Thoughts and prayers for a member of the HR community

[TeamIndiana]

Hello all, I just wanted to pass along that our friend and marching arts guru, Marching Observer, is currently having a medical emergency and needs as many prayers, good vibes, positive thoughts (and so on) as he can get right now. He is currently in emergency surgery. After a long weekend of live blogging for Box5 and TXbands, he was rushed to the emergency room this morning with a ruptured small intestine. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers tonight!

UPDATE: Josh had made it out of surgery and is hopefully on a quick path to recovery. Prayers for continued healing!

[baricrazy]

Nov 13, 2022 18:54:23 GMT -6 TeamIndiana said:

Hello all, I thought that this would be the best place to post this information as this thread is getting the most traction currently. Our friend and marching arts guru Marching Observer is currently having a medical emergency and needs as many prayers, good vibes, positive thoughts and so on as he can get right now as he is heading into emergency surgery. After a long weekend of live blogging for Box5 and TXbands, he was rushed to the emergency room this morning with a ruptured small intestine. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers tonight!

Absolutely!! So sorry to hear that, and will definitely be in my thoughts! 

[LeanderMomma]

Nov 13, 2022 18:54:23 GMT -6 TeamIndiana said:

Hello all, I thought that this would be the best place to post this information as this thread is getting the most traction currently. Our friend and marching arts guru Marching Observer is currently having a medical emergency and needs as many prayers, good vibes, positive thoughts (and so on) as he can get right now as he is heading into emergency surgery. After a long weekend of live blogging for Box5 and TXbands, he was rushed to the emergency room this morning with a ruptured small intestine. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers tonight!

We love you Josh. Get well soon!  🥺

[ilikeguard]

All the love for Josh!! Hoping for a quick and easy recovery!!

[Allohak]

Positive vibes definitely with Josh until we hear good news of progress

[srv1084]

Awful news. Hoping for the best and I'll be thinking of him. Please keep us updated as you can!

[mtnxdrew]

One of the best in the business! Prayers headed your way, and get well soon!

[paddy]

Will definitely be praying for him.

Please keep us in the loop. If we can organize anything to help let us know.

[thewho]

Great news: Marching Observer is conscious now and has made a safe recovery! He'll need some time but he'll back sooner or later.

[OldSchoolTrumpet]

Nov 14, 2022 7:09:35 GMT -6 thewho said:

Great news: Marching Observer is conscious now and has made a safe recovery! He'll need some time but he'll back sooner or later.

This is great news. Josh is one of the goods ones. I'm relieved to hear that he seems to be doing well. 

[TeamIndiana]

Nov 14, 2022 7:09:35 GMT -6 thewho said:

Great news: Marching Observer is conscious now and has made a safe recovery! He'll need some time but he'll back sooner or later.

I was just about to post an update! Thank you 😊

[srv1084]

Nov 14, 2022 7:09:35 GMT -6 thewho said:

Great news: Marching Observer is conscious now and has made a safe recovery! He'll need some time but he'll back sooner or later.

Best news to wake up to today. Wishing you a speedy recovery, Josh!

[LeanderMomma]

Keep getting better Josh! We need you here!!

[hewhowaits]

Great update on the terrible news. Knowing Josh, the issue was probably severe while he continued updating us all on his thoughts about the bands and he pushed through. One of our most dedicated fellow band geeks.

[abtwitch]

Nov 14, 2022 10:31:57 GMT -6 hewhowaits said:

Great update on the terrible news. Knowing Josh, the issue was probably severe while he continued updating us all on his thoughts about the bands and he pushed through. One of our most dedicated fellow band geeks.

I've gotten to know Josh a lot better this season, his dedication is inspiring and I'm thrilled to hear that he is doing well!

[1970]

Oh my.. need to pay more attention to this side of the FORUMS.  Very wonderful news to hear he is going to recover from a very dangerous and painful trauma to the body...  sending you lots of good vibes Josh.

[hostrauser]

Any further updates? How is Josh's recovery going?

[LeanderMomma]

Dec 4, 2022 13:31:27 GMT -6 hostrauser said:

Any further updates? How is Josh's recovery going?

