Usually when the phone rings and it says "Unknown" I never pick it up assuming it is a telemarketer. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that this is not a foolproof plan. I heard my phone chime to realize my "Telemarketer" had left a voicemail message. I thankfully decided to listen to it and not delete it right away. What I heard, was the school nurse. "Mrs. Crabtree, this is Rachel (no cause for alarm, she calls me all the time for really minor stuff). Emma was at recess and fell and we have a broken arm." NOT the phone call I was expecting or wanting. I loaded the kids in the car right as Mike was pulling up from getting his daily fix of caffeine and we went to get her.
I walked into the school to find Emma, as pale as a ghost with her arm in a splint and withering in pain. Her teacher had been standing right there and saw the whole thing happen. Emma wasn't breaking any rules and wasn't that high when she fell; the school playground has 2 feet of rubber mulch and it let her arm continue to bend more than it should have. She knew instantly by how her arm buckled that it was broken and seeing that Emma was in shock and about to pass out, she carried her inside up to the nurse.
We arrived at the hospital after what seemed like a very long drive (it isn't) and got her checked into the ER.
They weren't busy and got us back right away where they began to take all the vitals. Ian seeing the blood pressure cuff instantly said, "Emma, don't be scared. It doesn't hurt. I get it done everytime at Doctor Max and it just feels like a hug on your arm." He then began to rub her back and talk to her telling her she was brave and that the X-rays don't hurt either-it's just like getting a picture. I was so touched at the compassion he had, yet sad that a 5 year old is an expert in this area.
Shortly after getting the X-Rays, a nurse came in and told us Emma couldn't eat or drink. I figured it was because they were going to have to set her arm so I took the opportunity to step out and take Ian to get some lunch. I began talking to one of the employees who was there and told her what was going on. She asked me what school she goes to and I said, "Timber Creek" to which she responded, "So do my kids! What grade?" I said, "Second." With a little more excitement in her voice she said, "My son is second grade! Who is her teacher?" "Mrs. Maher." It turns out her son is in Emma's class and she is the room mom. I have been responding to her emails all year, but have never met her. She was so sweet and so concerned especially since she has been in the classroom and knows who Emma is very well.
I returned to her room in the ER to find Emma with an IV in her arm. Immediately I knew something was up. It isn't a standard procedure to get an IV with a broken bone. Mike told me that both bones in the wrist were broken and were 1/2 inch displaced so they needed to do surgery and place pins. Emma was terrified! She was beginning to be a little more alert now that she had some pain medicine in her and the reality of what was going on was starting to sink in. She started to cry; first of of fear and then out of realizing that the swim team I signed her up for wasn't going to happen. She was also supposed to get baptized over Memorial Day weekend and again, she was upset knowing that probably wasn't going to take place. But the thing that upset her the most and absolutely brought tears to my eyes was when she said, "Mom, how am I supposed to hold Caleb?" She loves that little baby so much and the thought of missing out on him was devestating to her above all else.
A friend of ours who is an Orthopaedic Surgeon took a look at the X-Rays and decided that she needed a hand and wrist specialist. He sent one over who works with him at his practice. I was so grateful to have an expert in this area and not just anyone who happened to be on call that day.
To make a long story short (too late) she was put under and taken to surgery. There is always an element of fear for me wondering if all will go well and hoping and praying that they will wake up. I only had to wait for 20 minutes before it was over and I got the news. The Doctor decided after he set it that he didn't think she needed pins after all so thankfully she didn't have to feel a thing while the bones were put back into place.
We arrived home and again my heart was touched to see Ian (who is a lefty) trying to teach Emma how to eat with her left hand. I later found her practicing writing her letters with her left hand. She actually did quite well.
Emma got a green cast put on a few days ago. It took about 30 seconds of us walking in the door for her to have her first signature on it. Now, it is almost more black than green. Emma has really been a trooper about the whole thing. I have to help her wash her hair and get dressed, but she can pretty much do everything else.
