The show must go on

By 1:00 am on Monday morning, my husband was dialing for an ambulance and I was heading off to the emergency room.

Yep, I told you that things went downhill fast!

Don't worry, it wasn't some crazy farming accident. I didn't impale myself on cattle panel, catch some horrible zoological disease, or get mauled by the dogs.

To be honest, even now, no one is really sure what exactly did happen to me that night - other than the fact that I went from totally normal, to suffering from excruciating abdominal pain in under 2 hours. (It's not the first time that this has happened - the last time, when I lived in Columbus, I was also taken to the ER; but, the hospital never saw me, and I fell asleep in the waiting room after suffering for 10 hours straight. Woke up the next morning, spent a week in recovery at home, and haven't had a single problem since. It's been nearly two years since that incident.)

The staff in the hospital were wonderful, and took excellent care of me. After getting some serious relief from an IV and pain meds, I fell asleep quickly and spent all of Monday in the hospital, going in and out of sleep. I was completely exhausted and wasn't fully comprehending much, thanks to the strong pain medications the night before. By Tuesday morning, though, I was feeling much better and ready to get back home. A lot of soreness still persisted (and still does, 4 days later), but it was clear that the worst was over.

Over the 2 days I spent hospitalized, doctors came in and went over my CAT scans with me, but there wasn't very much to conclude from them, unfortunately. The potential causes mentioned included:

-Scar tissue buildup from surgeries I had as a child
-Dilated appendix
-Paralysis/dysfunction of the ilieum
-Chron's disease

Needless to say, ignoring serious issues like that is not an option. I have followup appointments over the next two weeks to try and obtain a clearer diagnosis.

In the meantime, I'm just trying to get back into my normal routines, and do as much work as I can without overtaxing myself. No matter what, as one of my favorite authors likes to say: life rolls. As unfortunate as it might sound, the dogs, cats, chickens, gardens, and farm are all indifferent to my pain and exhaustion. The show must go on...