All the work really paid off....

[alvocado]

Prayers and thoughts to you and your wife. It was odd to see you quiet on the forum for a few days - it's good to have you back.

 

[rdezs]

She's heavily sedated, waking up every 3 and 1/2 hours for more pain meds... Until now haven't had a whole lot of time for much. I have a feeling this is going to be a long recovery at home. Luckily last year Oregon passed into law a paid leave for things like this. Apparently we both get it. 12 weeks worth anyway. That sure takes some of the stress off.

 

[Geotrash]

Thanks for the updates - been checking in as I can. I'm really glad they were able to get in there, stop the bleeding and get the tumor out. Now for recovery and I pray that the cancer hasn't spread anywhere else. That the doctor said it was completely contained within her intestine seems a good sign.

 

[rdezs]

Here's a picture that might motivate people to get checked. This is looking at it downstream, the walls are bright red because it was bleeding steadily. It's that big thing with a vein going through it. Blocking 90% of her small intestine. So glad it's out of there.

 

[j91z28d1]

hope she recovers quickly. but healing takes time, I've had some some stuff done that cuts thru abdominal muscles and it's brutal, takes forever to heal. smoothest ride home and patience.

glad you got some sick time to use. I was lucky enough to have one of the few jobs that hadn't turned sick time in pto scam, took the full 6 weeks off to recover and needed it all. happy she doesn't have to rush back to work.


but yes, good reminder to not put getting a scope off, sounds like she was younger than insurance wants you to be to approve it. but as someone that also just got dumb lucky and got one in my 30s for other reasons and they found some cancer stuff back then to cut out. easy fix then, would have been really bad long before the standard time to check. don't put it off guys.

 

[blondie70]

Would a colonoscopy have picked up this tumor forming earlier ..or was it too far in ???

 

[rdezs]

Too far in. That's the downside of colonoscopies, they can only see so far. But this tumor was bleeding and shedding cells, definitely would have showed up on the colon guard home test.

 

[rdezs]

Worse yet, they're estimating it's only 5 months old. Up until last week when they removed it from her list of prescriptions, she was on Prednisone for menopause. The doctor said in the past 6 months they've made a direct connection between Prednisone and ****** cancer, and they suspect other cancers. The worst yet if you have cancer and you take prednisone, the cancer cells multiply much faster. It's almost like a fertilizer for them. I suspect prednisone will be taken off the market in the next couple months. The surgeon said they're moving way too slow on it.

 

[OBSandaNNBS]

Here's a picture that might motivate people to get checked. This is looking at it downstream, the walls are bright red because it was bleeding steadily. It's that big thing with a vein going through it. Blocking 90% of her small intestine. So glad it's out of there.

That photo illustrates the critical nature of the car ride. Goosebumps type stuff...

 

[rdezs]

They were so worried that if she fell down prior to surgery on her right side, the thing would rupture and she would bleed out. She wasn't allowed to get up without two people assisting prior to surgery. And yeah, I guess it's a good thing for the air ride.

 

[rdezs]

Update, less pain meds today, we got her up and she walked for about 10 minutes with a walker, IV in tow of course. And in the past hour she was finally able to drink a protein drink and keep it down. Small victories are big victories

 

[Sundancer]

You better sit down, this is a rather intense post. I've been offline for a couple days....

Sunday was 98° f. We're an hour from a hospital, my wife fainted and went unconscious. Her pulse was sitting at 136. Blood pressure extremely low. Too long for an ambulance to arrive. I put the money on the 2014 Escalade, which I did the full AFM delete last year with LS7 lifters.... Basically went through the whole motor in the top end. All new brakes all around, CV axles, bearings, u-joints. Removed the speed limiter in the ECM a long time ago for no specific reason. Just didn't like the thought of it.

Carried her to the Escalade, neighbor came along to monitor her and if CPR was needed. She's 51 years old. It's basically a straight stretch of State highway, a few intermittent four-lane sections. 80 to 120 mph+. ER staff on the phone as we were a few minutes out, and waiting when I pulled up. They immediately took her in on a gurney while I parked the Escalade. Oil pressure, transmission temperature, everything ran perfect. But damn, you could really feel the heat coming from underneath the vehicle when I parked.

Long story short, she was bleeding to death internally from a large tumor in her intestine. They have stabilized her with blood transfusions, they're going in Saturday morning to remove about a foot and a half of intestine that contains the tumor. Tumor has not spread beyond the intestine. It's in there deep where the small intestine connects to the large intestine. She basically only had 32% of the necessary blood left in her body.

I can say 100% in all certainty, I would not have trusted the vehicle to be driven that hard and that fast if it still had the AFM installed. Many high RPM down shifts, getting around traffic at times.

My neighbor that came along is a recently retired state police firearm instructor. He called in ahead so we had an ****** the last mile and a half where there's traffic lights.

We almost lost her. They think she came within 30 minutes of organ damage from lack of oxygen occurring. Apparently there's a critical point where there's no recovery from. Made possible with that Melling 10296 oil pump, Cloye's timing components, Delphi LS7 lifters, BTR trunnion kit, Melling push rods, and Valvoline r&p 5W30. I can tell you, between 5 and 7,000 RPM that 6.2 really screams with an absolutely beautiful sound.

Came home for some sleep, just change the oil and gave it a once over, and headed back down to the hospital now..... At a normal speed this time.

