10/9 and 10/7 Emails

10/09/08 - Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers and faith, your kind words of comfort, and visits to the hospital. We are truly blessed to be surrounded and supported by such wonderful people.

Dad's condition has greatly improved. The NG tube was in place for 38 hours and removed over 1000 ml of liquid from Dad's digestive system. He has been off pain medication since 2 AM Wednesday. He has been able to have several BM's and the most recent X-Rays are favorable though some distention of the kidney and bladder are still apparent. Yesterday the NG tube was clamped off for 6 hours to see if the blockage was clear and Dad could tolerate it. He was and so they removed the tube. (The nurse asked me if I wanted to do it, but politely declined.)

He spent the night and now this morning at 8:33 I just received a text message from him saying, "I just had my first swallow of water in about 60 hours. How sweet it is! Now juice jello & broth. I really am excited! I might get to go home tomorrow!" The doctors will most likely start soft foods tonight and if everything checks out, he will be discharged tomorrow. From here, we still have to address the pouchitis infection and the doctor wants to perform the intestinal scope as an outpatient procedure to give his system time to recover.

We can't thank you enough for your faith and prayers. The Lord continues to watch over us. All our love,

The Loser Family.

10/7 initial email

All, I have been asked to update you concerning recent events in our family and enlist your faith and prayers in behalf of my Father as we endure and learn from this complex trial. Yesterday Dad complained of acute abdominal pains for most of the day. This is not uncommon, however they did not go away and in fact increased in frequency and level of pain. This was quite disturbing to all the family at home. It was concerning that he hadn't had a bowel movement (BM) since 2 in the morning; he generally has 15-30 in a 24 hour period. Mom tried to convince Dad to go to the ER in the early afternoon which he refused and took some pain medication. Mom was in West Valley painting at Grandma's house. Dad called Mom around 6 telling her that he felt he needed to go to the ER. She called me and I drove out to the house as she drove home from West Valley. A good neighbor and I administered a blessing to Dad and we headed to the ER.

The doctors gave him some pain medication. And then performed a CT scan which indicated he had an intestinal blockage near some adhesion which is was caused from scar tissue from his iliostemy surgery. They inserted a tube through his nasal cavity to try and decompress the bowel and clear up the blockage. This would require monitoring and take some time. The surgeon at AF decided it was not within her expertise if the bowel didn't decompress and required surgery. They contacted Dr. Griffin who performed the original surgery in 4/06 and he consented to be the overseeing physician. They decided to transport him by ambulance to St. Marks in SLC which is where they are now and being monitored.

They have been able to remove a lot of food material through the tube and now believe it only to be a partial blockage. They will continue to remove material and once they feel it is clear, they will scope the area to check for narrowing and potential future restrictions and also look at the pouchitis which is the infection he has been fighting for the last year or so which causes 30-40 BM a day rather than the 6-8 he had the year after his surgery. Again, we know you've all been participating in faith and prayers and felt it appropriate to update you on the situation. We love and appreciate our relationships with you. May the Lord bless you all in your endeavors as well. Love,
The Loser Family.