Alva Review-Courier -

I underwent emergency surgery on June 20 to straighten out my small intestine which – for some odd reason – had gotten twisted, cutting off the natural flow of gasses and fluids through my body.

But once the surgery was over, it took several days before my intestine began working again. In the meantime I had to keep a tube in my stomach, I could not eat anything, and I could not drink any liquids.

They gave me some IV fluids to rehydrate me, and I was able to put small pieces of crushed ice into my mouth to keep my lips and throat from drying out.

The doctors and nurses expected my system to b...