It's not appendicitis, or a hernia

Mistake #1

I started to have some stomach pains a few years ago. Unlike most men, and my normal behavior, I did go to the doctor to get it checked out. I was told that I had some minor abdominal tears (hernia) and that I didn't really need to do anything about it if I could handle the discomfort. I didn't think it was too bad, so I decided to live with it..

Fast forward to last month: (1/18/14 to be exact)

As you know, we've had a little bit of snow this winter... I have been shoveling tons of snow out of my driveway. It seems like the snow will never end BUT, it may have saved my life! All that shoveling caused me to strain my stomach (so I though, anyway). I put up with it for about a week, before it changed. I woke up at about 4 am with a very localized pain half way between my navel and right hip. I was able to get back to sleep, but thought I may be headed to the hospital later that day. I had breakfast as normal, but skipped lunch. Angela and the kids had a birthday party to go to, so I figured I could drive myself to the hospital.

I went to Zeeland's emergency room, and they made a quick diagnosis of appendicitis.  I was slapped on a table and hooked up to an IV. You have to be well hydrated to get a CT scan, and they do not operate on anybody with out a pre-op scan. I went in for my first ever CT (the first of many, I'm sure), and was wheeled back to my ER room to wait for the results. The ER doc came in and said he saw the CT frame with the appendix on it, and certainly irritated. At that point the anesthetist came in and started asking all the questions they ask before an operation.

I called Angela and let her know that I was going under the knife. At this point it was all fun and games at that point. We had talked earlier in the month about losing weight and had set numbers we would like to hit. I was joking about how much an appendix weighs, and how I was going to win our little contest. She was on her way so she could be there when I woke up. It was then that the doc came back, and had a totally different expression on his face. He said the Radiologist had looked over the scan, and there was much more going on. He showed me the full CT, it showed a large mass on my colon near my appendix (it was inflamed), and several spots on my liver.

It seemed like I could feel the tumor the second he said it.