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May. 15th, 2004
A year ago today (part one)...
May. 15th, 2004 01:33 pm...we were getting ready for work. I was already dressed and almost out the door. Arlina was still getting dressed, and started having some abdominal pain--bad enough that she ultimately needed to lie down. She didn't usually complain like this, so I stuck around. I was sure it would go away--it always goes away--but this time it didn't. After a while we decided to go to the emergency room.
When we got to the ER waiting area, I registered with the receptionist. She greeted me with an air of studied indifference. It is one of those little details of the day that I will always remember.
We waited for a while, Arlina with her head in my lap as I stroked her hair--it's what I do when I don't know how else to comfort her. Eventually we were called to the back and saw the doctor.
Abdominal pain can be almost anything, and so the process of figuring it out is pretty much going through the list, starting with those things that are immediately life-threatening, and working outward. They did lab work and an xray, and we waited for the results. Not much came up in the early tests, except for some elevated liver enzymes. The doctor ordered an ultrasound, and after they whisked Arlina off for the test, I went up to my office and made an LJ entry:
"I am in the emergency room--my wife is here being worked up for cholecystitis, which is the fancy name for gallstones. We have been here since 8 am...I'm pretty sure she's going to be fine. It just takes so long to figure it out.". ( more )
When we got to the ER waiting area, I registered with the receptionist. She greeted me with an air of studied indifference. It is one of those little details of the day that I will always remember.
We waited for a while, Arlina with her head in my lap as I stroked her hair--it's what I do when I don't know how else to comfort her. Eventually we were called to the back and saw the doctor.
Abdominal pain can be almost anything, and so the process of figuring it out is pretty much going through the list, starting with those things that are immediately life-threatening, and working outward. They did lab work and an xray, and we waited for the results. Not much came up in the early tests, except for some elevated liver enzymes. The doctor ordered an ultrasound, and after they whisked Arlina off for the test, I went up to my office and made an LJ entry:
"I am in the emergency room--my wife is here being worked up for cholecystitis, which is the fancy name for gallstones. We have been here since 8 am...I'm pretty sure she's going to be fine. It just takes so long to figure it out.". ( more )