Family & Friends -
I last checked in with everyone on Wednesday afternoon letting them know everything was going well. It turns out that I spoke a little prematurely. I had a rough time sleeping Wednesday night and woke up Thursday feeling miserable. I struggled physically through the morning hours as my mom played phone tag with the doctor's office. After finally getting through to Dr. Brand himself, it was decided that I should go to the emergency room at Swedish American Hospital here in Rockford. While there they put me on an IV as it was apparent I was severely dehydrated. They did a CAT scan and it was found that I had a fluid build-up near the left side of my pelvis. The doctor at Swedish American called and discussed his findings with Dr. Brand at Rush. Dr. Brand said that he wanted to see me himself at Rush to make sure that there wasn't anything seriously wrong. They transported me from Swedish American via ambulance to Rush.
Once I was there they continued to give me fluid through the IV. Once Dr. Brand and his staff reviewed the CAT scan results themselves, they told me they didn't feel it was anything to concern myself with. They were however concerned about my dehydration. By my own admission, I did not eat or drink very well during my one day at home. They kept me there for 4 days to make sure I was able to keep myself hydrated. My output was higher than my input. In order to correct that they gave me some pills to take to slow down my intestinal track, and told me to DRINK FLUIDS! After promising to the doctors that I will have liquids by my side at every moment, they agreed to let me go home tonight.
As of the present moment I feel decent. Not good, not bad, better than Thursday, worse than I did in say 1997. They took the staples out of my belly today and the pain in my abdomen is relatively mild the majority of the time. My voice finally sounds normal again. However, I still am extremely fatigued. I can move from the couch to the chair with relative ease, but if something involves standing for more than 90 seconds consecutively it becomes extremely difficult. Exhaustion sets in fast.
So now the challenge becomes staying hydrated, gaining my strength (I'm down to under 150 lbs.), and just maintaining an overall positive health balance for the next few months until my next surgery.
Again, I appreciate the support from everyone. It means a tremendous deal to me. I hope you guys like the updates as well. If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter, please click here. Completely kidding, not a real link. You guys are stuck with the e-mail updates, unless I get a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope in the mail.
Seriously though, thanks for everything. I hope from now on all the e-mails will be of a completely positive nature. I hope the setbacks end here. I will keep you posted.
Tom Meersman