Not a Good Start to the Week...

Last Sunday I spent 6 hours in the emergency room....not for the kids or Chad, for me!

Friday morning I woke up with a sharp pain in my left side and it continued to get worse. The more I moved around, the more it hurt. Knowing that it would be a long weekend because of Labor Day, I finally decided that I should go to the ER and get it checked out on Sunday. I knew I'd be there for a long time, but I didn't think it would be 6 hours.

I also knew it was going to be "interesting" when they started walking me back to the exam room and turned to me and said, "now don't get paranoid or anything, but we're going to put you in the 'psych' room". You know the room where they put suicidal patients.....

There was nothing in there but a bed--attached to the wall, a chair--surprisingly not attached to the floor, a TV--completely boxed into the wall (The TV actually proved to be nice to have during the 6 hours I was there, not all the rooms have TVs) There was a TV remote. It was attached to the wall, so you had to stand there next to it to change the channels. There was also a bathroom attached to the room, a window that faces the nurses desk, and a surveillance camera. There was no light switches, no door handles, no trash can (in the bathroom) and nothing on the walls. It was actually a little creepy. Chad had a good laugh that they put me in the "psych" room, though and so did Myshel. I have to admit it was kind of funny.

So after a lot of waiting, an IV, complete blood work and a CT scan, the doctor told me I had diverticulitis. You can go here, if you really want to get the details about it, but in a nut shell, I have pouches in my large intestine (colon) that were inflamed and infected. Sounds really neat, doesn't it! Yeah, that's what I thought! They gave me antibiotics through my IV and then sent me home with some more, too. They offered pain meds, but I really didn't think I needed them.

The "pouches" never actually go away and are actually quite common. They just don't always get infected. I asked what could have caused it. They didn't know. I asked how I could prevent it again. They suggested the diverticulitis diet, but they didn't really know how much it helps. They were just bundles of information. I've gone online since then and read about it, and there just really isn't any solid findings about why and how and all that. I also had a follow up visit with my regular doctor, who told me pretty much the same things. Later in the week, I found out that my grandfather has it.....hmmmm maybe it's hereditary.