A visit to the ER: An Update

This is a quick summary of the GeoWoodstock 14 abdomen pain incident.

Episode 1

While at GeoWoodstock in Colorado, at about 1:30 PM, my abdomen / stomach began to hurt a little bit. At 2:30, we had an event at our booth at which time I was already starting to feel pretty crummy. I’ve felt uncomfortable before (hot, tired, etc.) but I've pushed through discomfort many times before, so “on with the show”!

After our event, I was really starting to feel bad.

IMG_6178b

Throughout the day, I had been drinking water, ate food, and was mostly in the shade during the day. Some thought it might have been altitude sickness, but that's quite doubtful. No lightheadedness, no headache, no nausea. I'm relatively fit, and hardly ever have stomach aches, so this was odd. My first thought was food poisoning but I don't think so. Sandy had the exact same meal that I had and suffered no ill effects.

The pain in my abdomen continued to get worse, pretty intense, to the point where I was feeling a bit faint and sweating a whole lot. I kept trying to muscle through it, deal with it and was hoping it would fade away. It didn't it kept getting worse. I knew Sandy was concerned, and after it reached a certain point I said that I think I needed help.

Sandy went to seek help and some medics were sent over to assess me. My body temp was low and I was sweating quite a bit. The pain in my abdomen was pretty intense by the time I was in the ambulance. Eventually they administered a morphine like painkiller via IV and that helped quite a bit. My abdomen has never hurt that badly before.

The geocaching community came around us and supported us quite a bit. They helped Sandy tear down the booth, load up the car and take care of Sean as well. SO many people were SO helpful. We had many offers for help.

I was taken to a local ER where more assessments were made. Tests were run but nothing conclusive was found. Still a mystery at this point. This is a bit troubling as they weren’t able to identify what caused the intense abdominal pain.

Eventually I felt good enough to have dinner and was discharged later in the evening.

As of now, I’m feeling pretty good and ready to get going. Just a slight hint of abdominal pain.

I plan to follow up with my doctor when I get home.

We very much appreciate all the comments and prayers that we received.

Continue on to Episode 2

8 Responses to A visit to the ER: An Update

  1. Emily / emilierene July 4, 2016 at 7:19 am #

    I’m glad this got better quickly and I hope you don’t have any more trouble for the rest of your trip.

  2. Valarie Butrymowicz July 4, 2016 at 7:43 am #

    Isn’t the Community of Geocaching awesome, people are all so kind no matter which way we turn around there always there with a helping hand. I hope and pray that everything goes well for you Sonny. Keep On Caching! ~Valarie and Barry of sweetlife

  3. Nancy July 4, 2016 at 8:14 am #

    Hope you feel better, Sonny and that everything is okay.

  4. Astronut July 4, 2016 at 8:18 am #

    Glad you’re feeling better Sonny. I hope you can figure out what it was.

  5. Electric Water Boy July 4, 2016 at 8:26 am #

    Whatever it was seemed to hit you quick. You looked fine during our Facebook Live. A little later you looked like you were feeling the effects of something. Then I saw you getting wheeled away and you looked like you had been hit by a truck, and then the guy backed up to make sure. I would have attributed it to the heat and altitude, but like you said you’re fit, you were drinking all day, and you had the best spot in the whole place – real shade and a breeze.

    Stomach bugs are weird. They can pop up fast, make you feel like you’re going to die, and then a few hours later you’re fine again. I haven’t had one in a long while and hope to keep it that way.

    Glad you’re doing better!

  6. stevenw54 July 4, 2016 at 9:00 am #

    I am glad that you are feeling better Sonny.

  7. Twentse Mug July 4, 2016 at 10:49 am #

    I’m happy to read that things get beter. I also hope and pray that everything goes allright and I wish you to get very well.

  8. Harbour Family July 5, 2016 at 12:58 pm #

    Hello Sonny, Sandy and Sean!
    Thank you for keeping us all updated back home…we love and miss you! We have all been praying for you Sonny. Praying for a quick understanding of what happened and speedy recovery. Please let us know if there is anything we can do!
    Hugs,
    The Harbour Family

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