I'm pretty laid back when it comes to illness...I always assume that it's nothing serious, and don't get too worked up about the kids getting sick. Both G and I had fevers earlier in the week, so I knew we both had some sort of bug. Mine was a 24-hour deal, where G's held on for a bit longer. It's a good thing I married a man who is hyper-anxious when the kids are sick (we balance each other well, as has been proven time and time again...)
Scott called me on Wednesday afternoon and told me that G's belly was really bloated and rock hard, so he made an appointment to take G to the doctor after daycare. G's regular clinic stated that he needed X-rays, and that he needed to take him to the ER...so, off they went. I joined them at the hospital, and we settled in for a long, long night. The ER took X-rays, and told us he had a blockage and air in his tummy. A glycerin suppository was given, which helped to some degree, but after an ultrasound, it showed that there was still a blockage...and oh, BTW, his appendix is inflamed. At that point, we went from an observation patient to in-patient status. We were admitted to a room, and after many more rounds of poking and prodding, we were finally able to go to sleep around midnight.
The nursing staff checked on G throughout the night, and by morning, his belly was much less distended, much softer, and whatever blockage he had seemed to have been released. :) But there was still that pesky appendix issue...we had visits from a surgeon, nurses, pediatric doctors, etc., and the consensus was that the appendix must be removed!
Surgery was scheduled for 11:15am on Thursday, so Scott headed home for a quick shower...unfortunately, when the nurse came to get G 45 minutes early, Scott wasn't there. I met with the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and surgery nurses, and then sent G off into surgery. And then sat alone in the room and cried. Really, it's a simple procedure, but G had never had surgery before, so we weren't sure how he'd react to being put under. Needless to say, Scott was disappointed that he wasn't there when they took G away (but when the surgeons are ready for you...you go!)
But, Scott was there when the surgeon came to meet with us afterwards! It's very rare for appendicitis to occur in a toddler...it usually happens with people ages 8-18. Plus, a toddler isn't really good at verbalizing exactly what pain they are feeling. G wasn't tender at the spot where the appendix was located, plus, he is young...point being, the surgeon wasn't convinced that this was appendicitis. And, he confirmed that once he pulled the appendix out, it was completely normal!
So, here's what we think happened...G had a stomach bug, it enlarged his bowels, and irritated his appendix. Without a doubt, he DID have acute appendicitis on Wednesday night, as his appendix was inflamed in the ultrasound, and his white blood count was elevated. But, once they started loading him up with antibiotics (in preparation for the surgery) it took care of the acute appendicitis issue. We're still happy that he had the surgery...it gave the surgeon the chance to look around inside, plus an inflamed appendix isn't something to mess around with. Even better, he'll never have to deal with this when he's older!
The little guy is recovering great...we haven't even given him any pain meds since Friday morning, since he isn't saying yes when we're asking if his tummy hurts. Amazing!
G got so tired of the nurses coming to check on him that he eventually started saying, "I'm better, I'm better!" any time they would enter our room, just to try to keep them away. And he really didn't like his IV, so as a nurse was trying to adjust something with it, he kept thanking her. So polite!
Let's see, what else happened this week? Oh, that's right, I also turned 40 on Thursday! My little guy totally one-upped my milestone birthday. The silver lining is that I got to spend all day with my two guys! And I had some really nice pre and post birthday celebrations with family and friends. I've got a fun massage/dinner out planned with a good friend in a few weeks, and a birthday redo with another good friend at some point in May (Em's birthday was on Tuesday last week, and she also had a sucky birthday, so we called for a redo!)
In other non-surgery and birthday news, our dogs are lazy and like the sun. I thought this was an interesting choice on sleeping locations.
Poor Ava...we've barely seen her this week. She was at Grandma Deb and Grandpa Whitey's on Wednesday night, at a friend's house on Friday night, and back to Deb and Whitey's last night so we could go out!
Looking forward to a nice, quiet week...no birthdays, no surprise hospital visits...just peace and quiet! (We'll see if I eat my words!)
