It all started with a cough...
Back in November, my dad had a bad cough. This isn't unusual, since he has asthma and a history of bronchitis and respiratory issues. It just kept getting worse and worse, with a lot of pain. The chest pain got so bad that he went to Urgent Care, and then they sent him to the ER by ambulance. He ended up being in the hospital for about a week while they tried to figure out what the problem was. Turns out, he coughed so much that he tore ligaments from his ribs and chest wall. It was extremely painful and caused terrible bruising.
Fast forward two months, and he is still in a ton of pain! Now, CTs are showing that his stomach has actually herniated in a space in between two of his ribs, which were separated because of the tear. His diaphragm is also not where it should be. There's more to it, but that's as much as I can state with confidence. I'm sure I'd get other information wrong!
Tomorrow, he will have a lengthy surgery to repair all of this, as well as pull his ribs back to where they are supposed to be. Sounds painful, right? I'm pretty sure it will be. He will be in the hospital at least through the weekend, but my guess is it will be longer until they can get his pain under control.
Because of the bad weather we will be getting tonight and tomorrow, my parents, my sister, and I will be staying at a family house run by the hospital so that we can walk over tomorrow. This will be a big challenge for Matt and my brother in law as they are snowed in with the kids and the dogs!
We all will appreciate your prayers for my dad during his surgery and recovery. This is a pretty big surgery that is supposed to take around 5 hours. Tomorrow will be a long day.
Back in November, my dad had a bad cough. This isn't unusual, since he has asthma and a history of bronchitis and respiratory issues. It just kept getting worse and worse, with a lot of pain. The chest pain got so bad that he went to Urgent Care, and then they sent him to the ER by ambulance. He ended up being in the hospital for about a week while they tried to figure out what the problem was. Turns out, he coughed so much that he tore ligaments from his ribs and chest wall. It was extremely painful and caused terrible bruising.
Fast forward two months, and he is still in a ton of pain! Now, CTs are showing that his stomach has actually herniated in a space in between two of his ribs, which were separated because of the tear. His diaphragm is also not where it should be. There's more to it, but that's as much as I can state with confidence. I'm sure I'd get other information wrong!
Tomorrow, he will have a lengthy surgery to repair all of this, as well as pull his ribs back to where they are supposed to be. Sounds painful, right? I'm pretty sure it will be. He will be in the hospital at least through the weekend, but my guess is it will be longer until they can get his pain under control.
Because of the bad weather we will be getting tonight and tomorrow, my parents, my sister, and I will be staying at a family house run by the hospital so that we can walk over tomorrow. This will be a big challenge for Matt and my brother in law as they are snowed in with the kids and the dogs!
We all will appreciate your prayers for my dad during his surgery and recovery. This is a pretty big surgery that is supposed to take around 5 hours. Tomorrow will be a long day.
Comments