The day after we went to Lagoon, Luke began complaining of his sides hurting.
He didn't want to eat, was a little nauseous, and had a low grade fever. All he wanted to do was lay on the couch and rest.
I figured he caught some virus from Lagoon.
I gave him Ibuprofen during the day, he was able to sleep at night but on Tuesday evening he insisted his symptoms were getting worse. I bought some laxatives thinking he hadn't had a good poop in a while. I made plans to take him to the doctor in the morning.
Before bed, Justin asked me if it could be his appendix. I didn't think so but looked up the symptoms online and some of them matched, some of them didn't. He wasn't complaining of a specific, right sided, holy cow this is the most pain I have felt in my life kind of pain. But it did put a little worry in the back of my mind. I made beds on the couch--one for me and one for Luke--and told him that if he was in pain during the night that he could wake me up and I would take him to the emergency room. He nodded off to sleep as the ibuprofen kicked in and I followed suit and drifted off around 11:00 pm.
Tap...tap. "Mom?"
"What bud?" I glanced at the clock. 1:00 am.
"I can't wait for the doctor."
So we grabbed a blanket and headed over to the Riverton Hospital ER and he looked pale and yucky but walked in. They poked and prodded him, started and IV, drew labs, and gave him morphine. With a white count of 26 along with other diagnostic tests we received a diagnosis of appendicitis and instructions to proceed directly to Primary Children's Hospital. They were so positive that they didn't even order a CT scan of his abdomen.
Sweet. Called in sick to work. Called Justin to tell him the news. By this time it was 3:30 am.
We made it to Primary's and they poked and prodded him and luckily were able to use the labs that were drawn prior to our arrival.
Justin arrived and we hung out in the ER for a couple hours until they transferred us to the Children's Surgical Unit on the third floor. Luke would be having surgery sometime that day.
He was made as comfortable as possible while he was waiting and even was able to play a game of hospital bingo.
We were told there was a surgery cancellation at 10:00 so we would be rolling back around 11 or so. Luke was beside himself he was so nervous and it was heartbreaking. There was nothing we could say that would calm him down. We just said a prayer and watched the anesthesiologist take him through the doors to the operating room. Then we said another prayer. And waited.
He was in surgery for about and hour and a half and we began to get a little worried because they told us it would be an hour tops. I started thinking the worst but then they finally came to tell us he was coming out of the recovery room and would be transferred back to his room on the CSU. I went to go meet him and Justin went to talk to the surgeon to debrief.
The surgeon explained to Justin that they grade the infection from a ruptured appendix from 1 to 5. She told him Luke's was a 5 but if there was a number 6, that would have been it. They weren't able to get all the infection out but started him on some heavy duty antibiotics to hopefully get rid all of it. She asked Justin if Luke walked into the hospital. Justin answered that he did. She told him we had a strong, brave little boy. She said that for his abdomen to look the way it did that he was probably in the worst pain imaginable and most adults take an ambulance or crawl into the ER when this happens.
It made me cry when he told me this. I cannot believe that I didn't take him in earlier. Luckily everyone I encountered made me feel better and tried to tell me that I am not a craptastic mom.
He had a rough start. They placed a PICC line for TPN and antibiotics on Thursday, he had a NG tube placed on Friday because he was vomiting up so much bile. He was in so much pain all the time and he would cry out: "They said that I would feel better after my surgery, not worse!" I hated not being able to take away his pain. That was the absolute worst part.
They started him walking on Thursday which he hated. But he did it anyway. Four times a day.
We had an incredible view of the valley which I appreciated but then began to loathe at the same time. I was resentful that real life could go on while we were stuck inside. I would try to imagine where all the different destinations cars were going to and adventures they were having. I then put everything in perspective and was instantly contrite. Luke would get better. There were many patients in this hospital that their parents couldn't say the same statement about. This experience forced me to slow down and weed out the extraneous activities to just focus on what was important. To be honest, looking back, it was exactly what I needed.
We had a ton of visitors. He had most the day of his surgery but I felt weird taking pictures of Luke with his loved ones while he was incoherent. We also were blessed that in the approximately 279 hours that he was there, he was only alone for 4 of them. We are grateful for all those that watched and played with our kids, sat with Luke while I had to run other kids to appointments, brought us dinners, brought cute little gifts for Luke, that our boys are so flexible, and prayed for our family. We cannot express our love for you enough.
We are also immensely grateful for the care we received from Primary Childrens. They are outstanding. The doctors and nurses were phenomenal and I was especially impressed with their child life program. They were frequently coming in to check to see if they could bring any toys in for Luke to play with and they brought activities for the other boys to do to while they were visiting. They totally got Nick hooked on Monopoly.
There is also nothing like a sweet, goofy older brother to help bring out Luke's smile. I can't remember why Andrew was up there by himself that day but his kindhearted spirit was just what the doctor ordered. He played legos with Luke forever and I just watched their interactions with contentment.
