"Sometimes when my life is as happy as it is, I worry that something big is going to happen to throw off our balance, but for now I'm just loving my life!"
Life has been so good! We occasionally have a bump or 2 but things work out so well that I can't possibly think the Lord hasn't had his hands in everything all along!
Last October Adam left the company he'd been with for 5 years (company A) for another job that we knew was probably only temporary but also had a lot of potential if it ended up not being temporary (company B). He was supposed to be laid off by the end of December and wasn't until the first week of March. It was fine since we knew to expect it and he made arrangements to go back to company A and got a raise to do so. After just a few days at company A, company B wanted him back. They had had to lay off basically everyone (with the exception of a few key staff to keep things going), but really wanted to work something out for him to come back. It took 3 weeks for them to work it out, but now he is back and happy as can be to be staying with company B! Small bump in the road, but no biggy! That is about the extent of the drama in our lives until Saturday. Life just sails on so smoothly that I worry when the big storm will hit!
Friday night Griffin woke up in the middle of the night HYSTERICAL, looking for his sticker that he had gotten from the library the day before. Since he was not real excited about the sticker when he got it, I knew he was probably not feeling well when he was so upset about it. He woke up 3 times that night looking for that dang sticker, and one of the times he mentioned that his tummy hurt. He's never really told me that his tummy hurts before, so I didn't think much of it other than it was a little odd. Saturday he woke up and was happy as a clam and played for the morning until something upset him just before lunch time. He wanted his blanket (as he always does when he gets upset), and I was just pulling it out of the washer to dry it. He was NOT happy. I held him for a minute while we let it half dry- enough to get it out and let it air dry while he cuddled. He told me again that his tummy hurt, and kept crying. Nothing I did made him feel better, so I started feeling his belly to see what the problem was. Since I'm not a doctor, I had no idea what I was feeling for, so I assumed he just ate something that wasn't sitting right. After an hour or 2 of him crying on and off and it seeming to be worse as time went on, I called the on call nurse. He had no fever, no vomiting, etc., so she said it was probably just a gas bubble that was causing him pain and to call back if he started getting a fever. I worried, but common sense said he was fine and just needed to wait it out. After poking around more I found that it only hurt him on the right side, which I always immediately associate with Appendicitis, but still no fever. He ended up falling asleep around 5 and woke up just as we were putting Deegan to bed, so we let him stay up with us watching movies in our bed. It was a LONG night of wrestling him wanting to be held and Ritter wanting to nurse and 4 in a bed. His temp did get up to about 100 that night, but I figured maybe he was just really hot from being snuggled in blankets when I took his temperature, so I didn't trust it too much. Sunday morning, Adam was getting ready to go to the store to get some Sprite and I was just cuddling with Griff. I had a really nervous feeling about him leaving, but couldn't pin point it. I kept trying to figure out why I didn't want him to leave for the couple minutes he was going to be gone and it finally occurred to me that we probably need to take Griff to be checked just in case. He had no other symptoms. His fever was gone- he was just tired and hurting. I told Adam I should probably take him and he agreed. He was going to stay with the other boys, but then I thought "if they have to draw blood or anything like that, I may need moral support". I felt kind of silly calling a babysitter because I was sure they were going to send us home and say he just had a cramp or something that needed to work itself out. My darling Amanda, who has been our go to babysitter for almost 5 years now, came over and took such good care of Deeg and Ritter and even got them ready for church and took them to Sacrament meeting! (We kinda love her!). Adam and I headed to the ER and drove past Instacare and decided to just stop there instead. After the Dr. came in and examined for a minute (Griff was pretty un-cooperative), she said "Well, I've never seen Appendicitis this young, but it's possible and it sounds an aweful lot like that's what it is or maybe a twisted intestine." She sent us to the ER to get an ultrasound and maybe some blood work to be sure, but we were all still skeptical. Griffin kept saying all this time that Deegan bumped into him. I was pretty sure that wasn't the case, but thought maybe it was a small possibility. At the ER, the nurses and Dr. were also skeptical. The Dr. even promised Griff a popsicle when he finished looking at his tummy. They sent us to radiology for the US and he just wouldn't stop crying because it hurt so bad to touch his belly or even to move. We ended up going back to the ER to hook him up to an IV and get some narcotics in him to calm him down and ease his pain. It was really difficult getting the IV in and Adam and I were almost in tears watching him fight and cry so hard. He's not even 3! Anyway, 30 minutes later, back to the US we went, then back to our ER to wait. Shortly after, the Dr. came in and said "well, guys, I really didn't expect this, but it looks like he needs to have his appendix out. It looks pretty nasty and probably will rupture soon if it hasn't already". Apparently the US can't tell if it's ruptured or not, so we had to wait until he was opened up to know for sure. An hour later the OR was prepped and they were ready to get him back. We made arrangements for Adam's parents to come get the other boys and our home-teacher, Orrin, came up to help Adam give Griff a blessing to get him through. They wheeled Griff and I back to a hallway in the OR (Adam came too-just walked) and we waited for the rest of the team to assemble. When they were ready, they had me stand up and I thought we were going to just get Griff situated so they could put him on a bed or something to take him back, but the surgical nurse grabbed Griff and turned to walk away as another nurse told us where to wait. I was a little caught off guard, and it really sucked watching and listening to my baby be carried off to an unknown place and not being able to go with! Adam and I waited and watched the clock anxiously. It took a little over an hour from when they took him to when we met him in his recovery room. When he got up there he wanted 2 things- me and his wheelchair. Everything went great, the appendix hadn't ruptured yet, but was very close they said- within 24 hours or less. He and I sat in the wheelchair for a few hours until I finally convinced him to sit with me in the bed instead.
We spent Sunday night and half of Monday at the hospital. They said he had to be able to walk before we could leave, so we took lots of walks outside his room, but most of them he sat in my lap in a wheelchair. He's up and moving a little bit today, but still struggles to climb on beds, sit up from laying down and bend over. We've watched WAY too much TV and he has loved eating anything his little heart desires- Apple juice, unlimited popsicles, suckers, cookies and brownies and pudding.
We had an overwhelming amount of love sent our way from friends, family and ward members. I even had to "break up" a fight over who was bringing us dinner! We have an amazing neighborhood and ward at church. Life is good, as long as I keep up with Griffin's pain medications! He is still telling me that it's Deegan's fault because he bumped into him though!
While it's not over yet, so I shouldn't probably jinx myself again, things have worked out just fine and we are still loving life!
