Friday, July 20, 2012

Paul's health

After 6-8 weeks of GI sickness my stomach calmed down...

Then  my back was out for two weeks, with one of those weeks on complete bedrest (with Paul at work!)...

Then I went to the chiropractor and got back on my feet. Slowly and steadily getting back to my full range of motion.

THEN this past Sunday Paul woke up with a little "knot" in his groin area. It was uncomfortable, but he went about his day. No strenuous labor or anything. Just normal Sunday activities.

By Monday the area was swollen to the size of a child's fist and angry red. Paul could hardly walk to the phone in the other room to call into work. Monday morning I took him to ER. We assumed that he had a hernia. The triage nurse thought it was a hernia. And, after waiting in the waiting room for 4 hours the doctor said it looked like a hernia. But, he wanted an ultrasound to make sure.

The ultrasound showed the lump is NOT a hernia. It was one swollen lymph node. They assumed that it was/is caused by infection and sent him home with painkillers and antibiotics.

The next day Paul was still miserable and made an appointment with his primary care physician. That doctor took some blood to see if we could get to the root cause. The blood count shows that Paul's white blood cell count is NOT elevated... it is at the low end of normal. He is not battling a bacterial infection. The doctor was/is pretty certain that the blood tests show we are not dealing with cancer/lymphoma.

But, Paul is not better. He is still swollen. He still cannot do even light duty work around the house. (He cannot hold my 15 pound baby.) He has now missed a whole week of UPS and U-Haul. The primary care doc does not want to see him again... said that he thinks Paul will be well soon. Paul had to practically beg for another work release.

Paul cannot receive any kind of disability from UPS unless he can show there has been a work-related injury. At this point we don't even know there is an injury. We know nothing!!! I am stretched beyond the limits of my own sickness here! Paul and I have talked about me getting a job, but obviously that would not be a good short-term solution. Most jobs don't pay for a few weeks. And, hopefully by then he will be back to work.

Friends, I am at a loss here... I feel a bit like I am drowing... Please pray that I will keep clinging to my Strong Tower - The Lord. Comments are disabled. You can call or email me if you want to talk or pray with me.