WORRYING - LONG DISTANCE STYLE

So there I was, playing around on the computer, and I clicked on my email to see if I had any new messages. Yes! One from my daughter! I knew she was still in Chicago for a long weekend, but figured she was catching up on her email at her friend’s house. NO.

The email had been sent from her cell phone, and in it she told me she was in the emergency room in a Chicago hospital! I knew she’d been having severe abdominal pains from time to time, and that so far none of the doctors had been able to figure out what was causing it.

Her email said she was going to have surgery for a blockage in her small intestine, probably some sort of kink or telescoping, and that they might have to cut out a section of her small intestine to solve the problem. I can’t think of anything worse than when the good news and the bad news are the same thing! I was relieved that someone had finally figured out what was wrong, but knowing how terrified she is of surgery, it breaks my heart not to be able to be there for her!

If I were in Louisville I’d still feel helpless and worried, but being here in Italy just compounds those feelings. We leave for the states in nine days, and believe me, I can’t wait!

UPDATE

I just spoke with my daughter. She's at Loyola University Hospital in Chicago. ...whose website does NOT work! They performed surgery and removed her appendix, part of her large intestine and part of her small intestine. The doctor told her it could have been appendicitis....or not. It could have been lesions....or not.

As a lay person I realize everything isn't as cut and dried as it appears on television, but really....why is it so difficult to get answers???

Adding to my daughter's anxiety is the fact that tissue samples were sent to pathology. I tried to reassure here that this was just standard procedure, but apparently the doctor told her things looked "very unusual", so of course now she's scared and worried.

At this point, and based on my limited knowledge, I'd have to say that I'm NOT impressed with this doctor. Perhaps it isn't easy to tell what the problem really was, but there was NO reason for her to scare my daughter like that! Let's hope time changes my opinion.