Be Thankful

     
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love to food and being with family and giving thanks for the so many blessings that we have in our lives. This Thanksgiving will always live in our memories as one where we were reminded to be extra thankful.

My youngest daughter got really sick this week. It started on Sunday at dinner, she was complaining that her belly hurt. I told her to eat some dinner, that she was probably hungry and then she would feel better. She barely ate two bites but was not terribly uncomfortable. We went to church afterwards, and then came back and she took a shower and went to bed. She woke up a few hours later with horrible stomach pain. Oh no, I thought, We've got the stomach bug. She was up all night tossing and turning, punctuated with 15 minutes of sleep. I was rubbing her belly, she took some hot showers, I was trying to get her to eat or drink. Still the vomiting and diarrhea never came. She finally settled into sleep at 5am. I felt like a zombie. I got up and helped get my 9 year old ready for school and emailed my little one's teacher that she would be home. I had a ton of work to do so I fixed a cup of coffee and pulled out my laptop started early. My daughter was not asleep long, however. I got her up - fixed her some food, which she ate a fair amount of. She laid on the couch and took cat naps for the next few hours. She would wake up with stomach pain and being the bad mom that I am told her to go sit on the toilet. Around lunch time, she was getting very uncomfortable. Still no vomiting, still no diarrhea, and no fever. I thought that maybe she had a UTI. I decided I would take her to the doctor. They would prescribe us something and we would be on our way. I called the pediatrician who couldn't see her until 4 pm so I just took her to urgent care.

When we get there, they check us in, told me I owed them a few hundred dollars from the last visit that I had to pay, and then brought her back. Did a urine test. The doctor came in and examined her and said her urine looked good and if it was his daughter, he would take her to the children's hospital downtown for an ultrasound. He told me he'd call ahead that I was coming. I felt terrible because the whole time I was like, "Yeah, you're not that sick. Go poop." Bad Mom Award.

So we get down to the ER there, they take her back and examine her and they want to run a few tests and take some blood work. She was still very uncomfortable but not in severe pain like before, so that was good. They put on a movie for her and they have dog therapy there so a dog came to visit her and she pet the dog and that cheered her up a bit. She was just not well. She just laid in bed like a puddle. So after an ultrasound and x-ray and blood work, they ruled out life threatening illnesses that could be causing the abdominal pain. They gave directions for managing her at home and told us to follow up with the pediatrician in the morning. We were walking out 6 hours later. Well, I was carrying her out. She was funny because when we left the hospital it was dark and exasperated she said, "Mama, I wasted my whole day!" When we got home we fixed her food that she only ate 3 bites of, even though she was complaining that she was hungry. She took a hot shower and went to bed. That didn't last long. We had another night of tossing and turning and belly rubbing and getting up for hot showers. First thing in the morning, I made an appointment with the pediatrician and on we went.

At the office, she was miserable. When the pediatrician came in she was laying on the exam table with her knees pulled to her chest. She was rocking and moaning in pain and she looked exhausted. I was becoming more and more distressed because nothing was helping. The OTC medicine was doing nothing for her. The pediatrician looked disturbed and she examined her and left the room abruptly. My baby crawled into my lap and just laid silently. The doctor came back in and said that she was sending us back to the hospital, to which my 7 year old responded unhappily, "But that's going to waste my whole day!" As if she had other plans, like she was going to go riding bikes in the condition that she was in.

So off we went again. They were expecting us and took her right back. We saw another doctor and she talked about what they had done the day before and what their thoughts were about what could be causing her belly pain. Which was  - We really don't know. Which is always less than reassuring. A little while later the doctor came back in and asked, "Does your daughter have high blood pressure?" Ummm....no, she is a 45 pound 7 year. "Her blood pressure is really high. We are going to take it when she is feeling comfortable to make sure that the reading earlier was correct." So they came in and took her blood pressure in both arms and legs with the machine. It was in the 130s over 90s every time. Then they came in and took it manually. This was the only part of the visit my daughter enjoyed. She LOVES having her blood pressure taken. Every time we are at Publix or a pharmacy she makes me take her to the BP machine and she sits on the bench and pushes the button and she sits there while it does it's thing. It's meant for adults, but she doesn't care. She loves it. A few weeks ago Publix got a new machine and you have to pay .50 now to use it. She was PISSED. She stood in front of the machine with a look of disbelief and then turned to me with her hand on her hip and said, "Mom, these people are greedy!"

