Update

WA1215 · November 2011

Yesterday was the longest day ever. My sister and I took my Dad to the hospital for his colonoscopy at 8:45. We didnt get home until after midnight.

I mentioned to you guys he was very bad off, sick. He had lost a lot of blood in the last month in his constant diarrhea (going every 10-15 minutes). If he had not mentioned this to the nurse before the colonoscopy, he could have had a heart attack and possibly died during it. Thank God he said something and they did bloodwork on him, they found out his potassium level was critically low (because of the not eating, and blood loss) and he is dehydrated. He had to get multiple bags of that in an iv that took hours and hours. His colonoscopy started at 7pm and was over at 8 pm. He has to stay in the hospital for a few days.

They aren't sure if he has Crohn's or Ulcerate colitis. A colon normally has rings, my dad's is flat. We saw photos of the inside of the colon, it's 100% infected with the IBD, and is filled with the ulcers and swollen. It's so bad, they couldnt even tell if he had polyps. His low potassium in his blood caused a irregular heartbeat, so he is on a heart monitor for that also.

So, we wait for him to get better. He is on a steroid and potassium iv (and something else I cant remember). Among many other meds. He has to be able to get his blood level healthy and stop the diarrhea before they can think about sending him home from the hospital.

Something we found out about from the doctor that pissed me off was that my Dad is smoking again. My Dad supposedly quit smoking over 10 years ago. When he quit is when the IBD started. The doctor told us, nicotine soothes the colon, and when you stop smoking he can get a flare up. So he has been using smoking to curb his flare ups all these years. We are guessing when he started his new job last month, he hasnt been able to smoke, and caused a bad flare up. I am so disappointed he has been hiding smoking all these years.

His PCP told him a month ago that he could wait to get a colonoscopy in January...if my Dad had waited he would have bleed to death and died! I am so pissed at his PCP. My parents are already searching for a new PCP now.

If you have made it through my long post, bless you. Please continue your prayers for him, that he gets better soon!

avila01 · November 2011

Thanks for the update, Kel! I'm sorry that yesterday was so rough for all of you. It's sad that you're just finding out all of these things now (and shame on that PCP who told him he could get away with waiting!), but I suppose it's better now than never, right? I hope that they're able to get all of his issues under control now!