The Coffee House-Come & Chat With Us!(May 2020)

[Lou]

I got my dog a baseball jersey. He likes wearing clothes. The size chart was off. The fit was slightly too small. But he seemed to really like it. It was like he was laughing with me about how funny it looked, and he didn't want me to take it off. He seemed happy to be wearing it.

Still, I think if he wore a shirt that seems too tight in public, it would send the wrong message because it looks uncomfortable?

I ordered the next size larger. I'll see which one he likes better and give the other one away.

Mets or Yankees?

 

[Lou]

So didn't anyone miss me?

I've been in the hospital all week. In my haste to get to the emergency room, I took my phone but no chargers. I don't think I expected to be there so long - but I don't know if I was really thinking very far ahead. And checking VF was not really something I felt like doing anyway.

Last weekend I was slightly constipated and then on Tuesday, I was completely blocked. this has happened to me a few times over the years and I can normally walk it off in just a couple of hours. but after 12 hours of not being able to eat or drink I went to the emergency room. The staff was great and checked me in and examined me really fast. I was also pretty lucky and got one of the last rooms they had available. (* google "small bowel obstruction" if you want the grisly details.)

They inserted an NG tube which may have been the worst experience in my whole life. they apply suction with the tube and it relieves pressure on the intestine. They ran a "bowel test" but for some reason it didn't work. the next day they ran it again but by then the tube had done a good enough job that the test didn't really show much.

I started to have some movement in my bowels so they sent me home. I have to go back in a week or two and get an x-ray and a CT scan where maybe they can see what is wrong. Or hopefully - I'll be fine by then.

The weird/worrisome issue is that the first x-ray they took showed some kind of foreign object - 2 cm wide. it showed up white on the x-ray which is what hard things like bone or cartilage show up as. Before the bowel test they inject a radioisotope (contrast) thru the NG tube. So the following x-rays show the intestines as various shades of white. So I don't even know if it's still there or if it's moving or what.

Since I haven't swallowed any bones or toys I don't know what it could be*. I did have abdominal surgery 20 years ago and my best guess is that its a clamp or something like that. I'm hoping it is on the outside of my intestines and that if they have to do surgery they won't have to cut me completely open. The last time i had abdominal surgery it took me months to recover. **

It's bizarre how living with cancer for 6 months has changed my mindset. X-rays, CT scans, PET scans. Been there, done that. The prospect of (another) Abdominal surgery should scare the **** out of me. Now its like, oh, shoot! Piece of cake. Bring it on.


* Bones are one of the leading causes of abdominal obstructions in dogs. swallowed toys in children.
** This is very rare but part of my abdominal wall had sloughed off and wrapped around my small intestine. it was completely blocked and dying from a lack of blood flow. I had six inches removed. The scar tissue is called an adhesion and can result in blockages too. One bad one in 20 years probably isn't so bad.

 

[Sax]

Yeah, an NG tube doesn't sound fun. Hope that clears up and surgery isn't necessary!