Kaitlyn leaving the hospital.
We had quite the scare last Monday. I admit that I have been dreading writing this post. I am still on such an emotional roller coaster. First, I do want to thank everyone for their help and all their prayers. Everyone was so kind to jump in and help when we needed it. Poor Sabra always gets called in the middle of the night and is always so willing to help. Chantelle kept us well fed and even brought Kyle a change of clothes before the surgery. Jen was so thoughtful to drive up to boys camp and get Kyle so he could make it in time for surgery. My mom and sis took Ash and Kami for two days without question. We have had so many prayers and thoughtful acts Thank You to everyone. And Kaitlyn has absolutely loved all the visitors and their gifts! She actually wanted to stay at the hospital, I think she liked all the special attention! I keep getting asked "how did you know it was appendicitis" I have been surprised by this question. I always just assumed everyone knew the symptoms of appendicitis. Kaitlyn didn't present as a normal appendicitis case though. I will start at the beginning.
Monday morning Kaitlyn woke up vomiting with minor pain around her belly button and just a low grade fever 99.7. I figured she had some sort of stomache flu or had gotten too much milk, she is lactose intolerant. The belly pain did concern me though, but it wasn't very bad. I did suspected appendicitis. However, normal appendicitis has horrible pain in the right lower quadrant and a high fever. Kaitlyn wasn't able to keep anything down, not even sips of water. At one point she was throwing up green bile. This is when I got very concerned. I hopped online and saw that appendicitis can start with pain around the belly button, but she still didn't have a high fever. I also saw that appendicitis is rare in kids under ten and it does usually rupture because it is assumed to be the flu. I decided to go ahead and give her a suppository. I decided at this point if she didn't get better I would take her in. Well, she slept for awhile and said she was feeling better and wanted soup. I made her some soup and it came right up. It was like it hit her stomache and came right back up. I called the pediatrician. They said to wait 24 hours to see if it is a flu. I wasn't happy with that answer so I called the surgeon. Dr. Hansen is wonderful. They told us to come right in because it sounded like appendicitis. I took her into his office and he looked her over. He said he wasn't sure if it was appendicitis but wanted to admit her for observation and tests. He said he could tell she was really sick just by looking at her. He also said that if her white blood cell (wbc) count was over 13,000 he would take her appendix. We went over to the ER and Kaitlyn was so brave. They put in an IV and started some fluids. Her temp was only 100.4 when we got there. They ran a blood test and took an X-ray of her belly. Her wbc came back at 25,800. The doctor said that he thought it was appendicitis but wasn't positive. She still did not have bad pain, including rebound pain, and just a low fever. He said he thought we should do it and surgery was scheduled for 9 or 10 that evening. This is the point when I talked to Brody. Kyle was up on the high adventure and knew she was sick but didn't know what was going on. I guess Brody wasn't going to be back up at camp in time so Jen went up and got Ky. He drove back like a crazy man!
Kaitlyn in her new room before surgery.
They moved us up to a room on the med/surg floor. Even the nurses up there were suspicious about the lack of pain. I did inform everyone about my brother. Kaitlyn seemed to be mirroring George. A couple of years ago George had appendicitis and he presented just like this. He did not get the high fever or severe belly pain until his appendix started oozing. Explaining this I think worked to our advantage. Kaitlyn got a blessing and Kyle showed up, things started moving pretty quickly. The doctor came up and looked at her one more time before surgery. Her temp was 100.6 and she still was in minor pain. They took her down about 11:30. I cannot describe what it feels like watching your baby being wheeled through the doors to the OR and praying for her and feeling so completely helpless. It is the worst feeling in the world. The doctor came back up to the room at about 12:15. The surgery was quick and successful. Her appendix was about four times the normal size and all curled up, which explains some of the lack of pain. He says it was the right thing to do and the right time. He doesn't think she would have made it to the next morning. He made one incision about an inch long. They move the muscle over now instead of cutting it. So, he said as long as she can eat, walk, and pee she can go home the next day. We were so relieved. I was so glad to see her wheeled back into her room. She did very well. She didn't have much pain at all. We only had one minor complication after she got back. We kept having to tell her to breathe. The nurse put her on oxygen and she slept through the night. I did not. Tuesday morning at 6:00 she woke up and wanted breakfast. We were able to get her up and walk her. She ate like a horse! And by 5:30 the doctor came in and said we could go. Since we have been home she is back to herself. The mornings are hard for her. Once she gets her medicine in she is good to go. At one point Kyle found her riding her bike, I was not home for this! We decided to back off on her pain medication. I don't want her ripping her stitches open! Resting has been hard, but she is doing her best. She has just loved all the gifts and visits. She is eating up all the attention! I am just so glad she is feeling better and that I did not listen to the pediatrician. This is the last straw for them and we will be going elsewhere. It is so good to have Kaitlyn back to herself. She is such a character. Anyone who poked her or did any kind of procedure on her she wouldn't speak to. She would just glare at them, popsicles didn't fix this either! She has said some incredibly cute things through all of this. And we definitely have a stronger bond because of it all. She has always been the one I didn't have that super special connection with. When she was a baby she didn't want to be held much, and over the years we just haven't connected like I have with the other girls. Now we have a very strong connection. That is one good thing that came from all this. It still scares me to think about what could have happened. I am so glad we got her appendix out in time. There have been times when I felt like all my training and everything I learned was a waste, what am I doing with it? Now I am so thankful for all the things I learned. I am so glad I followed my instincts and got a second opinion. I will be keeping Kaitlyn home for awhile to heal up. Again thank you to everyone for all your prayers and help!
We had a very fun busy weekend. Friday we went to the museum and saw the Titanic exhibit. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but very neat. They don't let you take any pictures though. The girls had fun and loved touching the "ice burg" they had. I loved all the model ships and neat artifacts they have. After that we dropped the girls off at Missy and Briant's and went on a date. We went to Johnny Carinos for dinner, they have the best stuffed mushrooms. I don't think we have ever had a bad meal there. After dinner we headed to the greenbelt to sit on "our bench". This is the bench where we met after Kyle got home from his mission, almost twelve years ago. However, there seemed to be a ton of people wanting to sit on our bench, Kyle got a little frustrated and I had to laugh. We finally sat on our bench and eventually headed back to pick up the kids. We had a nice little date. I love to get out alone and away from the kids for awhile. I think I appreciate them more later!
Sunday we went to my parent's for dinner. We got to visit with my Aunt Sandy and Uncle Darrell from Seattle. I always enjoy all the stories we get to hear. We had a good visit with everyone. Ashley is sure glad uncle James is home. He "makes the best chocolate milk ever"!
