What a day... was that just one day?!

Okay, so a bowel obstruction is like a clogged pipe. It hurts and its gross what happens as a result as your body tries to manage. They have him on a stomach suction and it is a wait and see situation. (He told the Doctor that the tube "really sucks" but the guy didn't laugh! ) He is on meds for pain, nausea, and also IV fluids. We talked to Dr. Shellito out in Boston, he said that if surgery should become necessary that any general surgeon is fine - whew - talk about taking the pressure off. We met the surgeon, we liked him, he works in a team that are colon-rectal specialists and he does do that type of work, but he is not certified as specialized. They don't want to do surgery. An obstruction is caused by scar tissue that forms (like from his major surgery in Sept 2007) - think of it like super-glue that accidentally glues your fingers together! The scar tissue gets things sticking and stuck in a way that can... obstruct flow of waste. One reason to not want to do the surgery to try to correct it - is that it also can cause more scar tissue. Vicious cycle! They were also going to do a scan this afternoon that would involve some contrast (Bar. Eni.) so they can maybe get a better look at what is going on. The other advantage is the contrast will help clean out the clog's other end... once the pressure is off from both ends it has a chance to just set itself right. I spent the day getting referrals, getting a new power of attourney in place, cancelling my participation in the life guarding class I was in (side note: this is the second time that Dave's health has caused me NOT to be come a life guard! One of these days.... ), contacting family and co-ordinating care for Liam. We have plenty of help. Lots of people can take Liam for lots of hours. I am getting him home at 6:30 and we are going to do some normal bed time routine stuff and talk. Not sure if I am going to take him to see Dave in the morning or not. Maybe wait until the afternoon. I finally have a bit of sleep and will see about eating again then go to bed at the same time as Liam. Thank you to everyone for your support and understanding. I will keep the blog posted. If you are on Facebook it also directly uplinks to the "notes" section every few hours. Feel free to pass on the word to all you know that know us, and care about us, as much as you.