Rand Conroe

In the summer of 2022, I was having stomach issues. I went to Urgent Care, and they ordered a CT scan. The Urgent Care Clinic called me later that day and asked me to please go directly to the emergency room because the CT showed that I had a major bowel obstruction. The ER disagreed and I was sent home.

Two weeks later I was still having issues and went to my primary care provider who ordered another CT scan. This time the radiology department did not even let me leave the hospital, instead escorting me back to the ER. Again, the ER disagreed with the radiologist’s diagnosis and scheduled me for a colonoscopy. The colonoscopy identified acute diverticulitis and I was put on antibiotics. Two weeks later I was home on the sofa and my stomach “blew up”. I was taken to the ER where they found feculent peritonitis as a result of a bowel perforation.

I was airlifted to a Denver trauma center where I spent 6 weeks in the ICU. They diagnosed severe sepsis and installed a wound vac as I had developed three fistulas. While in the ICU I had a heart attack, was on dialysis due to kidney failure, liver failure, and ventilator associated pneumonia. I spent a total of 6 months in the hospital.

Almost two years have passed and I still am not physically or mentally back to normal. I work out for two hours every day in an attempt to get my body back in shape but the cognitive issues are still a problem. Fatigue, difficulty breathing, and the inability to get a good night sleep are my new normal. I am so very grateful for the dedicated professionals in the Denver hospital who saved my life.