Chuck Ellis
Member
- Messages
- 6,999
- Location
- Tellico Plains, Tennessee
Last weekend on Sunday-9/27- when I was closing down shop, my hand brushed across my belly where I've had and umbilical hernia for a number of years... it felt tender and as I usually do, I just pressed on the bump to push it back under the skin. No Joy in Mudville that night... the more I pushed the more it hurt, the harder the bump got until about 7:30 I decided I better go to the ER... Couldn't drive and the wife can't see to drive at night, so an ambulance was in order... first for me there.
I showed up at ER and they put me in a room to wait for the ER doc... in walked this 300 lb doctor who took one look, he started pushing and again No Joy... He gave me something to "relax" me, then came back for another push session. This time I was about to hit him... nothing ever hurt so bad.
Turned out I had developed a strangulated hernia and emergency surgery was in order... by now it's past midnight and no surgeon will be available until 0800... NO JOY...
Long story short, the doc showed up at 0805, took one look and started re-arranging his schedule.. Went down to Surgery at about 0830 and they started drugging me... next thing I'm back in recovery room at about noon with a 10 inch incision down the front of my belly, an incredibly sore belly and I've lost all my October Shows... I can't load and unload the truck, no heavy lifting for 6 to 8 weeks.
This weekend, today and tomorrow would have been one of my bigger shows for the year... 17th & 18th back to same area for another show that last two yeas has been very profitable. The wife contacted todays show and good news they'll let me roll the booth fees over to next year. Havent contact the second show yet... proably will send email tonight.
Warning: Don't put off fixing something that can be done in day surgery until it becomes catastrophe and cost a lot more.... I've had this hernia since about 2002 or so... in 2003 or 2004 I went to a surgeon in Houston to see about getting it fix.. a $500 day surgery. Next morning I wound up with a full blown case of appendicitis and had emergency appendectomy
but they didn't fix the hernia... I never went back... I think I didn't want to go through the pain a second time... the appendectomy was pretty intense.... This new pain is even more intense....
I showed up at ER and they put me in a room to wait for the ER doc... in walked this 300 lb doctor who took one look, he started pushing and again No Joy... He gave me something to "relax" me, then came back for another push session. This time I was about to hit him... nothing ever hurt so bad.
Turned out I had developed a strangulated hernia and emergency surgery was in order... by now it's past midnight and no surgeon will be available until 0800... NO JOY...
Long story short, the doc showed up at 0805, took one look and started re-arranging his schedule.. Went down to Surgery at about 0830 and they started drugging me... next thing I'm back in recovery room at about noon with a 10 inch incision down the front of my belly, an incredibly sore belly and I've lost all my October Shows... I can't load and unload the truck, no heavy lifting for 6 to 8 weeks.
This weekend, today and tomorrow would have been one of my bigger shows for the year... 17th & 18th back to same area for another show that last two yeas has been very profitable. The wife contacted todays show and good news they'll let me roll the booth fees over to next year. Havent contact the second show yet... proably will send email tonight.
Warning: Don't put off fixing something that can be done in day surgery until it becomes catastrophe and cost a lot more.... I've had this hernia since about 2002 or so... in 2003 or 2004 I went to a surgeon in Houston to see about getting it fix.. a $500 day surgery. Next morning I wound up with a full blown case of appendicitis and had emergency appendectomy
but they didn't fix the hernia... I never went back... I think I didn't want to go through the pain a second time... the appendectomy was pretty intense.... This new pain is even more intense....