Freaky Week Continues

"Just how bad can it get?" I asked. Let's recap, shall we?

Monday: M gets laid off. Yes, this is a good thing overall, but it's still a bit disconcerting.

Tuesday: Uneventful. Thank god.

Wednesday: Five hours spent in the emergency room, trying to find the cause of M's abdominal pain. Original kidney stone diagnosis gives way to diverticulitis. Discharged with antibiotics and Vicodin.

Thursday: Driving home in darkness and rain, I am rear-ended by an uninsured, unlicensed driver merging off the worst stretch of our local highway and am pushed into the car in front of me. No one seems to be injured. There was apparently a fourth car involved. I fear the Wonder Wagon is totaled, however. "Fortunately," M was still feeling so horrible that he was not in class, and able to meet me at the scene of the accident and we are eventually able to drive both cars home. Perversely, I am somewhat relieved that I've finally had an accident. Perhaps I'm safe now for another 30 years.

Friday: Groggy and aching day for both of us. Interview with insurance company re accident. Co-worker graciously drops off my laptop so I can do a little work. Walking the dog in the afternoon sets me back, however. M's Vicodin has him sleeping long hours, though he's plagued by pain and intestinal, ah, difficulties. He does research some car opportunities for me. Fruitless waiting for a call from the insurance company's damage inspector--now nothing will be done to determine if the BuiHog can be repaired or not til Monday.

Saturday, that's today: M's pain is not much better, and he only has two doses of Vicodin left. I contact the emergency room, and they recommend he call the GE doc with whom he has an appointment in just under two weeks, who recommends that he go back to the emergency room. I call to cancel my friend's visit and this time shower first, though no time for a second latte, and off we go. Four hours later, a new, barium-enabled CT scan reveals that he actually has an intestinal abscess which had worsened since Wednesday. Three hours later, he's admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics. I return home, driving M's truck--a stick, ack!, though it wasn't so bad--walk the frantic mutt, back to the hospital with M's school bag, then home again to a little beer and blogging.

He'll be there for a couple of days, at best. There's an 80% chance that the antibiotics will clear everything up. Or, he may have to have minor surgery to have it drained. Eew. Or, even more eewier, he may have to have major surgery to have the abscess-y section removed entirely.

OK. A little deep breathing.

We're alive and insured. M is getting taken care of now, not ten days from now when his original doctor's appointment was scheduled for. My back and neck feel much better today. And hey, M has his own TV in his room, so we can watch football tomorrow.