Read this one instead. Thanks!
Quick note: This post was written in between breaks with Ellis sitting on my lap at the hospital lobby. To keep myself from exploding at the unreasonable wait time, I blogged instead. November 28, 2018
What a week it’s been. Ellis got discharged ftom the hospital last Wednesday and the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend went smoothly, like really well. Today is next Wednesday and we were back at the pediatrician’s office. And we just finished getting an ultrasound at the hospital. Ellis screaming in pain intermittently over her stomach spasms. No explanation.
I’m not a runner by no means, but today I ran. I parked my car in the red zone because the valet parking line was so long. I figure the valet person would understand and take my keys. Whatever!! If she didn’t take my keys, then I would have just left my keys on the counter or risk getting towed. I ran holding her in my arms with her brown bear blanket draped over my shoulders.
My demeanor screamed “get out of my way!” You wouldn’t want to mess with a crying mother with her purse dangling from her neck holding a sick kid barfing into a grocery bag. Amazing how things don’t matter when you’re in an emergency and when your child is crying in pain. You don’t care. You don’t see. You just aim for the front doors and for immediate help.
I won’t get into the details of registration hell.
Tentative prognosis: inflamed pancreas. We’re admitted again to the same hospital. What a day. Pain med has kicked in. She’s not so angry with me now. It’s going to be a long couple of days.
New update: not pancreas issue. It’s probably residual virus from last week. This requires a blood draw. But white blood cell count is normal; probably not a virus or infection. Another blood draw: maybe toxicity from one of her heart medications. Nope, not that either. She held onto her blue throw up bag all day.
Every late autumn to early winter since her birth, she’s had some kind of sickness that landed us in the hospital or pediatrician’s office.
- 1st year: hospitalization for rsv.
- 2nd year: hospitalization for norovirus.
- 3rd year: bad cold…recuperated at home. Awful coughs that made her blue and gaggy. Tearful experience for me.
- 4th year: emergency room visit and frantic meeting with cardiologist over head contusion from falling out of carseat, not good with her Coumadin medication. Then, she caught Chris’ stomach bug on top of that.
- 5th year: 2nd hospitalization for stomach bug or whatever it is in 1 week. Whew, I’m pooped. But I’m thankful her pain is managed. I was helpless at home.
Not knowing the cause, we got transferred to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital 10:30 p.m. They are familiar with Ellis’ history, so our adventure continued with an ambulance ride.
No explainable cause from them either. Her stomach pain was still severe and she couldn’t lay down. I could do nothing but rub her back. I was running on fumes and all the new nurses and doctors in a bright room took me out of my comfort zone.
A few hours later, she fell asleep without pain medication. Her condition started to improve. Sigh of relief.
Elliot was managing well at home too. It makes me sad that he misses out on lots of things, but I trust God will fill in the gaps. His maturity astonishes me; although he’s been calling me every hour asking when we’re coming home.
What a month. I had no idea November would bring all these ordeals. But I am thankful that I have Chris & Elliot, family, and friends who encouraged me when I felt overwhelmed. Elliot was a super trooper; he reminded Chris of all the things I asked him to bring to the hospital and ran a bunch of errands with daddy without complaining.
On our last night at the hospital, we hugged goodbye outside the hospital room. Then he said that he wished he could spend the night at the hospital with us. Everyone giggled at his comment, including the nurse.
Have a healthy, blessed, and joyful holiday! Praying for peace and happiness.
In these moments of being away from homeand feeling vulnerable, I kept praying to myself that I won’t fall apart or get sick. It seems selfish to think about me, but to caretake someone else I need to be well.
Somehow in my desperate moments God pulls me through these challenges and gives me strength that I did not have. There’s no other explanation from it; the effects of coffee can only keep me running on auto pilot. God whispers comfort when things are spiraling out of control. He is a good God.
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