it never rains but it pours

this might be long so be fore warned.

over the last few weeks Tim's arm has hurt so badly that he has been taking a lot of motrin to ease the pain. We're not sure if it is a pinched nerve or because of repetitive stress from work but we suspect that the motrin is why he ended up in the hospital with an ulcer this weekend.

last week he mentioned that he had coughed up some blood. we didn't think too much about it because he had only had it happen that one day.
friday and saturday he had briefly mentioned that his stomach hurt and that he was a touch light headed. through out those two days my suspicions were telling me he had an ulcer and I asked him if he would go to a doctor and he didn't want to. Saturday he had been drinking some water and sat on the couch and asked me for a drink of water. I went into the kitchen and then back into the living room and in that small amount of time he was pale; there was no color in his skin or under his fingernails. He looked dead.
He eventually decided to go to a doctor about 7 that night and so we headed in. the urgent care department of the clinic was closed. we went to the ER instead where they quickly began two IVs and got his fluid levels stable.
They admitted him to the hospital that night.

Sunday the hemoglobin tests came back to show that his hemoglobin levels dropped enough to need a blood transfusion. He had two units of blood and an antibiotic. I wish I had taken a picture because it was just unbelievable. He had three IV lines in his arms and five pumps running at the same time. about 1:00 pm Tim went for an upper endoscopy. the Dr. found that about 50% of his stomach was filled with blood clots so he was not able to view his entire stomach. He did, however, find an ulcer. he injected the ulcer with a medicine to stop the bleeding there and he closed the ulcer.
During that night he needed another unit of blood.
Since then they have monitored Tim's hemoglobin levels and blood pressure and all of the kind of stuff. today was a misery because this morning we had gotten our hopes up by the admitting doctor. he said that if the GI doctor said it was okay then Tim could come home. So we waited and waited for about 10 hours for Dr GI to show up and tell Tim that he had to stay another day. :( he hasn't had any pain, apart from his arm that hurt in the first place. so other than that, physically he is feeling really good. he wants to come home and I want him home so much. But we are still having to wait. because the doctor was unable to view the entire stomach he wants to have Tim stay another night. His heme levels are stable. they were up then it dipped but it is on it's way back up now. the only thing that the doctor wants to monitor is Tim's ability to tolerate a normal diet. He is on a liquid diet right now, but Dr says that tomorrow will be a liquid breakfast but lunch will be regular diet and then we will see how his stomach handles it and then we will know if he can come home tomorrow.

I'm sad that I had to leave him there again. I wish I could be there to help him and keep him company, but the kids need me here, too.
everyone misses daddy.
we just need life to get back to normal.

I hope I have happier news to report tomorrow.