Waiting

 

Last week, while swapping messages with an Alabama friend about someone’s passing, I learned my brother, Rick, was recently hospitalized. I asked if it was his heart again and was told, “No, it was diverticulitis”

Sadly, I’m currently more informed about diverticulitis than when Saturday Night Live mentioned it decades ago and I was confused. I’ve recently become extremely familiar with diverticulum inflammation. When Don mentioned it, my lower abdomen instinctively began aching.

I was afflicted in 2008. I spent four days hospitalized while having abscesses drained, and then I returned later for a resection. The hardest part for me was people dropping by while I tried watching the Alabama football game as they offered sympathy and compassion. It was also tough getting all my gut microbes back in sync. That took several weeks.

When Don seemed surprised I wasn’t aware of Rick’s issues, I admitted I didn’t tell Rick or other family members of my hospital visit. There’s enough to worry about these days without a daily health report. Especially if you, like me, would rather suffer illness alone than entertain a parade of well-meaning visitors.

Later that morning, I called my brother. The conversation started in my driveway as I left for a grocery run and ended several minutes later sitting in the Walmart parking lot. We deal in text messages mostly, so actual phone conversations are rare. It turns out his bout with diverticulitis was more severe than mine.

The first diagnosis involved some medication and a wait and see. A few days later he was back at the emergency room and ended up in surgery. His colon had ruptured and involved an immediate and thorough surgery of his insides. Instead of a tiny scar like mine he’s dealing with a large open wound and a much bigger scar. He complained about waiting five hours before being immediately rushed into surgery.

I thought about that as I sat in the Chapin Urgent Care waiting room one week later. I had been encouraging the Landlord to see a doctor about her gut problems over the last few days. When you walk into the bathroom and the trash can is in front of the toilet instead of beside it, you know something needs a more informed opinion.

So I was trying to stay awake and using my brother’s five hour wait as a calming agent. I was sure she wouldn’t be that long. I was also thinking about cell phones and such. I was interviewing someone the day before who was convinced our phones eavesdrop on us and have magical powers. I don’t usually believe such crap but wonder every time a coincidence happens. I don’t support otherworldly rationalizations but would like a more reasonable explanation to some recent happenings.

I’m sure some people in America are confident disease can be transmitted through T-Mobile wireless, but I’m not among those folks. All three of us have a history of diverticulitis, and it isn’t contagious, so the idea it could have traveled from Rick to me to Suzy by way of iPhone is really stupid.

Not as stupid as believing the earth is flat, but still pretty stupid.