Now that we have had yet another round of drama, and were back on the radar for a few days, I am hoping to take a nice, long, break:)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Bragging and Blabbing
Let me start by saying that I promise that I will get the Halloween pumpkin background off this site before summer hits. I know you are wondering if I am also one of those people who leave their Christmas lights up until July (I'm not, simply because I don't put them up in the first place:)) The problem is, Mike set up this blog so I have to change all those kinds of things when I am logged in under him and I can't remember his login info and he never seems to be around to ask when I am thinking about it.
Ian came home from Superhero School today (a co-op style preschool that four friends and I do) and he had a big picture that he had drawn. They had him lay down on the paper and traced around him and then he filled it in by drawing body parts and organs. He colored red for blood, drew a heart, some eyes, ears, teeth, and a stomach. They funniest part of all was he added a port! He drew it in exactly the right spot which is about the only thing that was anatomically correct on the whole thing. I thought it was so cute.
He also informed me last night that when he grows up he wants to be a "prarie dog taker carer. I can give them food and stuff and lots of lots of grass on top of their food because they love grass." It was so random but so hilarious!
Ian continues to do well. He had chemo last Monday and things went really well. I wish I could have said the same for me! I had all the kids loaded up in the car so I could drop the girls off at school and then head up to Ian's appointment. All of a sudden, I hear a siren. According to the cop, I ran a stop sign which I totally DIDN'T ( ok, it may have been a California stop but I didn't tear through sign without hitting the brakes). The most humiliating part of it was it was right on the main road to the school so everyone was driving by seeing me in my glory. I had a friend who was sweet enough to stop and take my girls to the school. I asked the officer how much longer it was going to take because I had an appointment at the hospital for my son and he replied, "Lets not make it so that you both have to go to the hospital." I was sooo bugged. I hardly put our lives in danger.
Anyway, we received the final date of his treatment which will be June 26, 2011!!! It is going to be the biggest celebration anyone has ever seen!
Caleb will be one next Monday!!! He can stand for a long period of time and is up to about 2 steps before he falls. I am so surprised it has taken him so long to walk considering he crawled at 5 months (including going up the stairs). He finally started sleeping through the night about a month and a half ago with a random night here and there where he wakes up. Caleb is a human trash disposal and I am constantly running around trying to pick up any little thing that the kids have left on the ground because it goes straight to the mouth. I don't know how many times I've had to stick my finger in and pull out something in there that didn't belong, but it has been alot. He gets really excited and is easily egged on if he thinks the kids are laughing at him. He starts fake laughing and doing everything he can to keep them entertained.
He is a huge babbler right now. Nothing he says makes sense except for "Hi dad". His babbling will go on for 2-3 minutes at a time. It's so funny because if he gets mad, he has the same babbling but it takes on a different tone so you can tell he is telling on whoever is making him mad. He knows what he is saying even if we don't.
The girls had a Solo Festival for the piano over the weekend. They have been working really hard on a solo piece of music for the past 4 months. They memorize it and perfect it as much as they can in order to play it before a judge. I have 5 piano students of my own that were also involved. They all did FABULOUS! They were able to keep the nerves in check and play wonderfully for the judge. All received high marks and were in the highest category they could be in. Their teacher must be awesome:)
To all of my faithful blog followers and you know who you are, I promise I will do better about having more frequent posts! Thanks for reading!
Ian came home from Superhero School today (a co-op style preschool that four friends and I do) and he had a big picture that he had drawn. They had him lay down on the paper and traced around him and then he filled it in by drawing body parts and organs. He colored red for blood, drew a heart, some eyes, ears, teeth, and a stomach. They funniest part of all was he added a port! He drew it in exactly the right spot which is about the only thing that was anatomically correct on the whole thing. I thought it was so cute.
He also informed me last night that when he grows up he wants to be a "prarie dog taker carer. I can give them food and stuff and lots of lots of grass on top of their food because they love grass." It was so random but so hilarious!
