Preliminary diagnosis...

After lab tests is either appendicitis (which means surgery) or diverticulitis (which means antibiotics). CAT scan (hopefully in next hour) will tell us which one it is.

At his age it's more likely to be diverticulitis--except with that, pain more often presents on the left. Ron's is on the right. The doctor said if Rob was in his 20s with these symptoms, he'd already be in surgery, they wouldn't have waited for the CAT scan.

Edited to say: Turns out it's not either of those. We are now developing a new theory. Ron's being admitted to the hospital. I'm not saying any more until I've talked to the girls and more doctors have talked to us.

Pray for my family.

Pray hard.

We are entering new realms of mystery and bafflement

All right, I have informed family, so this is what I can pass on at this point:

Rob does not have appendicitis or diverticulitis. Based upon the results of his CAT scan (in which they found swollen/inflamed lymph glands in his abdomen) and lab results, however, he has been admitted to the hospital. He also has some other symptoms he had not told me about, the sneak, and so they are going to be doing tests today to chase down a number of possibilities. The admitting doctor said that the lymph glands could simply be a sign of infection. Or they could be something much more serious and more tests are needed.

I was at the ER until 5:00 a.m. I have made some calls and I am going to turn in and try to sleep for a few hours, so no calls for now, please. Later, I am going back to the hospital and we will see if they've learned anything more after today's battery of tests. He has been admitted to the University of Minnesota hospital (the one on campus). Private message me and I'll give you his phone number if you want it--but he's sleeping too at the moment, or trying to--he got even less sleep than me.

More later as I learn more.

Rob's been discharged

Rob is out of the hospital and home now.

The results of the tests so far have been inconclusive. We have more follow up that needs to be done in the next week (and the direction we'll go is dependent upon the results of some of the tests we're still waiting on.) We'll make an appointment for him to see his doctor, and then, depending on test results, will maybe have a better idea of what's going on.

Thanks to all for your care, prayers and concern.