Hey all! Rune and I just got back from checking on Robert and, despite the high “tube titer,” he’s looking pretty good! He says the nurses are amazed by how quickly he’s progressing. Little do they know, eh? So, keep sending that Reiki, healing thoughts and prayers along with your love.
With Robert’s permission, I’ll let you know what happened. He’s been feeling kind of puny for the last few weeks. In fact, the last couple of times I saw him and spoke to him by phone, I told him I was worried about his energy level. Naturally, Mr. Stoic poo-pooed it all off. He figured all the channeling was taxing him a bit.
Yesterday, he suddenly had a sharp pain in his upper left abdomen. Despite seeing a toilet bowl full of blood, he decided a rest would be the cure-all. (I’m going to give him a good spanking for that when he’s strong enough.) When he woke up a couple of hours later, he felt a great deal of abdominal cramping but, again, dismissed it as nothing to worry about. So again, he went back to sleep. When he awoke an hour later, he heard a roaring ringing sound in his ears and felt like he was going to collapse. Again, he decided to wait and “sleep it off.” Arggghhhh! The last time he woke up, he was in such misery, he called 911. By that time, his sheets were full of blood.
A CT scan of the abdomen revealed a perforated colon and a considerable amount of blood in the peritoneal cavity. He also had severe peritonitis and, as a result, sepsis. Peritonitis is an inflammation of the membranes lining the abdominal cavity. Sepsis is a bacterial infection of the blood which carries a high mortality rate. Had he waited a few hours more, he would have been snowboarding with Erik somewhere. But no, thank God he’s stuck here with us. He was rushed into surgery where a foot or so of his colon was resected. He has drains just about everywhere, poor boy. He also has a colostomy which will have to be reversed in a month or so.
I left my contact information with the nursing staff and asked them to have Robert’s surgeon call me to give me a physician to physician assessment.
Robert should be out of the ICU in a few days. I’m not sure how long he’ll be in a regular room, but, as I’ve said before, he’ll move in with my family until he’s strong enough to be on his own and take care of himself.
Robert sends his gratitude and love to each and every one of you.
Robert with My Sister, Laura