Ian continues to do well. He had chemo last Monday and things went really well. I wish I could have said the same for me! I had all the kids loaded up in the car so I could drop the girls off at school and then head up to Ian's appointment. All of a sudden, I hear a siren. According to the cop, I ran a stop sign which I totally DIDN'T ( ok, it may have been a California stop but I didn't tear through sign without hitting the brakes). The most humiliating part of it was it was right on the main road to the school so everyone was driving by seeing me in my glory. I had a friend who was sweet enough to stop and take my girls to the school. I asked the officer how much longer it was going to take because I had an appointment at the hospital for my son and he replied, "Lets not make it so that you both have to go to the hospital." I was sooo bugged. I hardly put our lives in danger.
Anyway, we received the final date of his treatment which will be June 26, 2011!!! It is going to be the biggest celebration anyone has ever seen!
Caleb will be one next Monday!!! He can stand for a long period of time and is up to about 2 steps before he falls. I am so surprised it has taken him so long to walk considering he crawled at 5 months (including going up the stairs). He finally started sleeping through the night about a month and a half ago with a random night here and there where he wakes up. Caleb is a human trash disposal and I am constantly running around trying to pick up any little thing that the kids have left on the ground because it goes straight to the mouth. I don't know how many times I've had to stick my finger in and pull out something in there that didn't belong, but it has been alot. He gets really excited and is easily egged on if he thinks the kids are laughing at him. He starts fake laughing and doing everything he can to keep them entertained.
He is a huge babbler right now. Nothing he says makes sense except for "Hi dad". His babbling will go on for 2-3 minutes at a time. It's so funny because if he gets mad, he has the same babbling but it takes on a different tone so you can tell he is telling on whoever is making him mad. He knows what he is saying even if we don't.
The girls had a Solo Festival for the piano over the weekend. They have been working really hard on a solo piece of music for the past 4 months. They memorize it and perfect it as much as they can in order to play it before a judge. I have 5 piano students of my own that were also involved. They all did FABULOUS! They were able to keep the nerves in check and play wonderfully for the judge. All received high marks and were in the highest category they could be in. Their teacher must be awesome:)
To all of my faithful blog followers and you know who you are, I promise I will do better about having more frequent posts! Thanks for reading!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Christmas Appointment
Ian's last appointment was on Tuesday right before Christmas. He was going to have both the vincristine (chemo) put into his port as well as an LP (where they put chemo into your spine). We arrived bright and early for our 6:45 am appointment with Ian fasting. We were in the bigger clinic that day but he wasn't in the mood to play in the playroom; I guess he must have been a little more nervous than usual, so we hung out in our clinic room. Ian did a few Christmas crafts while watching the movie of choice for the past year- Star Wars. Ian is given a Twilight which doesn't put him under, but it keeps him from remembering the LP. For whatever reason, he couldn't relax and was agitated that day so they were unable to do the LP. He was worried about having to get a poke again so they kept his port accessed so that he would be ready to go the next day.
We had to return on Wednesday the 23rd so that they could give him some drugs to knock him out. I always get nervous about them putting him under; it wasn't general anethesia but it was with propophyl. Why does that drug sound familiar you may ask? It got a lot of publicity these past few months being Michael Jackson's former drug of choice. Not exactly the connection that you want to come to mind, but being the worrier I am, I just can't help myself:) Once again, he had to fast and we were the last appointment of the day at 3:30. I had to get pretty creative to keep him from realizing how hungry he was.
They actually had us be at the hospital at 12:30 in case there was a cancellation or an earlier opening but unfortunately that wasn't the case. We had fun playing by doing more crafts, puzzles, and board games. While we were waiting, Ian was given a stocking full of toys, crayons, coloring books, etc. He was so excited about it and it served as a great time killer. So many people are so wonderful and thoughtful bringing things for the children at the hospital especially around Christmas. Thank you to all of you; you know who you are!
After playing for three hours, we went into the room where the anesthesiologist would be and he chased and popped bubbles for a good 15 minutes. Since he already had a needle in his port from the day before, they gave him the medicine and he was out in about 3 seconds. I was escorted to another room where I had to wait for Ian to wake up. It only took about 15-20 minutes before they came and got me. Ian said, "I was really tired so I took a nap. Is my back test all done?" Mission accomplished!
