Diverticulitis

It started with a kind-of pressure feeling in my lower tummy. The right side got better; the left did not. Pretty soon I make a late evening trip to the Emergency Room, where I'm X-Rayed, CT Scanned, blood-tested and probed until the doctor tells me I have inflamed pockets in my colon that need to be treated so they don't burst. And treatment is IV antibiotics.

When the clock reaches 4:30 A.M., I'm finally taken to my room.

Flash forward 2 and a half days, and I'm let loose with an additional 10 days of oral antibiotics to take and the promise that I will go for a colonoscopy within 2 weeks. I have had my vitals taken every few hours, and my intravenous drip changed four times a day. The first day I was on a total liquid diet, and three servings of broth, juice, and jello was enough to make me want to jump out the window. Later I got a modified diet which tasted like bland on toast, but it was so much better than broth, juice and jello! (And, yes, I know what I'm in store for on the day before the colonoscopy!)

This hospital was just barely on the US side of the US/Mexican border. The care was good, and everyone spoke English (except the folks who emptied the waste baskets), but the facility was in need of general maintenance and comfy beds. And better food. Oddly, for me anyway, the majority of the nurses were men.

I'm glad to be home, and hope I don't have a recurrence -- it can be a dangerous disease, requiring surgery to remove portions of the bowel. But for now, I'm happy to be sipping a glass of non-alcoholic wine, watching a football game, and looking at the holiday decorations and lights in the park.