Fred Peterson

May 2023 I had finished mowing the lawn, and thought I’d trim the grape hyacinths. They had finished blooming and were mostly dried out. When I came into the house, I couldn’t believe how tired I felt. The next two nights I didn’t sleep, having what felt like acute stomach cramps. I also felt unstable walking.

Next day I went to the doctor, who instructed me to report to the closest ER. The ER doctor deduced I was experiencing A-fib, so here comes the crash cart team to cardiovert me. I woke up the next day in a private room with my own personal RN on the critical care floor. I had severe sepsis.

I was told my small bowel had been perforated from cancer, and an ileostomy had been performed. My spleen had also been removed. (Sepsis and Perforated Bowel, Sepsis and Cancer, Sepsis and Impaired Immune System) I had no appetite and even the mere thought of food was disgusting. Over the next 6 weeks I lost weight, but was allowed to go home. Four days later, I was back in the ER with a bowel blockage requiring more of my small intestine to be removed. There was also pancreas stent put in place before they sent me home.

I was home a week when we noticed my temperature was elevated. Back to the ER, where an abdominal arterial aneurism was diagnosed. A stint was added and another pancreatic stent was installed to replace the first one, which had migrated into my intestines. A couple weeks later I was discharged. In total I spent 69 days in the hospital that summer. My weight was down to 103. One of the surgeons told me to go home, gain weight and get stronger.

Recently I returned to the hospital to have the arteries in my legs put back to the way they’re supposed to be. That was the first time in 11 surgeries associated with the cancer diagnosis that I experienced any post-op discomfort.

Since then, I’ve gained 35 pounds and am up to 45 military push-ups. Next up is a consult with the ileostomy surgeon to discuss reconnection.