Having your own Playstation in your room doesn't hurt either.
Little by little he began to get better. His NG tube came out which was good and bad since he was still vomiting quite a bit a couple days after it was out. After being threatened with placing another one, the vomiting ceased. He had his periferal IV taken out on Monday and took a walk all the way down to the playroom on Tuesday. He even got his JP drain out since his wound drainage had decreased so much and there was no evidence of infection.
He had an xray done on Tuesday as well that told us that nothing was blocking his intestines and that it was just time until he began to poop. The infection had been very isolated in the area where his large and small intestine met and so nothing would be able to move through until that section woke up.
We increased his walks to six times a day and I would not allow him to have morphine anymore. This was hard because I felt like a mean mom but morphine makes your stomach sleepy. We used a ton of heating packs and I would make him try to use the bathroom every time he got up. I had not been as obsessed with my child's bowel habits since he had been a newborn.
He hated me for a minute.
But, the vomiting was gone by Thursday, he had popcicles on Friday, and something magical happened. He finally pooped.
No, I did not capture that lovely moment on film. But I have this cute picture instead.
From there it was easy peasy. Saturday he showed off the gameroom to his brothers, ate jello, ramen, and crackers for lunch, a smoothie for a snack, and his long awaited cheeseburger and fries for dinner. All of these were partial meals, mind you, but it was such a relief that he could eat something and finally keep it down.
Luke had four different dogs come and visit him while he was cooped up. His favorite was a black poodle named Eliot who would "pray" for Luke and bark "Amen."
We got the word that we would possibly go home Monday, if not Tuesday. My heart sank a little at the sound of that but at least there was good progress and a light at the end of the tunnel. However, on Sunday while we were walking the halls, we ran into the doctor. He asked how things were going and if he had vomited today.
Good, and no.
Great! He can go home today.
Best. news. ever.
We received discharge instructions and some pajama pants for Luke since we did not come prepared for him to be able to go home.
It is so nice to be all together again!
He didn't want to eat, was a little nauseous, and had a low grade fever. All he wanted to do was lay on the couch and rest.
I figured he caught some virus from Lagoon.
I gave him Ibuprofen during the day, he was able to sleep at night but on Tuesday evening he insisted his symptoms were getting worse. I bought some laxatives thinking he hadn't had a good poop in a while. I made plans to take him to the doctor in the morning.
Before bed, Justin asked me if it could be his appendix. I didn't think so but looked up the symptoms online and some of them matched, some of them didn't. He wasn't complaining of a specific, right sided, holy cow this is the most pain I have felt in my life kind of pain. But it did put a little worry in the back of my mind. I made beds on the couch--one for me and one for Luke--and told him that if he was in pain during the night that he could wake me up and I would take him to the emergency room. He nodded off to sleep as the ibuprofen kicked in and I followed suit and drifted off around 11:00 pm.
Tap...tap. "Mom?"
"What bud?" I glanced at the clock. 1:00 am.
"I can't wait for the doctor."
So we grabbed a blanket and headed over to the Riverton Hospital ER and he looked pale and yucky but walked in. They poked and prodded him, started and IV, drew labs, and gave him morphine. With a white count of 26 along with other diagnostic tests we received a diagnosis of appendicitis and instructions to proceed directly to Primary Children's Hospital. They were so positive that they didn't even order a CT scan of his abdomen.
Sweet. Called in sick to work. Called Justin to tell him the news. By this time it was 3:30 am.
We made it to Primary's and they poked and prodded him and luckily were able to use the labs that were drawn prior to our arrival.
Justin arrived and we hung out in the ER for a couple hours until they transferred us to the Children's Surgical Unit on the third floor. Luke would be having surgery sometime that day.
He was made as comfortable as possible while he was waiting and even was able to play a game of hospital bingo.
We were told there was a surgery cancellation at 10:00 so we would be rolling back around 11 or so. Luke was beside himself he was so nervous and it was heartbreaking. There was nothing we could say that would calm him down. We just said a prayer and watched the anesthesiologist take him through the doors to the operating room. Then we said another prayer. And waited.
He was in surgery for about and hour and a half and we began to get a little worried because they told us it would be an hour tops. I started thinking the worst but then they finally came to tell us he was coming out of the recovery room and would be transferred back to his room on the CSU. I went to go meet him and Justin went to talk to the surgeon to debrief.
The surgeon explained to Justin that they grade the infection from a ruptured appendix from 1 to 5. She told him Luke's was a 5 but if there was a number 6, that would have been it. They weren't able to get all the infection out but started him on some heavy duty antibiotics to hopefully get rid all of it. She asked Justin if Luke walked into the hospital. Justin answered that he did. She told him we had a strong, brave little boy. She said that for his abdomen to look the way it did that he was probably in the worst pain imaginable and most adults take an ambulance or crawl into the ER when this happens.
