Note: This post contains medical stuff. If descriptions of symptoms or illnesses freak you out, I won’t mind if you stop reading now. 🙂

For the last week or so, Peter has been pretty sick with some abdominal/digestive issues. It would seem to get better, then get worse again, then better…but through it all, he was really miserable. This morning he woke me up at about 4:00am by collapsing onto the bed and groaning in agony, so it was pretty obvious that something was badly wrong.

I got out of bed and went to stand over him, and I swear, for a few seconds, I thought he was dead. Like, really, actually dead. His eyes were wide open, his lips were parted, and he was frozen — not moving, blinking, or even breathing. It scared the living shit out of me. Then he gasped, and I heaved the biggest internal sigh of relief in history, but when I bent down to feel his head (since he’d been running a fever off and on), he was cold and clammy.

Yep, time for a trip to the ER — or, as I like to call it, my vacation home.

He hemmed and hawed, but I got him into the car, and we made it to the hospital without incident. It had apparently been a slow night, and we got right into Triage and then back into one of the few actual rooms in the department.The on-duty doctor examined him, and because of the location and intensity of Peter’s pain, warned him that it might be one of several things, including appendicitis and diverticulitis.

They got him on a saline drip and brought in some contrast dye mixed into Crystal Light lemonade. By the look on Peter’s face, the “new and improved” flavoring method was less than ideal. He did get his first ever Morphine dose, though, and that was kinda fun to watch. 😉

After a couple of hours, he’s taken back for a CT scan. An hour or two after that, a doctor finally comes in and tells him that he indeed has diverticulitis, but that it’s apparently “perforated,” leaking air (and possibly infection) outside the colon. He’s put on various IV drips (including hefty antibiotics) and told to “rest” his colon — which means no food OR drink for at least 24 hours. A hospital stay is required, since we can’t do IV drips at home, and the first estimate we’re given is for a 24-hour stay.

At this point I have to come home to walk the dog, since it’s about 9:30am, and we don’t want her to explode. I gather up a few things to bring back to Peter (comfy clothes, iPad, chargers, earbuds, toothbrush, etc.), drive those over to him in the ER, and head back home for some much-needed sleep. Of course, by the time I’ve caught up with everything at my desk and have taken care of the critters (and myself), it’s noon. Thankfully, Lola was as tired as I was and we slept until about 4:00pm.

Up again, walked the monster again, then gather up a couple other things I though of and make another trip to the hospital. After I left him this morning, they moved him up to a room, which was nice…you don’t want to spend any more time in an ER than you have to. It’s just a miserable, uncomfortable place, no matter how awesome the staff are. I sat with him for a while, which was nice (well, y’know, as nice as sitting with someone in a hospital can be).

Another on-duty doctor came in to check on him and explain things a bit more while I was there, and she said that he’s looking at a 2- or 3-day stay, at least, to make sure the infection and inflammation are under control and that he doesn’t require surgery. She said that in a worst-case scenario, they would have to remove the affected portion of his colon, but depending on how he does on the IV medications, he might be ok with at-home medications, regular colonoscopies, and a diet change.

He’s still pretty uncomfortable, even with the occasional Morphine, although that does help him relax and rest a bit. I’m worried, of course, and Lola is just unsure about the whole thing and wondering where her Papa is. We decided that if I had to, I could smuggle a guinea pig in, but I think they’d notice if I tried to sneak a dog past the nurses. 🙂

I’ll keep everyone updated here when I can, but I’m posting updates on my Twitter feed as well. Please keep sending Peter your healing thoughts and positive vibes! We both appreciate them so much. <3