Pain Part 3

Final Diagnosis: Thrombosed Hemorrhoid

That's what is says on the paper anyway. Before I start, some of you may wonder why I'm putting such intimate details about my health on here. Trust me, towards the end I will share how this fits into my Journey.

Saturday afternoon I notice some pain from hemorrhoids. No big deal I get them and can let it run it course. However by Saturday night I knew something was very different. I was in San Diego to see friends. By 11pm I knew something was very wrong. The pain was very very bad. I was with a friend and they had to drive me home. Sunday I tried all the treatments I could find on the Internet. Nothing was working. As I was trying to find a treatment, I found a site that talked about a serious condition that is very painful and needs to be looked at right away. The size of mine was very disturbing to me and with the pain I was in, decided to go to the ER.

I never, never wanted to step foot in that "ER" again. That should give you some kind of idea the level of pain I was in. To willingly walk back into the ER where I waited to be told my wife died 4 months ago, is an example of the level of pain. I had to wait 2 hours before I was finally seen.

I was examined and was told it was not the serious kind but that they needed to lance it and get out all the blood clots. For the next 30 min, I was in hell. There was apparently a lot of blood clots. It took some time to dig them all out. How this relates to my Journey is this, while I was experiencing one of the worst physical painful moments of my life, I never felt so alone. If Carol was here, she would have been with me and held my hand and helped me through it. But she wasn't and I had to go through it alone.

A friend showed up at the ER when the procedure was finished and I was able to go home. He went to the pharmacy and got the two medications I needed. I was grateful someone was there to help. I had earlier sent out some text messages that I was in pain.

Update: I had to stay home today for a follow up from yesterday. The doctor took one look and said I need to see a surgeon. Looks like I get to see the surgeon tomorrow at 3pm. Lucky me.