They did an EKG after taking her blood pressure a million times. A little while later the doctor came in and told us that they were going to admit her to the children's hospital because her blood pressure was so high, even when she was comfortable and they didn't feel comfortable sending her home without figuring out what was causing it. Plus, they were going to try to manage her pain. So I called my husband and told him to pack overnight bags and head to the hospital. My younger sister showed up and when my husband and daughter arrived, she took my 9 year old back to the house so my husband and I could both stay. We were so thankful for that.

They moved us into her room in the children's hospital and my little one was just exhausted and was so bummed to have to stay there. You could see it in her eyes. She asked to take a hot bath, she was still having some belly pain. I wrapped her IV and filled up the tub and she floated in there. I sat next to the tub and gently pulled her leads off and rubbed the goo from her tummy and chest. She spoke to me quietly. "Mama, I am so sad because I did not go to school and I missed art and now I won't see my teacher for a whole week. I want to go home." So we talked about why she had to be there. We got her PJs on and got her into bed. We endured another rough night. They didn't want to give her narcotics because they can cause constipation and she already had belly pain but the medicine they gave was not helping. Finally they have her something that made her belly pain decrease and she slept for a bit. They came in and took her blood pressure while she was sleeping and it was still very high.

The next morning the doctor came in and I was on day 3 of no sleep. I had a mini-breakdown and begged him to make her comfortable. They were concerned about her kidneys because of her high blood pressure so they did an ultrasound to look at her kidneys, arteries, and aorta. They did an echo. I have seen all of her internal organs this week. They all were fine. Thank goodness. The medicine they were giving was really helping her stomach pain and for the first time in days, she told me she wanted to play. There is a place in the children's hospital that is like a huge game room and it's open at different hours throughout the day, so I took her there. There were easels and a craft table, air hockey and pool, a library, dolls houses and toys. For the first time in days she smiled. She hated having her IV wheeled around with her but most of the other kids there had IVs too. There were kids that were really sick. Kids with cancer. Worried, tired parents. It broke your heart. She painted and played with the dollhouse and we read stories. They let you check out board games, books, toys and movies to your room so she was happy about that.

We went back to the room and we were hoping since her pain was gone they might discharge us in the evening but even though she had no pain, her BP was still really high. The doctor told us he was going to start her on blood pressure meds but they wanted to monitor her BP over night. She was so devastated, "But tomorrow is Thanksgiving." He told her that he would try to have her home in time for turkey. We decided that I would stay the night and my husband would go home with our older daughter. They unhooked my baby's IV and were going to let her take everything by mouth. She was glad about that. She ate dinner and took a shower and then we went back to the game room for a while. While we were playing, my dad showed up unexpectedly and that made her so happy. She played and visited for a while and we shut the place down. They were closing up for the night and she picked another movie. We headed back and after my father left we settled in and she fell right asleep. The soundest sleep she's had for quite a few days. I made my bed on the couch next to her and fell asleep. I was awaken a short while later to a hand rubbing my face. I opened my eyes and there was my little one standing in front of me. "Mama, will you come lay with me and make me feel safe?" So we curled up together in her little hospital bed and slept like logs. They came in and took her blood pressure over night and it was returning to normal. The medicine was working. I was so glad.

The next morning we had breakfast and watched the Thanksgiving Day parade. My husband and 9 year old came and we they said we could go home. We left the hospital around noon. When we walked out it was so chilly but the sun on my face and fresh air felt so good. My little one was happy. A few hours later we were with my sisters enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving feast. I was thankful for so many things. But most of all, the children.