It made me cry when he told me this. I cannot believe that I didn't take him in earlier. Luckily everyone I encountered made me feel better and tried to tell me that I am not a craptastic mom.
He had a rough start. They placed a PICC line for TPN and antibiotics on Thursday, he had a NG tube placed on Friday because he was vomiting up so much bile. He was in so much pain all the time and he would cry out: "They said that I would feel better after my surgery, not worse!" I hated not being able to take away his pain. That was the absolute worst part.
They started him walking on Thursday which he hated. But he did it anyway. Four times a day.
We had an incredible view of the valley which I appreciated but then began to loathe at the same time. I was resentful that real life could go on while we were stuck inside. I would try to imagine where all the different destinations cars were going to and adventures they were having. I then put everything in perspective and was instantly contrite. Luke would get better. There were many patients in this hospital that their parents couldn't say the same statement about. This experience forced me to slow down and weed out the extraneous activities to just focus on what was important. To be honest, looking back, it was exactly what I needed.
We had a ton of visitors. He had most the day of his surgery but I felt weird taking pictures of Luke with his loved ones while he was incoherent. We also were blessed that in the approximately 279 hours that he was there, he was only alone for 4 of them. We are grateful for all those that watched and played with our kids, sat with Luke while I had to run other kids to appointments, brought us dinners, brought cute little gifts for Luke, that our boys are so flexible, and prayed for our family. We cannot express our love for you enough.
We are also immensely grateful for the care we received from Primary Childrens. They are outstanding. The doctors and nurses were phenomenal and I was especially impressed with their child life program. They were frequently coming in to check to see if they could bring any toys in for Luke to play with and they brought activities for the other boys to do to while they were visiting. They totally got Nick hooked on Monopoly.
There is also nothing like a sweet, goofy older brother to help bring out Luke's smile. I can't remember why Andrew was up there by himself that day but his kindhearted spirit was just what the doctor ordered. He played legos with Luke forever and I just watched their interactions with contentment.
Having your own Playstation in your room doesn't hurt either.
Little by little he began to get better. His NG tube came out which was good and bad since he was still vomiting quite a bit a couple days after it was out. After being threatened with placing another one, the vomiting ceased. He had his periferal IV taken out on Monday and took a walk all the way down to the playroom on Tuesday. He even got his JP drain out since his wound drainage had decreased so much and there was no evidence of infection.
He had an xray done on Tuesday as well that told us that nothing was blocking his intestines and that it was just time until he began to poop. The infection had been very isolated in the area where his large and small intestine met and so nothing would be able to move through until that section woke up.
We increased his walks to six times a day and I would not allow him to have morphine anymore. This was hard because I felt like a mean mom but morphine makes your stomach sleepy. We used a ton of heating packs and I would make him try to use the bathroom every time he got up. I had not been as obsessed with my child's bowel habits since he had been a newborn.
He hated me for a minute.
But, the vomiting was gone by Thursday, he had popcicles on Friday, and something magical happened. He finally pooped.
No, I did not capture that lovely moment on film. But I have this cute picture instead.
From there it was easy peasy. Saturday he showed off the gameroom to his brothers, ate jello, ramen, and crackers for lunch, a smoothie for a snack, and his long awaited cheeseburger and fries for dinner. All of these were partial meals, mind you, but it was such a relief that he could eat something and finally keep it down.
Luke had four different dogs come and visit him while he was cooped up. His favorite was a black poodle named Eliot who would "pray" for Luke and bark "Amen."
We got the word that we would possibly go home Monday, if not Tuesday. My heart sank a little at the sound of that but at least there was good progress and a light at the end of the tunnel. However, on Sunday while we were walking the halls, we ran into the doctor. He asked how things were going and if he had vomited today.
Good, and no.
Great! He can go home today.
Best. news. ever.
We received discharge instructions and some pajama pants for Luke since we did not come prepared for him to be able to go home.
It is so nice to be all together again!
6 comments:
Oh wow, your post made me cry a bit.
That's quite the boy you have there! I'm glad you all are home together again!
Um, I'm glad Danni mentioned crying, because I am doing the same. Sheesh. So glad he is doing better. You have a tough kid and an amazing family.
That was quite the ordeal but I'm glad that Luke is his old self. You DO have a great family and lots of love for each other.
Oh, this was just such a tearful time for me, and I wasn't even the mom! Everytime I walked into his room and saw the always smiling, laughing Luke just quiet and miserable, the tears started flowing. You are so strong, Corinne. I was amazed by you and learned a lot! I loved when I got to sit with him for just those couple of hours and they brought him a couple of books to keep. That was the first smile I saw, and I melted. We are so glad that he is ok! And Adam is depressed that he didn't see Luke in the hospital and was in Cali. We love you!
So happy that is over for you AND mostly for Luke...as i am sure that you are. He was a trooper.
Man, what a crazy, awful week! Glad all is well now. Good thing Luke has such a great Mom taking care of him!
Post a Comment