed on its own. Apparently, it does sometimes. If not, then he will have surgery to remove that piece of his colon.

The timeline on this is sketchy, but I will keep you posted.