He was offered a sprite as well as his choice of Teddy Grahams, fruit roll ups, and goldfish. He chose all three- can't say I blame him. I would have too and I wasn't fasting:)
I didn't know how he would be feeling on Christmas day because he is usually wiped out for a few days following his treatments. Aside from being a little paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes, he did really well. I don't know if he was going off Christmas adrenaline or not but he definitely enjoyed Christmas day (more on that to come in a following post).
We had to return on Wednesday the 23rd so that they could give him some drugs to knock him out. I always get nervous about them putting him under; it wasn't general anethesia but it was with propophyl. Why does that drug sound familiar you may ask? It got a lot of publicity these past few months being Michael Jackson's former drug of choice. Not exactly the connection that you want to come to mind, but being the worrier I am, I just can't help myself:) Once again, he had to fast and we were the last appointment of the day at 3:30. I had to get pretty creative to keep him from realizing how hungry he was.
They actually had us be at the hospital at 12:30 in case there was a cancellation or an earlier opening but unfortunately that wasn't the case. We had fun playing by doing more crafts, puzzles, and board games. While we were waiting, Ian was given a stocking full of toys, crayons, coloring books, etc. He was so excited about it and it served as a great time killer. So many people are so wonderful and thoughtful bringing things for the children at the hospital especially around Christmas. Thank you to all of you; you know who you are!
After playing for three hours, we went into the room where the anesthesiologist would be and he chased and popped bubbles for a good 15 minutes. Since he already had a needle in his port from the day before, they gave him the medicine and he was out in about 3 seconds. I was escorted to another room where I had to wait for Ian to wake up. It only took about 15-20 minutes before they came and got me. Ian said, "I was really tired so I took a nap. Is my back test all done?" Mission accomplished!
He was offered a sprite as well as his choice of Teddy Grahams, fruit roll ups, and goldfish. He chose all three- can't say I blame him. I would have too and I wasn't fasting:)
I didn't know how he would be feeling on Christmas day because he is usually wiped out for a few days following his treatments. Aside from being a little paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes, he did really well. I don't know if he was going off Christmas adrenaline or not but he definitely enjoyed Christmas day (more on that to come in a following post).
Monday, November 2, 2009
Pop Quiz
You know you have a high maintenance baby when:
a. You are convinced he has died because he has been in his crib for more than 30 minutes without
a sound
b. You are thrilled that you had a free moment to clean the bathroom
c. You actually feel like logging onto the blog and bragging about it
d. All of the above
a. You are convinced he has died because he has been in his crib for more than 30 minutes without
a sound
b. You are thrilled that you had a free moment to clean the bathroom
c. You actually feel like logging onto the blog and bragging about it
d. All of the above
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Steroid Cure
Most of you who are faithful followers of this blog know what steroids do to Ian. He turns into Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. The other morning, he was in an extremely irrational crying mood. I was doing my best to console him but nothing was working. Then, all of a sudden, I had an idea...
My dad had a cartoon he loved as a child. I listened to his very vivid descriptions of the cartoon that he watched and enjoyed. The details he could remember were extremely descriptive and precise. They were so good in fact, that my brother-in-law was actually able to figure out what cartoon it was and find it on you tube.
We also watched it as a family and my kids instantly fell in love with it. It is hilarious. I had him sit down and watch the cartoon. It took all of about 30 seconds until the tears were dry and the corners of his mouth began to turn up into a smile. By the time the cartoon got to the sunshine song, he couldn't resist chiming in and singing along (it's just one of those cartoons).
It took a while to figure out what they are saying but it goes:
"Sunshine, sunshine,
I just love the good old golden sunshine
Sunshine, sunshine
Just the thing to keep you feeling fine."
The transformation from grumpy boy to happy boy was amazing! It is ironic because the cartoon is actually about the happy people versus the sad people. In the cartoon, the happy people prevail and it proved the case in our home too.
Here is the link to the cartoon if you are interested:
It's old and not good quality, but give it a chance and watch the whole thing. You'll be glad you did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tZKZiIn1Yg
My dad had a cartoon he loved as a child. I listened to his very vivid descriptions of the cartoon that he watched and enjoyed. The details he could remember were extremely descriptive and precise. They were so good in fact, that my brother-in-law was actually able to figure out what cartoon it was and find it on you tube.
