What a way to end the year!

The last couple days have been a wonderful way to end 2010. NOT!
On Christmas Eve, Ben took an 800 mg Ibuprofen for a stiff neck. Apparently the pill went down sideways and scraped his esophagus. He was in a little pain from this. I don't know if anyone has had a pill get stuck when it wasn't taken with enough water, but it causes a chemical burn in the esophagus, which resembles heartburn.

Ben didn't say anything to me until Christmas day when the pain got a little worse. By Christmas night he had a fever of 102, but still didn't tell me. I was so tired I had crashed. I woke up in the middle of the night because his body heat was frying me out. I woke him up and asked what was up. He told me he had a fever and was in a lot of pain in his throat and chest. I was ticked at him for not telling me in the first place. I made him go the doctor the next morning. They said it could be multiple reasons, but an infection was very rare. Well I didn't buy that answer. As the day went on, the pain got worse and Ben was unable to eat or drink hardly anything (not good for a diabetic on insulin). Monday morning I made him go to another doctor because the pain was really bad. She said again that he probably had a different viral infection not related at the same time as the esophageal pain, only because the esophagus is a "sterile" area. (BULL CRAP). However, they did set up an endoscopy to figure out if he had ulcers all the way down his esophagus from the pill.

So the surgery was scheduled for Wednesday morning first thing. Well Tuesday night the pain was so bad, he could not stand it. If anyone knows Ben well, they know he never complains of pain unless he is dying let alone call in sick to work. I knew it was bad when he called into work.

Today the results of the endoscopy showed that he most likely has eosinophilic esophagitis, which is caused by a food allergy of the esophagus. Because of the unknown food allergy, it has almost closed part of his esophagus and narrowed the rest. They took biopsies. The closing of his esophagus caused the 800 mg motrin to actually get stuck and burn a severe ulcer into his esophagus. The pill eventually dissolved. The doctors also believe a virus has attacked the ulcer, which caused the fever. So he will be on antiviral medication. He is allowed to have liquids, but anything causes excruciating pain. I, of course, worry about his nutrition and am really concerned for his blood sugars and his nutrition in general. So in the mean time, we have to wait for the ulcer to heal before he can eat normal food and we get to see Aiden's allergist to figure out what foods he is exactly allergic to so we can prevent this kind of stuff in the future. It has been absolutely horrible for him. Please keep him in your prayers.