Warning: Man Looking Good In Hospital Gown!

9:45 p.m. update

We are home. MLH has been preliminarily diagnosed with diverticulitis, and an appointment with a gastroenterologist has been scheduled. The E.R. doctor wanted to hospitalize him, since he was still in pain, but MLH talked them out of it. Thanks so much for your prayers, please continue.

Though we are tired, and MLH is still in considerable pain, we are thankful. The first radiology report, where they were supposed to be checking his appendix, etc., came back showing a mass on the kidney! The doctor talked to us about treatment options, percentages of complete removal, etc. , then left the room. He was great, the way he told us, really. And as soon as he left the room, yeah – I cratered – I had a hard time breathing, tears rolling down my face. I’ve been here before, with our big brother, Tony, whom we lost to cancer at age 39. MLH had to remind me of some things… things the Lord’s promised us…and I started to breathe again. And he said, “Whose report are we going to believe?”

Oh, yeah. I forgot for a second. We’re going to believe the report of the Lord!!

The tests then began in earnest : contrast CAT scans, with die via IV, oral, and otherwise – and thankfully, the reports revealed that the “mass” was nothing more than a cyst on MLH’s kidney. The doctor said it was nothing to worry about – no cancer after all. And that is the report of the Lord, people.

Sweet.
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I need to quit saying “It’s never boring around here.” Last night, MLH got home from the well he’s working on, and we met for supper.

This morning around 6:45 a.m., he was on the phone taking reports from the wellsite, and started experiencing intense abdominal pain. It worsens, so he suffers a quick shower (you know, because Momma always wants you to have clean underwear in case you have to go to the hospital), and we head to the emergency room. Thankfully, they put him in a room right away. It’s almost noon now. They’ve drawn blood, taken vitals, and taken x-rays. Now they’re doing some type of contrast cat scan. They did give him a pain pill, so everything’s rosy now on the pain scale.

Snooty, MLH and I have had so much fun with the Man Cold youtube video—thanks so much for sharing! This morning, during all the tests, i.v.’s, needle sticks, MLH said, “I just want to tell you – this is Man Pain.” And we cracked up.

Here he comes back from Radiology – more later!