Sunday, May 3, 2009

Four feet less..

One of these things is not like the other.....one of these things just isn't the same Ben was diagnosed 6 months ago with ulcerative colitis. This is a chronic, often genetic, condition that is an inflammatory bowel disease. There will be periods of time when it will be in remission and not bother him at all, and then there are periods of time when it will flare up and cause him extreme discomfort and all kinds of unpleasant side effects.
We think he has actually had UC for several years now, but, since doctors are invincible, or at least they like to think they are, it took a really rotten flare up and a persistant co-worker to finally convince him that he needed to be seen.
About 8 weeks ago he started in with another flare up and it just got progressivley worse, despite Ben's and his doctors best efforts to treat it. We knew that at some point in his life this disease would require surgery but we felt like we would exhaust all medical treatment options first.
After swallowing about 17 pills per day, several very unpleasnt scopes, and 3 trips to the ER in a matter of 8 days with no relief in sight, Ben was admitted to the hospital here locally until a bed became available at the Cleveland Clinic......12 hours later he was on his way.
The doctor who performed his surgery is literally one of the best in the country. He was one doctor of a small team who pioneered the procedure about 10 years ago at the clinic.
The whole process will occur in three steps, the first (actually removing the entire colon and the rectum) took place on Thursday. After a 6 week recovery he can return to work.
The last two procedures will occur in about 6 months. Hopefully then Ben will remember what it means to feel good.

Here he is sleeping comfortably with the little man about 2 hours before surgery.

13 comments:

Carr Family said...

Wow! I hope he gets feeling better soon. Will he be in pain until the last surgery is complete? I hope not.

Natalie said...

Great picture! We love you guys!

Ashlee said...

We had know idea. Your family will be in our prayers. We hope that all went well and he will be feeling better soon. Things like that with no family around are never fun. Hang in there, and good luck.

Cordie said...

We hope that he is okay and we are sorry to hear about this. Good luck with everything.

The Robinson Family said...

Rach! WoW~I am sorry to hear that Ben has had such a rotten time lately. Hope that you guys are doing ok. I think of you often. Is there anything you need or that I can do for you? Please let me know. Love you.

Schad fam said...

I hope he is feeling better, Surgery is NO fun!!! Hope you guys are doing well

Julie said...

Hope he is doing better...that is no fun at all!

Angella and Eric said...

That's a great shot. Does he know you posted it? You'll need to let us know when he's up to visitors!

ANDY and MANDY said...

Best of luck to him! You are in my thoughts and prayers! Hang in there.

Kyle and Jonna said...

Oh man...that's sounds like a rough road. We hope the best for you guys. Great pic by the way!

Mrs. Doctor said...

Oh my goodness! You guys are definately in our prayers. My mom has ulcerative colitis, too. No fun. Best of luck.

Unknown said...

Hey guys- We're back in town! Let us know what we can do to help!!!

David and Company said...

So sorry! Gosh you guys are in our prayers. I really hope he starts feeling better soon. Hang in there. Love you all.