Monday, July 7, 2008

UPDATE.....

Thank you to everyone who has expressed their concern for Mark and offered prayers in his behalf. In an effort to keep family and friends informed as to his condition/recovery as I will most likely be away from the phone and computer the next little while, I will try to give a short synopsis of the recent happenings. Mark has always had a little problem with food getting stuck in his esophagus. It started when he was about 8 or 9 years old. Usually he would take a drink or lie down and the food would just go down. As he has gotten older, it has been more difficult for the food to go down. Thankfully, this doesn't happen on a regular basis, but I have been concerned about it and asked doctors over the years what we could do to help/prevent/stop this from happening. They always just told me, that at some point, he would need to have his espohagus stretched. Anyway, about 4 days ago, he felt like he had food caught again. This time, however, it didn't seem to budge. By Saturday afternoon, he was in so much pain that I took him to the ER. The doctor there (after giving me a huge and very unkind lecture about how I should have had this taken care of years ago...) gave him some medicine through an IV to relax the soft tissue muscles in his body and allow the blockage to clear. He was so dehydrated that they had to try three different times to get an IV going. Mark had a reaction to the medication and his body temperature spiked and he began to hyperventilate. And to make matters worse, it did not clear the blockage. She told us that there were no GI doctors on call that night so we would just have to wait it out until Monday. The ER doctor sent us home (after a fun-filled 6 hour experience) with some medication that was to relax his muscles and try to get whatever it was blocking his esophagus to move. He had a miserable day on Sunday, not being able to eat or drink anything for the second day. He would take little sips of water with his medicine, but it would also get stuck and after about 3 sips, began to back up on him. The medicine gave him diarrhea so bad that before too long he was so dehydrated that he was shaking and cold. He was in so much pain that he was just miserable. This morning I called the gastrointerologist to try and get him in as soon as I could. Our appointment was at 2PM. By the time we got there, Mark was hardly able to stand. He could not even swallow his own saliva. They got him hooked up to an IV which was able to hydrate him. By the end of our 2 hour stay there we found out that the medicine he received from the ER doctor was the wrong stuff and only making him worse. The specialist also informed us that she was on call that night and received several calls from the ER. She also said that they could have scoped him then and there. (I was pretty upset!) Mark is scheduled to have a scope done tomorrow morning. We are anxious to find out what his diagnoses will be so we can get him feeling better soon. I will be sure to have another update for you as soon as we know anything. We are praying that this will not hinder his desire or ability to serve a mission. Thank you again for all of your well wishes, concern and your prayers. We appreciate it very much.

18 comments:

Sara Adams said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sara Adams said...

Oh my goodness. Mark is in our thoughts and prayers. If there is anything you need..anything..rides for your daughter...meals..anything..please call.
Love Sara

Thimbleanna said...

Oh Jo-Anne -- I'm so sorry to hear this! One of my best quilty peeps' hubby has this very same problem. He has to go and get his esophagus stretched, I think every few years. It's miserable, and it sure seems like they should be able to do something to permanently repair the problem. I hope the doctors can find a solution for Mark!

Anonymous said...

JoAnne -

I am so sorry that I haven't called you. I was sick myself yesterday and then when I didn't hear back from you on Saturday about taking Mark to the ER I just thought everything was O.K. I'm sorry!

Let me know if you need anything! I'm obviously guessing that you didn't go to camp...I haven't called because I thought you would be so busy getting ready to go...I'm so sorry, I feel terrible! Please let me know if I can help in any way! All of you and especially Mark will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Love - Erin

mylittlegems said...

I was going to call you - I am glad to hear something is going to be done tomorrow. You are in my thoughts and prayers- and I will call you soon to see what I can do and get an update. Hang in there- I'll pray for all of you. love you :)

Gail said...

WOW! I am so sorry for you and Mark. i think doctors love to waste our time sometimes. The ER would definately hear a mouthful from me. I hope all goes well today and Mark feels better soon. You are all in our prayers.

Gettysburg Homestead said...

Joann, I had no idea this was going on. I am so glad you shared. I will keep Mark and your entire family in my thoughts and prayers. I know I live many miles away, but please let me know if I can do anything.

As for the ER... I have been to many becuase of my job. There are some I would never go to. The only suggestion I have is find out who the charge doctor is and speak to him in person. He needs to know what and how the other docs are performing.

Mary

TaraB said...

This is shocking! I work with a guy that has this same problem. He actually has his esophagus stretched on a regular basis in order to assist with this problem. Best of Luck! I know all will go well.

Julie said...

I hope your day is going better--so sorry for all the problems. I hope the doctor's can REALLY do their job. Have a nice day. Julie

PARKER KALAEKOI KAM said...

I hope he gets better right away!

lera said...

Oh my goodness! What a terrible experience. I hope he is feeling better now and that you can finally find some answers from a COMPETENT doctor. (Geesh! I can't believe ER)

Anonymous said...

I have this same problem and ended up in the ER too. My uncles and brother have had the stretch thing done and it made a huge difference!

I hope things are going a little better now. It is so hard to watch your kids suffer. We are so excited to hear mission updates we will be praying that things will work out :-)

Anonymous said...

Oh, it is such torture when something is wrong with one of our babies! I'll be praying for a speedy recovery for your son. x

Misty said...

Not sure if you remember me..Pantano Ward..Anywho..Same thing happens to me. My Dr. is Dr. Baez..I'll keep your family in our prayers.

Linda - Behind My Red Door said...

Oh Jo-Anne - I am keeping Mark in my prayers and your whole family as well. I pray that from here on out, he receives on the best medical care and feels better in no time.

Many hugs, Linda

Kim Walus said...

WoW! I can't believe how many people suffer from this problem. You can add my husband to the list of sufferers.

The choking part drives my husband crazy and adds to his own anxiety issues! He's always so careful when it comes to eating certain foods!

That had to be a scary time for Mark. We will definitely keep him in our prayers!

Anonymous said...

We give thanks to the God and Father or our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. Colossians 1:3

Holly said...

Oh my gosh! How frustrating for Mark...and your family too! I'm like Gail...the ER would definitely hear it from me! Hope everything works out ok and that Mark feels better soon! Sending prayers your way!