In January of 2015 I rushed Chad to the hospital for crippling stomach pain. It was not the first time. A couple years prior - same thing. And it happened several times before I came in the picture. The visit in '15, is what inadvertently led us to his cancer diagnosis.
Since then it's been one thing after another including a massive hernia which was repaired a few months ago (June 2017).
On November 7, 2017 the stomach troubles struck again. I was working/at the gym when Chad was communicating how sick he felt. After he got home from work, with the help of his super awesome nurse Brenden (his son, he was SUCH a trooper) Chad slept for a little over an hour. Hoping he could just push through it. By the time I had gotten home, he had thrown up for about 6 hours straight with the exception of his nap.
All his symptoms pointed to food poisoning and he tried to get it to settle on its own. At about 8:30 after vomiting so violently I have no idea how he could still be conscious, we made the decision to take him to the ER.
It's never an easy decision. I wouldn't normally recommend people go to the ER for some sort of virus but in this case - I didn't see any other option. He could not stand, sit, walk - nothing. The only position he found any comfort in was kneeled over with his face in the couch. The second he tried to move - off to the bathroom he went.
As a wife, it's horrible to see. Being so absolutely helpless. Considering what happened the last time we went through this, I can't even begin to express the fear and concern that was shooting through me.
To be frank - while we are trying to remain optimistic, he has a lot of symptoms lately - paired with the blood test results that are just concerning. When cancer touches your life, it changes you. When you get a super aggressive strain, every ache and pain is worrisome.
When I say he was violently ill, I'm not exaggerating even remotely. We arrived at the ER around 8:30 PM. The waiting room was full. We got into triage and once they seen his condition and knew his history - we were immediately taken to a room.
Again, he couldn't sit so picture Chad face down in the gurney, arms hanging over, butt up in the air - dying from the inside out. The nurse came in almost immediately, drew his blood and gave him anti-nauseous medication. She was a God send. Everyone there was.
Once the doctor came to see us, he said the blood work is what he would expect of someone who had been that severally ill for that long. He did say he was concerned though due to Chad's history and wanted to run a CT Scan to ere on the side of caution and make sure everything intestinal looked alright and also that his Hernia Repair mesh was still in tact.
All was well. The medication helped a ton and within the hour Chad had improved enough to lay back on the gurney. His Mom came to the hospital and she said ever since he was a kid, his stomach has put him through pure chaos when he had to vomit. It's intense. Very, very difficult to watch. I can't imagine what it's like to endure.
We got home and eventually got settled just before 2 AM. He woke up about an hour and a half later and began vomiting again. I really thought we were going to head back to the ER. Fortunately, he was able to keep a tablet down which calmed his stomach enough to fall back to sleep.
He has not gotten ill since about 4:30 AM.
We later found out, there is a really bad stomach virus going around the town. Apparently, Chad fell victim. I believe I even got a touch because I began getting sick but my stomach is a steel cage, so I'm alright (haha)
This is a mighty long post to talk about a stomach bug but it is representative of our lives now. It doesn't matter what it is, the mind goes crazy with the worse case scenarios spinning through your head. The harsh realities of life are overwhelming sometimes. I am just SO grateful for all the genuine and thoughtful people out there who truly understand what this is like. Who reach out, offer prayers and support and are truly in our corner. I will NEVER be able to properly express how much it means to me.
Much Love
xo
This is the story of Chad's fight against Appendix Cancer. On January 7, 2015 Chad found out just how special he was when he was told that not only did he have Cancer but it was extremely rare and very aggressive. Chad has always taken life by storm - so why stop now? Some may have crumpled and fell but the soldier in him took over and he decided then and there he had an infinite number of reasons to kick Cancer's ass. The road will never be easy but he will fight - and he will win.
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