Health Question for My Oh-So-Helpful Peeps

My husband (age 41) asked if I’d toss his symptoms out there to see if any of you oh-so-wise-and-experienced readers have any advice for his recent health scare.

 

Last night around 7:30PM, my husband was attacked with a sudden severe stabbing/tearing pain just under and behind the lower side of his right rib cage.  The pain was so severe that it caused him to not be able to breathe well and laid him out flat on the ground.  After 15 minutes of unrelenting severe pain, he agreed to go to the ER.

 

My husband has the highest pain tolerance of any person I’ve ever met.  When he broke his back in five places (and had internal bleeding), his pain level on a 1-10 scale was only a 4.  On that occasion, he walked into the ER (after I forced him to go because I feared he’d punctured a lung because he couldn’t breathe) like any tough cowboy would do, declaring he’d just broken a few ribs after being thrown from his horse and landing on a cedar stump.  Turned out five of his transverse processes (the bones that stick out off the main vertebrae) had been completely severed off and he had internal bleeding.  Even with all of that, his pain level remained at only a 4 (without medication).

 

So, last night’s episode that came on suddenly out of nowhere caused a pain level of 9 on the onset, which subsided to a 6.5 pain level once we got to the ER.  After Matt was given Dilaudid (a pain medicine that is 7 times stronger than Morphine), the pain level was at a 2-3. 

 

The ER doctor did an EKG, X-ray, ultrasound, and CAT scan of Matt’s torso, but they didn’t find anything that would pinpoint the cause of this intense stabbing/tearing pain, other than backed up stool in that area.  His liver enzymes were slightly elevated, but nothing extreme, and since nothing on any of the tests indicate a problem with the liver (which is in the same location as his pain), the ER doctor felt the slightly elevated liver enzymes weren’t a problem.  They released Matt around 12:30AM with a prescription for a pain medicine, a muscle relaxer, anti-nausea medication (he was nauseated from the high level of pain), and orders to start Miralax to try to clear the stool out.

 

Matt is still out of it from all the meds, but he continues to say this episode was the worst pain he’d ever felt in his life, and he’s experienced some pretty intense pain.  He said it felt similar to a kidney stone pain (which he’s had twice), but it was more severe and in the wrong location.  The pain is pretty much gone today, but he feels sore in the area where the intense stabbing/tearing pain had occurred (just under/below the bottom of his right rib cage).

 

So, our question today is:  Have any of you ever had this happen to you or do you know anyone who has had this happen?!?!  If so, what was the diagnosis?!?!  Any advice/suggestions?!?!  Dr. Google isn’t give us any definitive answers, but it is showing there are lots of other people who have had similar attacks without any explanation.  Help!!!

 

We appreciate your prayers for Matt to be completely healed and never have this pain again—or if there’s something going on that needs to be repaired, that it will be revealed and healed!!!

 

PS  Selah has her first consultation with the pediatric sleep specialist this afternoon.  Please also pray that he’ll be filled with wisdom regarding her sleep disorder and how to address it.  We’ve added Somno-Pro to her bedtime sleep cocktail, which has helped tremendously, but still having inconsistencies and issues with her sleep.  Thank you for always praying for us!!!

 

PPS  Thank you for praying for the child we asked for prayer for on Monday.  Please keep praying for that situation as well.