Remember me talking about all those events that were blogworthy? Here’s one of them.
A week before Christmas, Travis started complaining about nausea and stomach pains. Actually, that started a couple of months ago, but when we took him to the doctor he couldn’t find anything specific wrong with him. I, of course, began suspecting the worst: ulcer, blocked intestinal tract, kidney failure. You know, all that “glass-half-empty” stuff I’m famous for. Anyway, at this point, the stomach stuff had gotten a little worse and when I picked him up from school on that Wednesday, he complained of a stomachache. He obviously didn’t feel well and went from the door to the sofa and didn’t move until bedtime. He got into bed and then had to go throw up. “Great,” I thought, “More puking. Bring it on, I’m ready!” But he didn’t throw up again. The next morning he was running a low-grade fever and said he felt worse. I took Riley to school and when I got back Trav told me he hurt down on the lower right side of his belly. Could it be. . . appendicitis? I went upstairs and told Val to get dressed because we were going to Quick Care. They poked and prodded him, took some blood and then sent us to Gritman for a CT scan. The doctor told him not to worry, the CT scan was just like a big donut that would take a picture of his insides. Oh, they forgot to mention the enema!!! And the IV. Which they said wouldn’t hurt but of course did. Trav was a trooper, though, and when it was over the doctor came and told us that they were admitting him and he was going in for immediate surgery because, apparently, his appendix had ruptured. Crap. Upstairs. More doctors. More poking and prodding. More things going into the IV which weren’t supposed to hurt but did. I finally said something and the nurse put some Lidocaine in the IV before whatever else went in to numb the stinging. Oh, and then a Tylenol suppository. More things poked up his butt. At one point, Travis looked up at me and said miserably, “This is my worst day ever!” Poor little guy.
The surgery was quick, about 45 minutes, during which Val went and picked up Riley from school. Note: Yes, we went to Quick Care at around 8:30 am but by the time a dozen doctors poked and prodded and then sent us elsewhere to get yet another test and more poking ad prodding and not to mention waiting in the godforsaken wating room of the radiology department of the hospital, by the time they actually got around to doing the actual surgery, it was almost 3 in the afternoon. On the way back to the hospital, Val told Riley what was going on and that her brother was getting his appendix taken out. They got back and after a little while a nurse came and got us to bring us into recovery. Travis was still pretty much under the anesthetic and looked horrible. Riley crept up to him and said to me, “Mom? Did Travis get his index out?” Yes baby, but they left in the Table of Contents.
The surgery went well and the recovery was good. They brought in an X-box (yay!) and told him he could probably go home the next day. More lies. The next day the surgeon came in and said “Maybe tomorrow”. Travis was disappointed. The next day he came in again and said, “One more day.” Travis cried. Three and a half days after the surgery, they finally let him go home. He’s been doing great, though he still winces when he sneezes.
Wild Potatoes 