[Oe List ...] Updating again on Justin's condition

[hypnocenter]

Hello dear friends,

Some of you may be getting a duplicate of this e-mail, so forgive the
redundancy.  Now that things are more under control I thought I might expand
the circle for information on the journey Justin (and the rest of his
family) have been taking lately. A good number of our friends and colleagues
are not on the OE Dialogue listing. 

 

Justin had his third surgery yesterday at 4:00; we left the hospital near
10:00 that night.  Because the bleeding began again, and, now it was clear
where it was coming from, the lower intestine had to be removed. (From the
time he arrived at the hospital through this last surgery, I believe he’s
had over 20 units of blood. We kid about just how many “people” he now has
inside of him.)  If it hadn’t been for intervention by Eileen’s
father-in-law surgeon in Ohio, Justin may have had a 3rd different surgeon
because his last one was leaving for a vacation.  Instead, his previous
surgeon returned to the hospital to take charge, and help us all through the
decision and its results. We felt far more confident in him than in anyone
else.  Basically, the staff here has been great, with the possible exception
of one group when he was recuperating from his first surgery and they
weren’t really watching out for him to notice his definite decline.  It’s a
good thing I have very strong, pro-active daughters!  

 

Justin has, now, a colon-type/stoma sack at the right of his abdomen which
he’ll be “wearing” for about 3 to 3-1/2 months while he heals inside from
the devastation of three major surgeries within this nearly two-week period;
then another surgery will be required where his small intestine will be
hooked to the section available above the rectum. (I call it “redesigning”
his interior) This makes it possible for him to function pretty normally and
he won’t have to have that bag forever.  This really is great news, although
Justin may not feel that way for awhile.  It will take a bit of adjustment
for him during the first months, but we’re very relieved that the source has
been dealt with, and the surgeon feels it’s definitely the right thing to
have been done.  Took us all a bit of concern about having to make such a
radical decision, but, on the other side of it, we feel it definitely is
best for him.  Hopefully, no more 911 calls would ever have to be made as a
result of this condition.    

 

For those of you who may not have known of Justin’s situation, back to what
seems ages ago but was only nearly 2 weeks ago, Justin suffered great
bleeding from the rectum to the point where he had to be rushed to the E.R.
Due to “time,” I’m going to insert the previous communiqué’s, spelling out
the situation, for those of you who didn’t get them before, hoping  you’ll
forgive me for neglecting you in keeping people he cares about informed.

 

We all appreciate very much your prayers and concerns and e-mails and phone
calls. He is at St. Joseph’s Hospital in room 5D4 (at the moment – he’s been
in so many different rooms in varied styles of care so far.)  The phone
number of the hospital is 253-426-4550 and my cell phone is 253-223-4939.
The home number is below.  We all decided (all our daughters are here, at
the moment) to leave Justin alone to rest for the day; we’ll go back to
visit with him this evening for a brief time.  He’ll not be ready for phone
calls or other visits until tomorrow, at the least.  

 

Our love to all,

Del

 

Del and Justin Morrill

3217 North Mason

Tacoma WA 98407 USA

(253) 627-6615 (H); (253) 383-5757 (O)

delmorrill at hypnocenter.com

 

 

THE JOURNEY THUS FAR:

NOTE #1:

Hello friends,

A very quick note to update you on what’s been going on in our family during
this past week. 

 

Monday night about 10:00 pm Justin began bleeding from the rectum.  He did
not inform me of this until quite late into the evening; in fact, at 1:30
a.m. he called for my help because he felt he was going to faint while in
the bathroom.  At first I was torn as to whether to get him to bed until the
faintness wore off or call someone, but when I saw the amount of blood in
the toilet bowl I called 911 and an emergency unit came out.  His blood
pressure had dropped to 96 over another very low figure, so it’s no wonder
he was faint.  They took him to the emergency room at St. Joseph’s Hospital
where he lay on a gurney in the ER for 16 hours.  Justin called me Tuesday
night and said that the doctor told him to go home.  This was around 6:30
pm; I was aghast, and I told him to check with someone else because I felt
they were crazy. So they kept him overnight. Thank God, because that night
he bled again, and had to have 2 pints of blood transfused to him.  By Wed.
they found “room in the inn” (as the nurses spoke of it) and put him in an
intensive section with many wires monitoring him.  Each night he bled
profusely and they gave him more blood.  They did about 3 different scopes
on him and couldn’t target exactly where the bleeding was coming from.  By
the time they hit the 7th unit of blood, after a terrible night in which
Justin thought he was dying, literally, a surgeon was called in and said
that, since the diverticulitis (sp?) bleeding hadn’t stopped by
self-healing, surgery would be required. So on Thursday, at 3:00 he had a
significant length removed from his lower intestine.  

 

He is now doing very well.  They gave him another 2 units “just in case” but
the bleeding is no more, and the intestinal area looks just fine!  We are
very grateful that if he was going to fall apart like that it was just as
well it happen BEFORE he was due (2 days later) for surgery on his right
rotator cuff—the doctors and nurses agreed that would have been quite
disastrous to happen during a surgery.

 

Anyway, he is doing fine; his color is better than ever, and his blood
pressure quite normal.  He is walking when he can, but will remain in the
hospital for another day or two before returning home.

