So this weekend was one of those moments you say to yourself "haven't I done this one before, and it wasn't fun the first time!" So then you know your in for a treat. Luckily, somehow I picked a career out of this kind of thing! I truly have a testimony that Heavenly Father really does know me better than I do, and my future for that matter.
We were plagued on Thursday with the dreaded "throw-up bug" with Corbin. Like most of you we tried to get over it at home and a visit to the Doctor (who even gave us zophran) yet this guy wasn't getting any better. For two days he was completely lethargic- he couldn't even hold up his own head. When he was awake he was moaning in pain, and if he happened to fall asleep it was short lived. So you can imagine how our sleep was! We even made a little bed in his room and took turns camping out with him! Sounds fun huh! So by Saturday I knew we had to help this kid out and our home remedies were just not going to cut it. So I took him into work with me! I know, not what you thought! Not really, I was supposed to work in the CED (Children's Emergency Department) on Saturday but instead we decided to be "secret shoppers." "No big deal" I tell myself, "a little IV and we are outta hear." But then the dreaded words which I have heard before "He is not responding to his IV fluids and there is something else going on." For those of you who don't know we spent a week in the Hospital with Dylan when he turned two because of a stomach bug that turned into what they think was a kidney infection (in his ONLY kidney) which technically put him into "kidney failure" and we were lucky to finally get a nephrostomy tube surgically inserted through his back into his Kidney to allow it to work again! Whew! So after a bundle of "normal" ER visits in the past I thought those days were over! Here I am completely mystified. The ER Doctor abruptly declares she needs to look at his stool (luckily there was a time size one in there) and she automatically new what was up (FYI- if your kid has gelatenous stools go to the ER EMMEDIATELY!). She sent us immediately over to ultrasound and Xray to confirm her suspensions. And yes, Corbin also had Intussiception. As I understand it, the lymph nodes in his bowels were inflamed due to his virus and bowls then inverted themselves. The chief radiologist explained to me that he had to try to uninvert them immediately and if he was not successful, surgery was critical. I phoned Connor and he was blinded that our innocent IV trip had turned to surgery! He got the phone tree rolling and prayers were in the works. And I know that those prayers were answered! The radiologist then proceeded to insert a cath into Corbin's rectum, tape the cheeks tightly together to decrease the chance of Corbins body pushing it out. He then used the radiology equipment to inflate the cath tube in the right place and try to pull the lining back into place. This was unsuccessful. The radiologist then proceeded to try the same procedure only using a liquid. Corbin being such a trooper did not like any of this but he was so exhausted that he would sporadically fall asleep during all of this! The radiologist was able to move it only slightly and therefore he mournfully told me that surgery was the only thing that could fix it from here. This was the first moment I really melted. The poor kid already had surgery this week! We had to wait an hour or more for the pediatric surgeon to make it from his hold up at UNC to us. Meanwhile, Corbin slept surprisingly soundly for an hour. When he woke he was able to sit slightly. As we were prepping for surgery the ER Doc looked at him and told me that there is a small percentage of kids bodies that self univert themselves and because he seemed to be doing slightly better she wanted to just double check. I was all for it. We went in for another ultrasound and it was true! Corbin's body had used that little move done by the Radiologist combined with a really relaxed nap and it did it! So we got to go "relax" upstairs on the peds unit where I was able to chat with more of my CLS peers. I can't tell you how much more I learn every time about my career by being on this side. Corbin was also excited (understatement of the year) to finally be able to have a drink. During the day Corbin had spied my cup and the faucet (that are in just about every room in the hospital) and couldn't think about anything else. He was parched. He downed that pedialite, which I hear is disgusting, but he won't even touch it now! He sure did have a death grip on that bottle though. And boy was I SO happy to finally have him nurse again, after few days I was having my own swelling going on!
We are glad to say we are at home, Corbin is doing great and almost back to normal. We have many great friends who have taken care of us and we are so grateful to all of those who helped us with blessings and prayers! We know this was an answer to them!Now tell me how I can't get scared in future episodes of the innocent "stomach bug?"
Might I say he makes this gown look super cute and I ALMOST wanted to take it home with me! I also found it very funny to watch him try to feed himself with his arm that had the IV in it (his elbow was tapped to a board so it couldn't be bent.) And he couldn't get enough of that fish tank!
