It's almost my 1 year anniversary. It won't be a happy occasion celebrated with cake. I won't throw a party with balloons. It will be a quiet shivering recollection of a nightmare that almost resulted in my death.
It all started 23 years before.
In 1983, shortly after the birth of my second son, I began experiencing severe abdominal pain during or immediately after almost every meal. It really didn't matter what foods I ate, the pain would be at times, unbearable. I made an appointment with my family physician who told me "it's just stress. Cut out the stress factors and cut back on gassy foods such as broccoli, cauliflower and don't eat black pepper because it doesn't digest." That was it. There were no tests, no x-rays, nothing except a five minute conversation about the symptoms I was experiencing on a daily basis.
So, following those short doctors orders I stopped eating broccoli, cauliflower and black pepper. I had no idea how to cut out the "stress factors". I wasn't even sure what he was talking about! Did he think I was crazy? What were "stress factors"? In 1983, stress was not a common word like it is now. At the time I had a very demanding full-time job in the insurance industry, a bad marriage, lot of bills, and two children under the age of five. When I think back on those days, in hind-sight I understand the stress factors. I kept working my job, running my house, paying the bills, dealing with the marriage, and taking care of my small children. The only changes were the omissions of broccoli, cauliflower and black pepper from my diet.
The stomach cramping did not stop. I had a stomach-ache almost every single day of my life for a little over 23 years. Each one would last up to five or six hours after a meal. Accompanying the pain would be a bout with diarrhea. In fact I rarely had a "normal" bowel movement. Life went on.
Over the years I went back and forth to the doctor. He never ran one single test on me. He finally diagnosed me with colitis and gave me a prescription; the name of the medication I now forget. It did nothing to help me so I stopped taking it. I decided I just had to live with these stomach aches. I quit going to the doctor.
Fast forward to early 2007 when I began experiencing strange symptoms throughout various parts of my body: color prisms in my vision, sudden receding of my gums, loose teeth, dizziness, headaches, pin-prick sensations in my finger tips. The stomach aches became increasingly worse and almost non-stop.
My son and his friends started a diet supplement of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV); supposed to cure whatever ails ya. He encouraged me to drink two to four tablespoons of it per day too because he'd read about it's natural cures for everything from arthritis to digestive problems. Wow, I could hardly wait! Two weeks into drinking ACV every day after my largest meal I started feeling somewhat better! Amazing! No more stomach aches! It didn't last.
In early October of 2007, I began feeling flu symptoms coming on. I had fever and chills, my body ached, and my stomach hurt worse than ever before. Waking up from a fitful sleep, I'd be drenched in sweat. I had no money. I had no medical insurance, so I lay in the bed or in the living room for three weeks fighting these symptoms. Then I started passing blood and no stool and passed out in the bathroom.
"Take me to the hospital. If I don't go, I'm going to die." My husband jumped out of bed at those words. It was 6:00am on a Sunday morning, November 11, 2007. I knew I was dying. I felt it. I knew. I just knew.
What followed was the emergency room chaos and I have very little recollection of the first few days of an eleven day hospital stay; 7 of those in ICU. My colon had burst, spilling out it's body waste into my abdominal cavity, causing an almost always fatal condition called peritonitis. My prognosis was "grave". I was rushed into emergency surgery and had my colon and part of my small intestine removed. A colostomy was performed. They didn't expect me to live. Doctors found I also had fluid on my heart and pneumonia. They told my husband and son that I had obviously been ill with diverticulitis for many years. My colon was filled with pockets of diverticuli and finally became so weak, a small tear finally burst and almost took my life.
"She is a very strong woman to have come through this."
"Sharon, you just don't know how close you came."
"You are very very lucky to be alive."
And I no longer have stomach aches......after 23 years.