Appendicitis

Last Wednesday just after his piano lesson, Jacob suddenly complained of a terrible stomach ache. The pain went down a little and we went home and had lunch and got ready to go to the dinosaur museum, per Jacob's request. Everyone was in the car and I was getting a few more things ready to go and Sarah ran inside and told me Jacob was crying that his tummy hurt REALLY bad, and could I please come. I went out to see and made him come in the house to check it out. I googled "appendix" just to be safe and sure enough, that's where the pain was. It was also warm to the touch and had a slight lump in the painful place. I pushed on it and THAT HURT A LOT!! Next, I called the doctor and we went right over. On the way, Jacob said a prayer that the pain would go away soon. We got there at 2:00. The doctor was checking him out and he was in terrible pain. A CT scan was ordered, then the word came back that an ultrasound would work on such a young person. Then suddenly, the pain was gone. The doctor second-guessed herself and thought maybe it wasn't the appendix after all. I decided we had better check anyway (to prevent a midnight run to the ER with a burst appendix). By 3:00 we were at the hospital getting an ultrasound. Sure enough--appendicitis. The ultrasound person called the doctor, who called the preferred surgeon (who happened to be on call right then), then called me back and said to go right to the Emergency Room. While all this was happening, Jacob was still not in a lot of pain and said, "I hope I'm not late for scouts!" The ultrasound guy said, "I don't think you're going to scouts today, buddy." I called Jared and he left from work to meet us. The minute we walked into the ER, the triage nurse called us in and gave Jacob his bracelet and took his vital signs. Then we went back to a room and waited awhile. I talked to the surgeon and several nurses and Jacob put on some cool pajamas. After awhile, Jared arrived. Then it was time for surgery. First, they put in his IV. You can tell by his expression that that was NOT his favorite part. Next, we went into another room where they got him all ready for the surgery. While we were there, Uncle Jim just happened to call Jared from Korea and Jacob got to talk to him. That really made him feel better. Jared gave Jacob a Priesthood Blessing and Jacob was very calm and relaxed. Then the nurse gave him some medicine through his IV that made him dizzy and silly. It also made him forget everything. He really wanted to pull the chain to open the door and Jared had to hold him up to reach it.

Then they wheeled him to the Operating Room and Jared and I waited for him.

After it was all done and he had awakened, we went to his room. The surgery was succesful. The doctor removed Jacob's appendix laparascopically, so he just has three small incisions.

Afterward, they gave him morphine for the pain and he slept a lot. He got a cool green pillowcase to match his blanket and we watched movies and listened to books on CD. He could only eat clear liquids, so that wasn't so great.

Jacob spent two nights in the hospital and I got to stay with him the entire time. He went home on Friday.

I set him up with a couch bed and Jamba Juice. He is doing great! Sunday he got to eat real food. It still hurts if he coughs or sneezes, and he has to take it easy for another week or so. What an adventure!