Pain

Poor Patten. Wednesday, he had a bad stomach ache and the usually accompanying GI distress. As he says, he gets E. coli a couple of times a year, so not unexpected. By 4:00 AM Thursday morning, he was in such pain, he went to Broward Health’s emergency room. Cat scan and the doctor confirmed nothing to see, so they gave him a drug to stop his vomiting and avoid dehydration.

He wasn’t any better and still in a lot of pain all Thursday. Friday, he went to Plantation General, where his appendicitis was diagnosed, and he was scheduled for an appendectomy, which happened about 9:00 PM. All night, he was still in agony whenever his pain med wore off, about every 4 hours. When the surgeon saw him mid-morning Saturday, the doctor realized no one had made Patten get up and pee. When he did, the pain went away. I guess the nurses thought Patten would just go to the bathroom on his own, and he was either knocked out or in terrible pain, so he laid in bed. 

All this reinforced my plan to be sure my children have health surrogates and health power of attorney papers filled out and in hand. When I called the hospital to ask how Patten was, the nurse said she couldn’t tell me anything over the phone. Fortunately, Patten was able to call me after his surgery, but still. He said he’d put me down as contact, however, I’m not close by. He, and his siblings, need people to be onsite and making decisions if they can’t. 

Something to talk about at Thanksgiving. Maybe a birthday present for me to know my children have done the paperwork they need for health surrogates, health power of attorney, and maybe even wills. Better than a knickknack to dust.