My dad is sick and has been in the hospital all week...will need surgery around the time of my wedding :(

I will keep you in my prayers. All you can do is pray and tell your dad you love him.

Keep him updated on your wedding plans, I am sure he would like to hear about them.

Maybe they can move up his surgery if the family tells the docs about the wedding?

I understand how you feel..im going through the same thing...i will keep you in my prayers,Danielle!

Thank u all. same to u Brandy. I am hoping we can move it up, but its hard to get a straight answer from anyone. I only get info from my dad who is now out of it, and if a nurse happens to stop in while I'm there. But the nurses don't have definate answers.

Which surgery is he having? With diverticulitis, he could be having a portion of his bowel and small intestines removed. If so, that's a 6-8 week recovery time and a MAJOR surgery. I hate to say it, but he won't make the wedding. Even if they do the surgery ahead of time, he'll be in the hospital for at least a week after, if not longer.

This has got to be really hard on you! I say CALL THE DOCTOR! Leave a note for the doctor if you aren't there when he comes in to CALL YOU immediately. But if the nurses don't know anything- I'd be worried.

Then again, with his situation, there just may not be definitive answers yet. Because he is an alcoholic, they have to detox his body before the can do the surgery- so they are actually treating 2 diseases, not just the diverticulitis.

Keep us updated on his progress! We are certainly here for support!

I am praying for you and your dad.

Oh wow thanks for in the insight Meghan. He told me on Friday that he could have the surgery right away, but that he would need to have a colostomy bag, and he was trying to avoid that. But if he waits, he might not make the wedding at all, and I think we both rather he be there, colostomy bag or not. Its just so hard to talk to him about it now. I will be back in the hospital today, so I will try to get some answers then. The nurse did tell me yesterday that if his infection is cleared up, he could go home tomorrow, but with lots of care to do at home. Just not sure when the surgery will take place. Thank you for your help. I think I'll call over there now and see how he is. Fingers crossed!

Thank u amoura

My uncle went through the same exact thing. When he had his first surgery to remove that portion of the intestines they did it right away because if the intestines rupture it can be disasterous. He was in th hospital for a week and then home from work recovering from surgery for a month. A few weeks from surgery though he was up and doing great. They had him wear the colostomy bag for three months until his intestines healed. The bag never kept him from doing anything except heavy lifting. He attended all our family functions and we would never have known he had a bag. I think they are not has horrifying as they used to be. After 3 months he we back into the hospital to have it removed, and is now home recuperating from his second surgery.
If they are planning on doing surgery to remove a section of his intestines soon, then your wedding might fall into that 3 month window of recovery where he will be wearing a bag. I know it sounds scary but no one will know he has that bag. cont.

If your wedding comes after that 3 month period, maybe the dr's can postpone the removal of the bag til after the wedding so he's not in recovery from the surgery. Also, don't let him postpone getting the bag if that is what the drs say. My uncle went home hoping it would heal and 2 days later my aunt was calling 911 because he had passed out from the pain, 8 hours later he was having emergency surgery.

This helps a lot Savanna. thanks. I now understand the process a little better. I am more hopeful now that things will be ok.

It will be ok, he is right where he is supposed to be. If you are unable to convince him to do the surgery, is there someone who will be with him when he gets home? We don't know if my uncle would have made it if my aunt hadn't been there to find him on the the floor and call 911. It was scary, but all is fine now. We were told his issue stemmed from eating nuts and seeds. Now talking to you I'm wondering if alcohol has an effect on the intestines too.

So did this happen to your uncle because he didn't get surgery right away, didn't get the bag, and he was eating peanuts?? Or was he just trying to wait tor his body to be clear of infection before the surgery? Just trying to figure all of this stuff out...pardon my ignorance My dad did tell me he can't eat peanuts and corn. My mother works full time, so he would be home alone, mostly. My father has never been very good at taking care of himself either. He has already had a stint put in his leg that was needed due to his bad drinking/smoking habits. I don't trust him to do everything he is suppose to. I will bring up these issues today...maybe in a note to the surgeon?

He was hospitalized briefly to clear up the infection in his intestines. They had him on a series of antibotics and were monitering his food intake. Which is where I'm guessing your dad is. They talked about keeping him for about a week. Then after only a few days they said his numbers (infection) looked good and he could be released. That was a sunday, on tuesday he back in the hospital having emergency surgery. Between sunday and tuesday he did not eat anything he shouldn't, he barely ate anything at all. I'm not saying that that WILL happen to your dad, I'm just saying it COULD because that is what happened to my uncle. Your dads intestines might be less damaged than my uncles. I just want you know that he shouldn't be alone if they release him until he is feeling completely fine.

Also, I wanted to let you know my uncle just had his surgery to remove his bag. We thought it would be a piece of cake. The surgery went great but he is in really, really bad pain, worse than after the first surgery. I don't know why it didn't occur to any of us that if your intestines have been inactive for 3 months and then all of a sudden have to start working, it might hurt!

My ex-husband was hospitalized with Diverticulitis while I was still in the hospital after giving birth to our 3rd son. He also did the antibiotics/mush diet for about a week. They told him he would need surgery within a couple weeks. It was REALLY bad, but they also said in order to really know anything, they had to wait until the infection cleared. Long story short, he never had to have surgery. I don't know if that's even a possibility here, but I will hold out hope that either his surgery will be scheduled sooner or he won't have to have it at all. My ex was a popcorn eater- he ate a bag of microwave popcorn every, single day until that happened.

Thank you all for your input...It is really helping me to understand what is going on. I called my dad today, and he was so drowsy from the lithium that he actually fell asleep while talking to me! He is so out of it and hard to understand. I hope tomorrow is a better day, and I'll make sure I check in on him alot when he comes home. I will keep u all posted.