Bump in the road

Jan 14, 2012

 I'm now about 7 1/2 months post op and down 115 lbs. I've had a pretty uneventful journey until a week ago. I woke up around 4:00 AM with terrible pain in my left upper abdomen.   As a nurse I ask myself "whats there?" Gall bladder is on the other side, hmm, stomach?  Anyway within a very short time I knew that this was something that demanded immediate attention. I woke my son up to take me to the ER. By the time we got there the pain was so bad that after 5 doses of IV pain mess I still had no relief. X-Rays showed "free air" in the abdomen which meant that there was a perforation in my GI tract and I would need surgery immediately. Sure enough they found a perforated duodenal ulcer and a liter of pus. I had a "significant" peritonitis. I spent the bigger part of the week in the hospital and came home yesterday on 2 IV antibiotics for another week or so. I'm feeling pretty well now, just have to heal. I'm on liquids for a while, but that's no big deal. The Surgeon says this is a permanent fix, so all things considered I am back on the road to success. 

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