I reached out to him a few days ago but I haven’t heard back. 🥺

[abtwitch]

I'll let him talk about the details, but to quell some of the anxiety I'll say that I talked to him on Monday night and he's doing much better!

[Marching Observer]

Hello everyone! I am back and am delighted to say that I have made a full recovery from this incident. The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated

I want to thank everyone here for your well wishes during that time. It truly means a lot to me and one of the many reasons why I love the arts community. Here are some tidbits of what all happened.

The Monday prior to GN, I had a terrible stomach ache and thought it was simply really bad indigestion/constipation or something. After about 6 hours, it finally had settled down and was able to work again. I was able to move and eat perfectly fine with no issues for the rest of the week. Well, almost the rest of the week.

On Saturday, we were there bright and early for semi-finals and live blogging was going great. Then, suddenly, just as Avon was coming onto the field, I suddenly felt that same pain again. Only this time, it kept getting worse and would come in waves. I thought that it was because I had ate half a Large Hot Box Pepperoni with Extra Cheese pizza the night before lol. I had just learned a couple months prior that I was pretty lactose intolerant now and I had not taken lactaid. I figured it was the same thing as what had occurred on Monday since I had had a pretty dairy heavy meal the night prior to that (Panera's Cheddar and Broccoli Soup). I had to leave unfortunately during M&J Johnson and Broken Arrow's performance to wait it out elsewhere before it settled and I could come back. I thought it would simply pass in a few hours just like it had previously. *Narrators voice* It was not.

As I said, it was coming in waves. And by the time finals was about to start, we were settled into our new blogging area and my stomach had settled though when it came back, it would come back hard. As though I was having a charlie horse or someone continually squeezing a muscle on the inside or as though someone was throwing their full weight into a punch but that initial punch power was constant. But I endured through finals, even eating a hot dog and drink water without any ill affects making me believe it had nothing to do with my stomach. Stepping lightly after finals was over, I was able to make it to the car as Seth drove me home while I was able to nap.

Returning home, I was able to even sleep a good chunk of the night before waking up Sunday. I got up out of bed and no more than 15 seconds in, I was nearly once again doubled over in pain. My girlfriend (now fiance) after about an hour that I go to the hospital even though I said I wanted to wait a few more hours. It's honestly probably a good thing she did though as it could have potentially saved my life. As she drove me, every little bump in the road was agony. Literally the smallest little bump would cause a wave of pain to radiate from my abdomen. When I arrived at the hospital and they took my blood pressure, it was 98/94. Now I don't know much about blood pressure but I know that that is not good lol. They took me right away to get a CT Scan and came back to my ER holding room within minutes of that to tell me that I had a perforation in my stomach and that I needed to go into surgery right now. The Doctor informed me that this was a dangerous surgery which I had gone through surgery's before and had heard it before so figured that they were just doing the normal thing to cover themselves from lawsuit. I had not realized till later as well how dangerous it was. They thought that it was initially part of my intestine but I would later find out that it was my stomach.

Following surgery, I did eventually wake up in the ICU. I was thankfully only in there for a few more hours before they moved me into a regular room. I remained in the hospital for a good while afterwards though and was thankfully released the day before Thanksgiving. My recovery would continue at home for another few weeks as I was practically bedridden and had to do at home IV drips for antibiotics. I could slowly, day by day, become more mobile but it was a struggle, on top of my already substantial mobility issues.

During this time, I did discover that the surgery carried with it a 30% mortality rate with it which is substantially higher than I thought it would be and could have been higher depending on what they found along with how long I waited. The operation required them to cut from just below my sternum all the way down to about 2 inches below my belly button so now I have a cool scar there heh. The hole they found in my stomach was the largest the Doctor had ever seen in person, coming in at 8cm by 3cm. Again, I don't use the metric system, but even I know that is pretty darn huge.

But I am still here and ready to talk about band once again! Thank you all again for your well wishes and thoughts during a very difficult time that I would never wish for anyone else to go through. For good or ill, you still have to put up with me Let's march onward! :-D

[OldSchoolTrumpet]

Jan 30, 2023 18:08:29 GMT -6 Marching Observer said:

Hello everyone! I am back and am delighted to say that I have made a full recovery from this incident. The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated

I want to thank everyone here for your well wishes during that time. It truly means a lot to me and one of the many reasons why I love the arts community. Here are some tidbits of what all happened.