We also watched it as a family and my kids instantly fell in love with it. It is hilarious. I had him sit down and watch the cartoon. It took all of about 30 seconds until the tears were dry and the corners of his mouth began to turn up into a smile. By the time the cartoon got to the sunshine song, he couldn't resist chiming in and singing along (it's just one of those cartoons).
It took a while to figure out what they are saying but it goes:
"Sunshine, sunshine,
I just love the good old golden sunshine
Sunshine, sunshine
Just the thing to keep you feeling fine."
The transformation from grumpy boy to happy boy was amazing! It is ironic because the cartoon is actually about the happy people versus the sad people. In the cartoon, the happy people prevail and it proved the case in our home too.
Here is the link to the cartoon if you are interested:
It's old and not good quality, but give it a chance and watch the whole thing. You'll be glad you did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tZKZiIn1Yg
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Heroes and Halos
This is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Ian, along with the rest of us, spent today at an event that was held for children and their families that are/were battling cancer (heroes) or have lost their fight with it (halos). It was out in Linwood Kansas on a huge farm (it is pretty close to Lawrence where KU is). As I was explaining what were going to do today to Ian, I began to rattle off some names of his friends from the clinic who may be there. I no sooner said, "Patrick may be there" when Ian excitedly piped up and asked, "Will SpongeBob be there too?" Evidently, he doesn't remember Patrick from the clinic as much as I thought he would. It was so hilarious. (Yes I let my kids watch SpongeBob. I will gladly accept my mother of the year award now).
As we began driving out to Eureka, Emma noticed a license plate that said Minnesota on it. She said, "I wonder if they drink a lot of soda in Minnesota?" So between she and Ian, we had some pretty good laughs on the drive up.
We arrived to a farm that was in a remote, peaceful setting. There were tons of lush trees covering the majority of the property; it felt like you were entering the woods more than a farm. The farmhouse was an adorable cobblestone house covered in vines and ivy that sat easily on at least 100 acres of forest.
We found the registration tent where we were all given name tags and gold ribbons. Ian was given a goodie bag with a frisbee, kite, Royals baseball tickets, and many other things. He was asked to sign a big banner that was presented later.
After that, we were free to explore. The first stop for the kiddos was Pony Rides. Ian got to ride on a pony named Spider and he was really excited about it. After that, we made our way over to the 3 firetrucks and the police car. Ian got to sit in both the firetrucks and police car and speak into the radio. He said, "Come out with your hands up!"
There was a path that lead down into a grove of trees into a clearing. As we reached the clearing, we could see that there were 5 treehouses built into the next grove. Each one was different from the other, but they all had beds, as well as swamp coolers. One even had a t.v. in it. The kids thought they were so awesome and Mike and I would have to agree that they were.
Next we headed to the big barn for lunch. The local High School has a culinary arts program so about 10 of the students were there with food they had made. Afterwards, there was a ceremony with a few speakers. One was a young boy maybe 12 or so who told about his journey and survival with cancer. Next was a mother who lost her daughter to cancer and has actively set up lemonade stands to help raise money for cancer research. You may have heard of Alex's lemonade stands and if you haven't, now maybe you'll notice them. The banner that Ian had signed earlier was held up and they began reading the heroes names for them to go up in front so all could see them. Mike explained to Ian that he would need to go up there when they said his name and he nervously looked at me and said, "But I don't know what I am supposed to say." I guess since we had just heard 2 speakers, that he was going to be speaker number 3. Needless to say, he was pretty relieved to learn that all he had to do was stand there.
Tears filled my eyes as they had the families stand who had Halos (children that lost their battle with cancer). One families son passed as recently as last March. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for those families, but they are actively doing what they can to raise money for research so that other children in the future may stand a chance. It made me think of one of my Mom's most favorite quotes (now my favorite):
Two men looked through prison bars;
One saw mud; the other stars.