Thank God that you had the smarts to take matters into your own hands due to time constraints. I am hoping for a slow and smooth recovery and the best to you guys. As far as the truck goes, because of your knowledge you were more than well prepared for this life and death event. It is because of people like you that I am on this forum because I know very little about mechanics but enjoy my 3rd Tahoe so much. My 2020 Tahoe RST is a work of art but I have already had all 8 injectors replaced and fuel rails at 48K which is highly disappointing considering that when I had my 2011 Tahoe LTZ , I did not start experiencing issues until it was at 179K.
None the less, family is everything and again, hoping for a great recovery

 

[retired]

prayers for wife and you.

 

[rdezs]

Thank you everybody, just trying to hang in here. Still in the hospital. Very slow recovery.

 

[rdezs]

Awesome news, they are letting her come home for several weeks recovery, at 4:00 p.m. today. More than half of the 15 or 16 things they test in your blood still are way below the normal range, but creeping up. They expect 8 to 12 weeks to get all the numbers in the normal range. So lots of bed rest between now and then.
Friday we await the lab test of the surrounding tissue to find out if it spread microscopically. These days they give you digital access in real time to your medical record.... We will have that up on the screen at home, waiting for what we pray is good news.

Her Escalade just got babied. Took it in to get detailed, they did an excellent job. I've been driving my Hummer H2 while I had her Cadillac in our shop getting it prepared for today. Even though all the fluids and everything are only about 8 months old.... Replaced everything except her antifreeze.

I actually remember on the way down to the hospital, engine screaming at times downshifting going up that big hill somewhere around 100 mph, that I was glad I verified her lifters were genuine Delphi LS7s with the gold clip when I unpack them. Thanks go to Michigan Motorsports for selling the real deal, quality parts. Pirelli, the scorpion tires handled fantastic and the power stop brakes got an extreme test.

And of course for my neighbor that rode along and monitored her, ready for CPR. It took its toll on him emotionally.... I could see it on his face once they wheeled her in.

And thank you everyone for the support here on the forum. I know this is supposed to be about vehicles, but it's turned into much more. There's so many times late at night, nobody to talk to, I would look through the forum and read your comments. Really helped. Thank you

 

[solli5pack]

Sounds like things a trending in the right direction. Good to hear!

 

[Fless]

Whether we comment or not, many here are praying for and thinking about your wife and family, and for a great outcome. To be in your situation is not something that many can imagine ourselves in, and feel for your health and well-being.

 

[JoeBlobs]

Man, what an emotional read brother. God bless you, your wife and your neighbor! Very happy to hear things are looking up for yall right now.

 

[rdezs]

I was warned about the roller coaster ride we were embarking on. Today we have a humongous victory. The pathology report came in from the samples taken from 47 locations around her abdomen. This included the lungs, liver, 26 lymph nodes, and so on. Appendix was removed as the surgeon located a small nodule. Pathology report found it to be benign, and they found absolutely no sign of any microscopic evidence of cancer outside of her intestine. This puts her survival rate at 85% in 5 years, comparable to any other 51-year-old woman who never had cancer. If they found it had spread, that percent in 5 years would have been about 11%. The setback we had after that was minor. She has a little too much blood in her stool, so they're having her spend one more night and get another sample tomorrow. Worst case scenario is they go in orthoscopically and fix a couple stitches where they reattached the two sides of the intestine. This is an easy fix, nothing to worry about.... And we are both so relieved at the pathology report overall. The surgeon reiterated that if it wasn't for the tumor bleeding, it would not have been found until well after it had spread. That which almost killed her, is actually what saved her. She's eating well on a full diet, walking around carefully, and emotionally back to her usual self with a sense of humor.

I have been dreading to see how much the out-of-pocket was going to be on this. They went all out, the billing to the insurance is well over 1 million. I called to check on the maximum out of pocket for our policy. I was stunned when they told me $4,000 each calendar year. After that they pay 100%. Holy cow, that's less than a remanufactured LS engine!

So it looks like at least one more night. I made a CD that's in the Escalade right now, that starts off with Ozzy Osbourne's "Mama I'm coming home"... I figure I'll crank the volume up as I'm pulling up to the patient pickup area where they will have her in a wheelchair with a couple nurses.

I would not wish this roller coaster ride on anyone. Definitely get checked. Hope to have another update tomorrow!

 

[rdezs]

Brought her home around noon today! It's not just physically healing now, but recovering from the emotional trauma. She wanted to lay down in our bed.... We both fell asleep for 6 hours. It's like now that we're off the 12 Day roller coaster ride, we can finally wind down and still so exhausted. She wanted all the details that she knew was being kept from her. Like when she developed a slight fever when they started the transfusion of blood.... She didn't know that indicated the beginning of rejection, her immune system starting to attack it. If they couldn't give her blood, she would be considered terminal. Surgeon and I agreed that we should keep the transfusion going for an extra hour..... Halfway into that second hour her fever dropped, right down to 98.6. There were so many ups and downs like that it's mind-boggling. Life hanging on the edge each time. And it all started one morning, we both headed to work, just a normal typical Monday morning. An hour and a half later she was being loaded in an ambulance. Talk about being blindsided.

And we're headed back to sleep. Thank you again to everyone for the support. I often read it in the middle of the night, many sleepless nights...,..

Her "baby"