 

Life has a habit of making major unexpected turns on us doesn’t it?  The
rest of the family was exhausted.  And I’m most grateful for my daughters –
they’ve been rocks, to say the least.  Gen came here after being at a
business meeting in Florida, and Anita has basically held everyone together
as the go-between communicator, especially during the first couple of days
of the great “unknown.”

 

Hopefully, all of you will have a very healthy and wonderful 2006.  We
expect to. 

We are grateful for our family and friends, always.

Del  

 

NOTE #2:

Unfortunately, dear friends, Justin's surgery, which we thought would handle
the problem, hasn't done so.  So far he's gone through about 12 units of
blood within a week's time.  After coming thru the surgery and recovering
his sense of humor, and color, the bleeding started up again, scaring the
hell out of him, and us, of course.  Our daughters have been like rocks, and
have handled the nursing staff and doctors far more objectively than I would
have been able to.  Anita lives near, of course, and Gen decided to stay on
longer, hopefully not jeopardizing her job too badly.  The doctors tell us
not to worry - they WILL find out where the bleeding is coming from and
SOLVE it!  It's not a burst artery; the blood stops and starts; so it's all
a matter of finding the source.  Big problem has been that it stops before
he can get to the testing area, so they can't spot where it is. Being at the
hospital over a holiday weekend hasn't helped much because everyone is gone
who does the testing, and they have to call people in to do it.  He's on a
STAT alert, now, in terms of racing him to the test site when he bleeds
again.  Right now, he's VERY tired.  The girls insisted I stay home for
awhile today to rest up, myself.  I'm using the time to keep busy by going
through my e-mail, but I've asked to be picked up by Sam at 2:00 to go down
there.  Hard to stay home when Justin isn't here!  Will keep you informed.

Thanks for your concern, and, I imagine, your prayers, as well - most
welcome, believe me!

Del

 

NOTE #3:

Dear family and friends,

 

Yesterday I tried to answer your wonderful messages individually, but I find
that I don’t have as much time today – I need to get to the hospital fairly
soon.  Right now, I’m waiting for the last call-back confirmation from
clients whom I am cancelling this week. So I’m sending the note below that I
sent yesterday, in case there are those of you not yet “updated.”  Genevieve
is staying on, and Eileen arrives this afternoon.  I’m very grateful for
these wonderful daughters I have, as well as sons-in-law, all of whom have
been very supportive and are doing their best to not only look after their
Dad but keep me on a more even keel, forcing me to rest, etc. The good news
is that last night was the first night in over a week that Justin hasn’t
“bled.”  By now he’s used well over 14 units of blood (I wonder who all is
inside him now?)

Because he’s susceptible to staph infections and is currently running a
temp, he’s receiving antibiotics as well as the continued IV.  He’s been in
a lot of pain; the doctor says it’s from the surgery and movement of the
bowels with gas, etc., that is probably causing it. Innumerable doctors (it
seems like to us) have been in and out with their “doctor” talk; and he’s
had more tests, but still unable to locate where the bleeding is actually
coming from. Doctor says the max. method would be taking out the whole
colon, but I don’t plan on letting that happen unless they can tell exactly
where the bleeding is coming from.  Anyway, the fact that he didn’t bleed
last night is a good sign, I feel.  Keep up the good wishes and prayers for
him and for us all.  

Del

 

NOTE #4:  

Hello again; it’s 11:00 pm and we all just left the hospital.  Justin has
just been through another surgery, this time to get rid of the fluids that
have been leaking and causing big problems, including peritonitis.  2
different Sacs were made outside of the colon, right and left sides, making
it possible to see in what direction the blood is coming, so that isn’t
handled, as yet. The scans will be able to tell whether the excess bleeding
is coming from the right or left colon, or from the small intestine.  It
will take a further surgery to deal with that once it’s located, and the
sacs will then be removed, and hopefully, colon restored to normal.  Looks
like he will be in the ICU for the rest of the week and in the hospital for
another couple of weeks, healing from all of this, and gaining strength once
again. He had gotten VERY weak, to the point where we had to lean over to
hear him.  Also rather scared, as you can imagine.  Currently, he is being
given very strong antibiotics to deal with the infection and fever; and some
gadget has been attached to him that allows nutrition to be fed into his
veins; hasn’t eaten for days.  He’ll sleep through the night, so we decided
it was time to go home and let him alone.  We’ll head on in again in the
morning.  Eileen has arrived, so all 3 daughters are here, plus Sam; and the
other sons-in-law call daily.  Gen and Anita have been very strong in
insisting on more aggressive care and better communication between the
various doctors and with us from the doctors and nurses.  He is now in an
ICU where he can get much more attention, and is hooked up to more gadgets
that let the staff know what’s going on much faster.  The surgeon gives a
sense of confidence and certainly had the right idea when he felt there
could be infection from too much fluid coming from leakage at the suture
area; thus the necessary 2nd surgery.  Anyway, I think Justin will start
getting some strength back very quickly, even though he may be a bit
uncomfortable for awhile through the healing process.    

 

Thanks for your concerns and prayers.  We’re most grateful for our friends
and family; and we look forward to a healthier 2006 very soon.

Love to all,

Del

 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20060121/2ee3b9f7/attachment-0001.htm