Message from Derrick’s wife:

I don't even know where to begin. We are beyond grateful for the love and support from family and friends. Sunday at 1 am I brought Derrick into the ER due to stomach pain. Went into surgery to remove gallbladder and infection. Sunday night he wasn't getting any better, doctor came in and did some testing and back into surgery Monday morning to add a drainage tube. After that the pain and swelling in his stomach was getting unbearable. Took him by ambulance to Fargo today and went into surgery again. Placed a stint in his pancreas and another in his main duct. While he was in recovery the surgeon came told me everything went well in which it did. 5 minutes later I am getting a call that he needs immediate surgery again this time to open his stomach up. He had a hole in his intestine and they removed 2 liters of poop and sewed the intestine back together. He will be in ICU on a ventilator tonight and tomorrow with his stomach still open to clean out the infection. Planning on closing him back up Thursday. Even scarier is surgeon said if we waited till tomorrow or Derrick would have been 60, He would be dead as he was starting to go into septic shock in surgery. Preliminary results, Doctors say 10 weeks off of work if everything goes as planned.