On a Friday night Scott and I were up late watching tv. It was around midnight when suddenly Xander came running out of his room and ran to the bathroom. He made it to the doorway and put his arms on both sides of the door frame and started throwing up. I have never seen someone throw up with so much force and it worried me that something was wrong. I immediately told myself that I was overreacting and just figured that he had the stomach flu. He was up most of the night throwing up that night. The rest of the weekend he didn't eat much but he seemed better. I figured that it would take him a few days to get his appetite back.
The following Monday we were about to sit down for dinner and Xander came upstairs saying that he was starving and that his stomach hurt because he was so hungry. We sat down to eat and he only took a few bites before he said that he wasn't feeling good. I had him go lay down and not long after he started throwing up. This really concerned me because I thought that he was better. The poor kid could not keep anything down and his energy started draining. The next morning he didn't even have the energy to watch tv. He would just sleep.
I called the nurse and she told me he might have strep and that I should bring him in. I took him in and his pediatrician said that he might have an appendicitis. I couldn't believe that I didn't ever think about that. My daughter had had hers out when she was three so I couldn't believe that I didn't push on his side to see if it hurt. I took him over to the hospital so that they could check him in and give him fluids since he was so dehydrated. They did an ultrasound and the tech was having a hard time finding his appendix but thought that she saw part of his intestine twisted. She had the radiologist come take a look and he was about to head home when she called him. He hurried and looked and said that it just looked like his intestine was thickened. At the utter disbelief to me and the nurse, Xander was sent home. When his ped. called me at the hospital to tell me what they had found, the whole time I kept thinking I should tell him what the tech saw and to ask for a ct scan. I still regret not doing that. It was the spirit telling me and I didn't do it. If you ever feel like the diagnosis that they are telling you about your child is not right, ask them to run more tests.
The fluids helped Xander a bit but he still wouldn't eat or drink since it always just came right back up. The next morning I took him in to his ped's to get some more fluid put in by an IV, which helped a bit but Xander was still getting worse. He was literally becoming lifeless. He just slept all day and by that night he was in a lot of pain. I knew something was not right so I took him in to the ER. They did a ct scan and found that his intestine was twisted. Xander was taking by ambulance around 4:00 AM to Primary Children's. I rode down with him. I was 6 months prego with our 3rd child and that was not a fun ride. I realized right before we left that I had been up all night and had not eaten anything since hours before. I asked the nurse for some crackers and a mt dew. She gave some crackers and a warm mt dew. A warm mt dew didn't help me and I rode backwards going down. The nice EMT kept asking me if I wanted to trade him seats but I wanted to be able to stay right by Xander. I was so glad when that ride was over. Xander slept through it all, which I was grateful for.
Scott woke Nika up and packed bags for all of us and drove down not long after we left. When Nika and him were walking from the parking terrace to the hospital Nika threw up. We think she got car sick from being woken up so early and having to drive for 1 1/2 hours. I was sitting in an ER room with Xander when Scott came walking in with Nika in a wheelchair. I freaked out for a second wondering what happened to her. It was quite the eventful morning for all of us.
Before they took Xander back the dr told us that they would go in and do exploratory surgery to see what was wrong. He gave us a couple of scenarios as to what it might be. One of them is what it ended up being. He had what is called Meckle's Diverticulum. A small flap is on your small intestines when you are in the womb and it's fed by an artery. After you are born it goes away except for in 2% of people, and of the 2% only 2% have a problem. It is a very rare thing in other words. Xander's caused his small intestine to twist. They ended up taking out about 6cm of his and his appendix. His surgery lasted about 2 1/2 hours and I thought it was super long. I have now changed my mind on that since Xyler's longest one was 6 hours.
Anyway, Xander had his surgery on a thursday morning and couldn't eat or drink until Sunday. The poor kid had a tube down his nose draining everything out of his stomach to help his intestines to heal. The eating didn't bother him, it was the not drinking that was not fun for him. I was able to swab his mouth with a little sponge so that it was moistened and that was all we could do for him. I would let him hold the sponge and looked the other way when he sucked on it a bit to get some of the water out of it. :)
I must say it was not fun to sleep on the pull out chair/bed while being pregnant. My back was already hurting during this pregnancy and it only got worse from that hospital stay. The night before Mother's Day, Scott told me I should go stay the night at my sister Heather's house so that I could get some good sleep. Nika was staying with them and she would be going back home with Scott the next day so I decided to stay there so that I could bring her back with me. I did not, however, get a good night's sleep. Nika woke up during the night crying and was burning up with a fever. The next morning she ended up throwing up. I was just glad that I was busy getting ready and so was Heather so it was her hubby, Casey, who had to clean it up since she hit the carpet. :) We figured she got heat stroke from playing outside for so long the day before. It was weird because she has never had that happen before.
I realized that morning that it was Mother's day. I was not expecting to get anything for it since we had been so busy with taking care of Xander. Casey was so sweet and gave me a rose. I was touched that they would do that for me and figured it would be my only gift. By the time Nika and I got back to the hospital I found out that Xander had finally gotten the tube taken out and he could then eat. I was so happy and thought that was a great Mother's Day gift. I then found out that Xander was able to get up and walk around and had gone to the play room. He made me two mother's day gift's there. I absolutely love these gifts!
These are the two gifts he made.
For me, it was the best gifts because Xander was feeling well enough to make them. I love Primary Children's and that they do wonderful things like this for the children who, unfortunately have to be there, and also for the parents who are there watching over them. This was a hard Mother's Day for me but also the most memorable. Motherhood is such a wonderful blessing and that day I was so grateful to still have Xander with us and to be blessed with two wonderful kids and one more on the way. I was also so grateful for the wonderful doctor's and nurses who took care of Xander and saved his life.
This was our first experience with Primary Children's. Little did we know how much time we would end up spending there in the future with our little Xyler, but this experience helped prepare us for it. It created a special place in our hearts for Primary's, which made it a comfort when Xyler was there. I feel so blessed to be the mother of my 4 wonderful kids and for my wonderful hubby. I love them very much! I am also thankful for my mother and all that she has done for me. Motherhood is not the easiest job but it is the greatest job! I can't think of anything better than when your child gives you a hug and a kiss and tells you that they love you.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful mom's out there!!!!