The Monday prior to GN, I had a terrible stomach ache and thought it was simply really bad indigestion/constipation or something. After about 6 hours, it finally had settled down and was able to work again. I was able to move and eat perfectly fine with no issues for the rest of the week. Well, almost the rest of the week.

On Saturday, we were there bright and early for semi-finals and live blogging was going great. Then, suddenly, just as Avon was coming onto the field, I suddenly felt that same pain again. Only this time, it kept getting worse and would come in waves. I thought that it was because I had ate half a Large Hot Box Pepperoni with Extra Cheese pizza the night before lol. I had just learned a couple months prior that I was pretty lactose intolerant now and I had not taken lactaid. I figured it was the same thing as what had occurred on Monday since I had had a pretty dairy heavy meal the night prior to that (Panera's Cheddar and Broccoli Soup). I had to leave unfortunately during M&J Johnson and Broken Arrow's performance to wait it out elsewhere before it settled and I could come back. I thought it would simply pass in a few hours just like it had previously. *Narrators voice* It was not.

As I said, it was coming in waves. And by the time finals was about to start, we were settled into our new blogging area and my stomach had settled though when it came back, it would come back hard. As though I was having a charlie horse or someone continually squeezing a muscle on the inside or as though someone was throwing their full weight into a punch but that initial punch power was constant. But I endured through finals, even eating a hot dog and drink water without any ill affects making me believe it had nothing to do with my stomach. Stepping lightly after finals was over, I was able to make it to the car as Seth drove me home while I was able to nap.

Returning home, I was able to even sleep a good chunk of the night before waking up Sunday. I got up out of bed and no more than 15 seconds in, I was nearly once again doubled over in pain. My girlfriend (now fiance) after about an hour that I go to the hospital even though I said I wanted to wait a few more hours. It's honestly probably a good thing she did though as it could have potentially saved my life. As she drove me, every little bump in the road was agony. Literally the smallest little bump would cause a wave of pain to radiate from my abdomen. When I arrived at the hospital and they took my blood pressure, it was 98/94. Now I don't know much about blood pressure but I know that that is not good lol. They took me right away to get a CT Scan and came back to my ER holding room within minutes of that to tell me that I had a perforation in my stomach and that I needed to go into surgery right now. The Doctor informed me that this was a dangerous surgery which I had gone through surgery's before and had heard it before so figured that they were just doing the normal thing to cover themselves from lawsuit. I had not realized till later as well how dangerous it was. They thought that it was initially part of my intestine but I would later find out that it was my stomach.

Following surgery, I did eventually wake up in the ICU. I was thankfully only in there for a few more hours before they moved me into a regular room. I remained in the hospital for a good while afterwards though and was thankfully released the day before Thanksgiving. My recovery would continue at home for another few weeks as I was practically bedridden and had to do at home IV drips for antibiotics. I could slowly, day by day, become more mobile but it was a struggle, on top of my already substantial mobility issues.

During this time, I did discover that the surgery carried with it a 30% mortality rate with it which is substantially higher than I thought it would be and could have been higher depending on what they found along with how long I waited. The operation required them to cut from just below my sternum all the way down to about 2 inches below my belly button so now I have a cool scar there heh. The hole they found in my stomach was the largest the Doctor had ever seen in person, coming in at 8cm by 3cm. Again, I don't use the metric system, but even I know that is pretty darn huge.

But I am still here and ready to talk about band once again! Thank you all again for your well wishes and thoughts during a very difficult time that I would never wish for anyone else to go through. For good or ill, you still have to put up with me Let's march onward! :-D

Wow. Frightening story. Glad you’re doing well, and best of all, congrats on your engagement!

[LeanderMomma]

We’re so glad you are ok Josh. 🥹

[hewhowaits]

Thanks for the detailed update, Josh. A cautionary tale to remind us that we need to stop ignoring the signals our bodies are sending us.

Jan 30, 2023 18:08:29 GMT -6 Marching Observer said:

My girlfriend (now fiance)

And most importantly, CONGRATULATIONS!

[marimba11]

Glad to hear you are okay!

[mrmatthews]

Wow, good to hear you are better Josh.  Keep up the recovery!