These are families that instead of wallowing in the mud, are looking to the stars and finding light in even their darkest moments. They are truly inspirational to me.
Several Carnival games were set up and I have to say, they gave out the best prizes of any Carnival I have ever seen. The kids were loving it and they completely scored some good stuff. They will never be able to go to another Carnival again for anything else will seem second rate in comparison.
We took a few turns on the paddleboats and then decided to call it a day.
I am so touched at how many people contributed to make this event so special and wonderful for Cancer patients and their families. I think it needs to be called Heroes, Halos, and Angels.
As we began driving out to Eureka, Emma noticed a license plate that said Minnesota on it. She said, "I wonder if they drink a lot of soda in Minnesota?" So between she and Ian, we had some pretty good laughs on the drive up.
We arrived to a farm that was in a remote, peaceful setting. There were tons of lush trees covering the majority of the property; it felt like you were entering the woods more than a farm. The farmhouse was an adorable cobblestone house covered in vines and ivy that sat easily on at least 100 acres of forest.
We found the registration tent where we were all given name tags and gold ribbons. Ian was given a goodie bag with a frisbee, kite, Royals baseball tickets, and many other things. He was asked to sign a big banner that was presented later.
After that, we were free to explore. The first stop for the kiddos was Pony Rides. Ian got to ride on a pony named Spider and he was really excited about it. After that, we made our way over to the 3 firetrucks and the police car. Ian got to sit in both the firetrucks and police car and speak into the radio. He said, "Come out with your hands up!"
There was a path that lead down into a grove of trees into a clearing. As we reached the clearing, we could see that there were 5 treehouses built into the next grove. Each one was different from the other, but they all had beds, as well as swamp coolers. One even had a t.v. in it. The kids thought they were so awesome and Mike and I would have to agree that they were.
Next we headed to the big barn for lunch. The local High School has a culinary arts program so about 10 of the students were there with food they had made. Afterwards, there was a ceremony with a few speakers. One was a young boy maybe 12 or so who told about his journey and survival with cancer. Next was a mother who lost her daughter to cancer and has actively set up lemonade stands to help raise money for cancer research. You may have heard of Alex's lemonade stands and if you haven't, now maybe you'll notice them. The banner that Ian had signed earlier was held up and they began reading the heroes names for them to go up in front so all could see them. Mike explained to Ian that he would need to go up there when they said his name and he nervously looked at me and said, "But I don't know what I am supposed to say." I guess since we had just heard 2 speakers, that he was going to be speaker number 3. Needless to say, he was pretty relieved to learn that all he had to do was stand there.
Tears filled my eyes as they had the families stand who had Halos (children that lost their battle with cancer). One families son passed as recently as last March. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for those families, but they are actively doing what they can to raise money for research so that other children in the future may stand a chance. It made me think of one of my Mom's most favorite quotes (now my favorite):
Two men looked through prison bars;
One saw mud; the other stars.
These are families that instead of wallowing in the mud, are looking to the stars and finding light in even their darkest moments. They are truly inspirational to me.
Several Carnival games were set up and I have to say, they gave out the best prizes of any Carnival I have ever seen. The kids were loving it and they completely scored some good stuff. They will never be able to go to another Carnival again for anything else will seem second rate in comparison.
We took a few turns on the paddleboats and then decided to call it a day.
I am so touched at how many people contributed to make this event so special and wonderful for Cancer patients and their families. I think it needs to be called Heroes, Halos, and Angels.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Drama At Church
The story I am about to post happened 2 weeks ago if that tells you how far behind I have gotten thanks to a little stinkbomb who likes to keep me from getting anything done (he shall remain nameless but his name starts with a C...)
Ian was complaining when he woke up that the Holy Ghost was in his tummy. I guess the Holy Ghost sounded like something scary to him and he was hurting so that was his way of describing it. The pain was in his right side (appendics). My first reaction was to ask him if he needed to use the bathroom. He went, and felt better. We got ready for church thinking all was well. As we went to get in the car, Ian was laying on his stomach on the hot cement on our front porch. I asked him what was going on; was he cold? Tired? Sick? He wouldn't really say so I figured he was just tired. As we were about a minute away from pulling into the parking lot Ian was saying he felt like he was going to throw up and was gritting his teeth because he was in so much pain. We parked the car and Mike carried Ian inside because he couldn't walk.
