I think I can write about this now

See this man? This amazing, wonderful, husband of mine was extremely sick last weekend. I wrote a short blurb about it a few days ago, but I think I am ready to write about it in more detail today. I just wasn't able to do that a few days ago. I was more concerned with the health of my true love.

Eric got sick on Wednesday and came home early. He was throwing up but also had a bad pain in his stomach. I found him curled up in bed when I got home from school that afternoon. Honestly, at that point my biggest concern was keeping the kids away from him because I really didn't want them picking up yet another bug. However, it was a bit concerning that his stomach hurt so bad.

Thursday morning arrives and our plans were out of whack from the beginning. Evan was going to have his kindergarten placement test at my school, and then Eric was supposed to take him over to his school when the test was done. Instead, I took Hudson to daycare, and Evan went to school with me. Luckily the kindergarten teacher tested him right away, and I jetted him over to his school.

I had just gotten back to my school when Eric texted me asking if I could come home and take him to the doctor. Huh? That was my first reaction. My second reaction was worry. Eric never needs me to do stuff like that for him. It's always the other way around.

I quickly lined up people to take over the class and ran home to zip Eric over to Urgent Care, fully intending to make it back to school in time to take the kids to church to practice their songs for Mass. That was not to be.

Urgent Care directed us right to the hospital. That's when I started getting a bit more concerned. We drove to Clovis Community and began the worst weekend EVER. Poor man was hurting so bad he was moaning. It took two hours to be seen by triage. They gave him a shot for pain, ordered a CT scan, and sent us back into the waiting room because there were no beds in the E.R. Apparently Thursdays are busy (or at least that's all I can come up with as to why people were streaming in all day on a random Thursday in March). You sure do see some interesting people in the E.R. though. My favorite was the girl waiting for her cigarettes to arrive while also flirting with a drunk cowboy who broke his hand the night before. Books could be written!

Finally at 4:30ish (6 hours after arriving), we were taken back into the E.R. A few hours and one CT scan and ultrasound later, we were told that Eric had pancreatitis and was going to be admitted to the hospital, but there were no beds available. Apparently "no beds" is the new trend. At least he was getting better medicine, but it only controlled his pain for about two hours at a time.

Hudson's godmother ran to school to get Evan and deliver him to Hudson's daycare. The boys ended up spending the night there. We thought for sure Eric would have a bed upstairs within hours. Oh we were so silly in our thoughts. I finally ran home to gather pj's, blankets, and fresh clothes for the kids. It was so hard to hold them and have to leave again.

I stayed with Eric all night, twisting myself into the most unimaginable positions I have ever not wanted to be in. E.R. waiting chairs suck. I felt horrible because Eric was not allowed to have food or water, and he was so horribly thirsty. All he wanted was water. Every time he was in pain, I'd run out and tell a nurse. Every time he had to pee, we had to find a nurse to unhook the IV, and then they usually never came back to hook him up again. Frustrating to say the least.

I finally went home at 5 a.m., because I figured if I didn't, I wasn't going to be able to help anyone on Friday. I slept for a few hours, showered, and went back to the hospital fully expecting Eric to be in a bed upstairs. Nope.

We didn't get a bed until 5:30 Friday night. Thirty-one hours in the E.R. An experience I would not wish on anyone.

Things improved once he was taken upstairs. For one thing, they gave him ice water! I happened to walk in and see Eric with a huge grin on his face. I asked him if he was on some good drugs. He smiled, held up a cup, and said, "No, they gave me ice water!" It was nice to laugh after having cried so many tears. I'm a bit of a weeper.

There is more to the story, but suffice it to say that Eric was in the hospital until Sunday afternoon. He was discharged a day earlier than we expected, so that was a nice surprise. He will have to have his gallbladder removed. We are trying to be healthier so as not to aggravate said gallbladder until it can be removed.

I will write about taking Evan to his opening day of T-ball in another post. It was sad because Eric was in the hospital. I cried some more.

I am just so extremely grateful to have my best friend home where he belongs. It is terribly frightening to watch someone you love be in so much pain. I hope Eric thinks I was supportive during all this, despite my tears.

A big thank you to Linda for watching the kids the first night, my mom for staying with me on Friday and Saturday, and to Tiff for taking the kids for the weekend. Another big thanks to Greg for help in the hospital and to Rosa for fighting her way back into the E.R. to deliver me some much needed snacks and diversion. Thank you to everyone for the phone calls, texts, and prayers. We feel very loved and blessed.