Scott called me on Wednesday afternoon and told me that G's belly was really bloated and rock hard, so he made an appointment to take G to the doctor after daycare. G's regular clinic stated that he needed X-rays, and that he needed to take him to the ER...so, off they went. I joined them at the hospital, and we settled in for a long, long night. The ER took X-rays, and told us he had a blockage and air in his tummy. A glycerin suppository was given, which helped to some degree, but after an ultrasound, it showed that there was still a blockage...and oh, BTW, his appendix is inflamed. At that point, we went from an observation patient to in-patient status. We were admitted to a room, and after many more rounds of poking and prodding, we were finally able to go to sleep around midnight.
The nursing staff checked on G throughout the night, and by morning, his belly was much less distended, much softer, and whatever blockage he had seemed to have been released. :) But there was still that pesky appendix issue...we had visits from a surgeon, nurses, pediatric doctors, etc., and the consensus was that the appendix must be removed!
Surgery was scheduled for 11:15am on Thursday, so Scott headed home for a quick shower...unfortunately, when the nurse came to get G 45 minutes early, Scott wasn't there. I met with the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and surgery nurses, and then sent G off into surgery. And then sat alone in the room and cried. Really, it's a simple procedure, but G had never had surgery before, so we weren't sure how he'd react to being put under. Needless to say, Scott was disappointed that he wasn't there when they took G away (but when the surgeons are ready for you...you go!)
But, Scott was there when the surgeon came to meet with us afterwards! It's very rare for appendicitis to occur in a toddler...it usually happens with people ages 8-18. Plus, a toddler isn't really good at verbalizing exactly what pain they are feeling. G wasn't tender at the spot where the appendix was located, plus, he is young...point being, the surgeon wasn't convinced that this was appendicitis. And, he confirmed that once he pulled the appendix out, it was completely normal!
So, here's what we think happened...G had a stomach bug, it enlarged his bowels, and irritated his appendix. Without a doubt, he DID have acute appendicitis on Wednesday night, as his appendix was inflamed in the ultrasound, and his white blood count was elevated. But, once they started loading him up with antibiotics (in preparation for the surgery) it took care of the acute appendicitis issue. We're still happy that he had the surgery...it gave the surgeon the chance to look around inside, plus an inflamed appendix isn't something to mess around with. Even better, he'll never have to deal with this when he's older!
The little guy is recovering great...we haven't even given him any pain meds since Friday morning, since he isn't saying yes when we're asking if his tummy hurts. Amazing!
Not happy in his hospital crib!
Contemplating surgery (and Nick Jr on TV) the next morning, before surgery...
Sleeping soundly after surgery
There's our happy boy! Back to his smiley self by the afternoon!
Let's see, what else happened this week? Oh, that's right, I also turned 40 on Thursday! My little guy totally one-upped my milestone birthday. The silver lining is that I got to spend all day with my two guys! And I had some really nice pre and post birthday celebrations with family and friends. I've got a fun massage/dinner out planned with a good friend in a few weeks, and a birthday redo with another good friend at some point in May (Em's birthday was on Tuesday last week, and she also had a sucky birthday, so we called for a redo!)
We went out with some of my co-workers on Monday night (they also had April birthdays)...Ava loved being a part of the group at Benihana!
It looks like the cake is on fire...it's really not!
Only 7 candles...one for each decade, and three pretty stars!
Yummy birthday dessert at Pazzaluna in St Paul!
Great birthday dinner out with Scott!
In other non-surgery and birthday news, our dogs are lazy and like the sun. I thought this was an interesting choice on sleeping locations.
Poor Ava...we've barely seen her this week. She was at Grandma Deb and Grandpa Whitey's on Wednesday night, at a friend's house on Friday night, and back to Deb and Whitey's last night so we could go out!
Looking forward to a nice, quiet week...no birthdays, no surprise hospital visits...just peace and quiet! (We'll see if I eat my words!)
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