Lauryn and I went into the chapel and grabbed one of the doctors who is a doctor specializing in newborns (I am spacing on the official name). We found him and told him something was wrong with Ian and he left the chapel with us. I knew at that point it was going to get some attention; but thankfully, we were subtle enough that only a few noticed and came out to see if everything was ok and if they could help. We were worried that it was appendicitis or kidney stones and asked the doc if we were being overly paranoid or should take him to the ER. Based on Ian's health history we decided it would be best if he went in.
It was a long drive to the ER as I wondered how much more my heart could take if there was something seriously wrong. We got to the hospital and he started throwing up which made me even more convinced that it was appendicitis. They drew some blood and did a urine test to rule out kidney stones. Then we went in for an x-ray and waited to hear the results.
Well, it was the best case scenario. He was extremely constipated so it was an easy fix. I didn't realize he could be constipated if he was going- he had just gone that morning, but evidently, you can be. The fecal matter (aren't I proper) was super high up into his intestines. I know that constipation can be a side effect of chemo and we had Mirilax for it, but I wasn't giving him any because I didn't know he was backed up. He had to get an enema (poor thing) but he felt awesome about 5 minutes later. I think he lost a good 3-5 pounds.
Ian saw the picture and is now convinced that there is a dog living in his tummy because of the way the shadows and stuff look on it (I'll admit, it really does look that way). They gave him a copy of his x-ray which he proudly taped on his wall and shows to everyone calling it his "poop picture". I wasn't about to post it to the site, I have a little more class than that (not much) but if you are disappointed, come to our house. Ian will gladly show it to you.
Ian was complaining when he woke up that the Holy Ghost was in his tummy. I guess the Holy Ghost sounded like something scary to him and he was hurting so that was his way of describing it. The pain was in his right side (appendics). My first reaction was to ask him if he needed to use the bathroom. He went, and felt better. We got ready for church thinking all was well. As we went to get in the car, Ian was laying on his stomach on the hot cement on our front porch. I asked him what was going on; was he cold? Tired? Sick? He wouldn't really say so I figured he was just tired. As we were about a minute away from pulling into the parking lot Ian was saying he felt like he was going to throw up and was gritting his teeth because he was in so much pain. We parked the car and Mike carried Ian inside because he couldn't walk.
Lauryn and I went into the chapel and grabbed one of the doctors who is a doctor specializing in newborns (I am spacing on the official name). We found him and told him something was wrong with Ian and he left the chapel with us. I knew at that point it was going to get some attention; but thankfully, we were subtle enough that only a few noticed and came out to see if everything was ok and if they could help. We were worried that it was appendicitis or kidney stones and asked the doc if we were being overly paranoid or should take him to the ER. Based on Ian's health history we decided it would be best if he went in.
It was a long drive to the ER as I wondered how much more my heart could take if there was something seriously wrong. We got to the hospital and he started throwing up which made me even more convinced that it was appendicitis. They drew some blood and did a urine test to rule out kidney stones. Then we went in for an x-ray and waited to hear the results.
Well, it was the best case scenario. He was extremely constipated so it was an easy fix. I didn't realize he could be constipated if he was going- he had just gone that morning, but evidently, you can be. The fecal matter (aren't I proper) was super high up into his intestines. I know that constipation can be a side effect of chemo and we had Mirilax for it, but I wasn't giving him any because I didn't know he was backed up. He had to get an enema (poor thing) but he felt awesome about 5 minutes later. I think he lost a good 3-5 pounds.
Ian saw the picture and is now convinced that there is a dog living in his tummy because of the way the shadows and stuff look on it (I'll admit, it really does look that way). They gave him a copy of his x-ray which he proudly taped on his wall and shows to everyone calling it his "poop picture". I wasn't about to post it to the site, I have a little more class than that (not much) but if you are disappointed, come to our house. Ian will gladly show it to you.
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