The First Time:

I know how someone feels when a death sentence is handed out. It has happened to me twice in my life. At the  age of 11 years, after an operation that left me without my appendix, and part of my intestine. The Doctor told  me and my family that if I lived it would be an act of God. Gangrene had set in and I was not getting along too  good. It took a while but I did pull through. I had made up my mind that I would live, and I would live a normal life.

I did have some problems growing up, but nothing earthshaking. There was a lot of things I could not eat, but I  worked around that. One of the things that stands out in my mind is the three years of physical education. This  was the days when the federal government, in it's warped wisdom decided that everyone that attended school would take physical education no matter what the problem. If you could breathe you could run 1 mile. Three  times a week I had PE, and three times a week I would go home sick and throw up blood. After three years  someone at last decided that I was not faking it and excused me from PE. After that the only time I would get  sick was after a lot of hard physical work or play. Other than the usual childhood problems I think I was normal,  although some would disagree. To help things along I always took Vitamins and Cod Liver Oil.

The Second Time Around:

At the age of 54 time caught up with me. Adhesions from the first operation strangled the small intestines I had  left and I was rushed to the hospital. Six and one half hours later I was left with 12 inches of my small intestines  to do the work of the 20 foot I originally had. I actually have 22 inches but only 12 inches are active. The other 10  inches was made up of small inactive pieces to act as a conduit so that I could be reconnected.

One day while the Doctor was talking to me he said that I would only live about 90 days, or if I did manage to  live I would be on TPN (I am not on TPN at this time)   for the rest of my life. I ask him what life would be like if I  did not die. He told me he did not know as no one that he could find had lived with that small amount of  intestine. My intestine was not one piece, but made up of a lot of small pieces put together. That night I thought  to myself I had heard that before and if I lived once, with Gods help, I could do it again. To Help with the mal-nutrition I continued with the Vitamins and Cod liver oil.

I Lost Count:

Several more times in the hospital to move things around that did not want to stay in their place, and to put  things back together that pulled loose, give me a healthy respect for home. While in the hospital talking to the  nurses I found that little was known about SBS (Short Bowel Syndrome). It seems it is not taught in the normal nursing schools, and the Doctors are not taught much more. No one seams to live long enough to have an in-depth study. I talked to the  University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine. One of the Doctors that was involved in the experimental  transplant program told me to not get my hopes up. In her experience I would have about 90 days to live, at the   maximum would be 6 months. It was at this time I knew with Gods help I would prove them wrong.

The last few years has not been what I had known as a normal life, but I am alive. I have to be thankful for a great  understanding Doctor. With his help I will continue to live. He said to continue to take the Vitamins and cod liver oil, but he added a new one. I now take Vitamins  B12 Complex shots, every week. (ouch)

Jim Combs