The Magical Fruit Didn't Work!

Well, we never got the chance to get to the magical fruit stage (see last post). DJ was feeling better on Saturday morning, but was laying down for a rest. I was working, when Tre' came running into the room and said that DJ needed me RIGHT NOW. I ran in, and he was writhing and moaning. He said he felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his abdomin. He refused to let me call the ambulence, so I drove him in--Tre' called Grandma Judi to have her watch the kids.

At the ER, they brought out a gurney, and got him back for examination; it turned out that he had ruptured his colon, and he'd need surgery that day. We had the kids come in to see him, and then they took him in for surgery. At midnight they were done; the surgeon said that most times if the colon was perforated, it needed to go to a pathologist to see the tear; however, with DJ, he could see it with the naked eye. There was pus sprayed throughout the abdominal cavity, so the surgery had to be more extensive to make sure everything was cleaned. They removed about 6-8 inches of the colon; the incision was about 12 inches down the center of his stomach. The surgeon stitched the muscles closed, but left the top layers open for any potential drainage and to allow for easy access in case more infection was discovered later.

As part of the surgery, DJ will have a colostomy (poop bag) for the next 5 months. The colon needs time to heal, so they brought part to the surface and the bag. After 5 months, they'll go back in and reattach everything. Unfortunately, even that surgery can't be done lapriscopically, so he'll have another 2-3 days back in the hospital. Let's just say when the colostomy nurse was describing what needs to be done with the bag, I was glad that it will only be for 5 months :).

DJ, of course, wanted pictures of the wound while they were changing the dressing. He's trying to convince me to post it, but I don't think so. We'll see if he can convince me later on.