Garey Resting, Looking Forward
to Return to Lineup
to Return to Lineup
St. Joseph, MI
This was not the way Dan Garey pictured the start of the 2008 softball season.
Garey, the slugging shortstop for the Street Kids Softball team, has been
sidelined since March 20th, following a scheduled appendectomy to relieve
some pressure on his stomach muscles. The successful surgery means that
Garey will not be cleared to return to the diamond until late April, where he
hopes to return for the Al Fisher Memorial Tournament.
"I hate reading the website because it makes me wish I was there," joked
Garey via phone this week. "I miss the guys, miss playing the game, but I
don't miss the horrible pain I was having so I'm glad this (surgery) was
performed."
Since October of 2007, Garey was taken to the emergency room three
times for severe stomach pains. "It was to the point where I was about to pass out," Garey admitted.
Each time, he was given heavy doses of pain medicine and the paint went away almost immediately. None
of Garey's doctors could figure out what was causing his horrible discomfort. The pain was consistent with
appendicitis, starts around the belly button and moves toward the appendix. But he experienced no fever,
nausea or loss of appetite, all things that are common with appendicitis.
He had two CT scans, an ultra sound, blood work,
an upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy, which
is a procedure that allows your doctor to look at
the interior lining of your stomach, and a
colonoscopy. The only possible problem they
saw was the walls of his appendix were thicker
than normal, but everything else was perfect.
Garey's doctor thought that perhaps when his
appendix gets irritated and swells up, it rubs
against his stomach muscles, causing the pain.
He said it was very abnormal, but it could happen.
It was decided that Garey would have laparoscopic surgery, where they pump gas into his stomach to
make his belly swell up so they could look around under his stomach muscles and if they did not see
anything else abnormal, they would just take out his appendix. Apparently, that did the trick.
"During the surgery they saw that my appendix was abnormal so they removed it," Garey added. "and from
that point, everything else seemed to be fine."
Garey had a follow up appointment with his doctors on April 2nd and following the surgery all the way up
to that appointment, he was ordered to take it easy. "I couldn't lift anything heavier than a gallon of
milk" he remembers. No prolonged standing or walking either. At his April 2nd appointment, the doctors
advised him to slowly start working his muscles, very, very lightly, to gradually be able to use them at full
strength. He is now starting to run lightly, but the doctors want him off the field for a few more weeks.
"They just want to make sure I don't do anything to cause further damage to my stomach muscles," Garey
said. "I am just hoping that this procedure takes care of the problems because that kind of pain is not
something I would wish on anyone."
The Street Kids team is elated that Garey is doing better and looks forward to the return of their infielder
and friend. For those who wish to reach Dan directly, you can contact him via email at
dhtc.garey@sbcglobal.net.
This was not the way Dan Garey pictured the start of the 2008 softball season.
Garey, the slugging shortstop for the Street Kids Softball team, has been
sidelined since March 20th, following a scheduled appendectomy to relieve
some pressure on his stomach muscles. The successful surgery means that
Garey will not be cleared to return to the diamond until late April, where he
hopes to return for the Al Fisher Memorial Tournament.
"I hate reading the website because it makes me wish I was there," joked
Garey via phone this week. "I miss the guys, miss playing the game, but I
don't miss the horrible pain I was having so I'm glad this (surgery) was
performed."
Since October of 2007, Garey was taken to the emergency room three
times for severe stomach pains. "It was to the point where I was about to pass out," Garey admitted.
Each time, he was given heavy doses of pain medicine and the paint went away almost immediately. None
of Garey's doctors could figure out what was causing his horrible discomfort. The pain was consistent with
appendicitis, starts around the belly button and moves toward the appendix. But he experienced no fever,
nausea or loss of appetite, all things that are common with appendicitis.
He had two CT scans, an ultra sound, blood work,
an upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy, which
is a procedure that allows your doctor to look at
the interior lining of your stomach, and a
colonoscopy. The only possible problem they
saw was the walls of his appendix were thicker
than normal, but everything else was perfect.
Garey's doctor thought that perhaps when his
appendix gets irritated and swells up, it rubs
against his stomach muscles, causing the pain.
He said it was very abnormal, but it could happen.
It was decided that Garey would have laparoscopic surgery, where they pump gas into his stomach to
make his belly swell up so they could look around under his stomach muscles and if they did not see
anything else abnormal, they would just take out his appendix. Apparently, that did the trick.
"During the surgery they saw that my appendix was abnormal so they removed it," Garey added. "and from
that point, everything else seemed to be fine."
Garey had a follow up appointment with his doctors on April 2nd and following the surgery all the way up
to that appointment, he was ordered to take it easy. "I couldn't lift anything heavier than a gallon of
milk" he remembers. No prolonged standing or walking either. At his April 2nd appointment, the doctors
advised him to slowly start working his muscles, very, very lightly, to gradually be able to use them at full
strength. He is now starting to run lightly, but the doctors want him off the field for a few more weeks.
"They just want to make sure I don't do anything to cause further damage to my stomach muscles," Garey
said. "I am just hoping that this procedure takes care of the problems because that kind of pain is not
something I would wish on anyone."
The Street Kids team is elated that Garey is doing better and looks forward to the return of their infielder
and friend. For those who wish to reach Dan directly, you can contact him via email at
dhtc.garey@sbcglobal.net.
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