It's been a rough couple of weeks in the Ford household... and this mama is now exhausted. The boys in this house have been unwell, but now that they're both feeling better, I have some time to write about our sickly adventures.
It started a few years ago, actually, when Danny woke up one night with "indigestion." He went to outpatients in the middle of the night, where they gave him a "pink lady" and he felt better. It happened again a year later, and the MIR started treating him for indigestion. Fast forward to April of this year, and he had another "indigestion" attack. This time, the pink lady at the hospital did nothing to make him feel better and they considered another culprit of these attacks... his gall bladder. After the April incident, Danny felt unwell basically all the time. When he wasn't having full-fledged gall bladder attacks, his stomach was upset, and he couldn't eat. He spent way too much time at outpatients in Middleton, hooked up to IV and receiving morphine, and - the last time we were there - Toradol. At the time of the last attacks, he was in the middle of writing his final exams at university. Hoping to at least make it through exams, he visited the MIR and they sent a request for a semi-urgent ultrasound to Valley Regional. After a couple of weeks of still feeling unwell, Danny followed up with the MIR, who followed up with Valley Regional, who refused their request for an ultrasound on a semi-urgent basis. Waiting for Valley Regional to schedule an ultrasound would take months. The MIR called the Shearwater base, who was able to get Danny in for an ultrasound the next day (Tuesday). On Wednesday morning, at 7:30 a.m., we received a call from the Greenwood hospital. The ultrasound results were back, and the doctors didn't like what they saw. Danny's gallbladder was inflamed, and had been thickening, and was clearly showing stones.... Danny was being sent to the Halifax Infirmity "direct for surgery." He arrived home long enough to pack a bag, and off he went with a friend to Halifax. At around 4:30 that afternoon, they decided they wouldn't be able to fit him in that day for surgery, or the next day, but would call Friday morning and let us know if they had room for him, and if not, then Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and so on until he was taken care of.
Danny had another gall bladder attack Wednesday night, and most of the day Thursday. On Friday morning, the hospital called and said they didn't have room for him that day, but to be there the next morning (Saturday). We had to be in New Brunswick Friday afternoon for my grandfather's surprise 80th birthday party, so Danny joined us as originally planned. We drove to NB for the party, stayed the night in the hotel, and checked out at 6:30 the next morning.
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| At least Danny was well enough to make the party! :) |
We arrived back at the Halifax Infirmary at 9:30, and Danny was signed in. At 11:30, they told us that they probably wouldn't have time to operate on him that day. The plan was to send him home, have him come back Monday morning and they would admit him... he would stay at the hospital, basically "on call" until a spot freed up. We waited for the doctor to discharge him. At 1:00, the doctor came in and said Danny was next for surgery, and instead of heading home, we were again preparing for surgery. The kids and I wandered the hospital when they got restless, but otherwise, they were amazing! We sat on the floor and watched Clifford on Danny's laptop. We did stretches up and down the hallway outside Danny's room. We wandered to the cafeteria, where we filled up on apples, bananas, and Special-K chips. They were the best little troopers ever!!
At 3:00, we were told that Danny was bumped again, and surgery wouldn't be happening, but they would keep him overnight in case something opened up. He was moved to his room on a different floor, and we were getting ready to say goodbye for the day (7 hours on a hospital floor with 3 kids was more than enough!). Out of nowhere, a nurse came in, said "You're going in now!" and we had time to kiss him goodbye before they took him away! We were told that by the time he got in to surgery, spent time in recovery, and made it back to the room, it could be anywhere between 3 to 5 hours. Thank heavens, our friend Tim was in Halifax waiting for my call, and he was there when Danny was taken in. I still had to take the kids home, since we had been on the go since 6:30 that morning. Tim took over my spot as "waiting wife" and I drove home with the kids. On the way home, Jax spiked a fever - which I chalked up to the long, tiring day, and the drive home in the sun. Danny made it out of surgery, and was on his way to finally feeling better for the first time in months. All was good again. Until...
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| Post-surgery! And on his way to feeling much better (hopefully!) |
Tuesday. I got home Tuesday evening from taking the kids to swimming lessons, and my mom told me that Jax had thrown up all over the floor twice. I thought it was odd, but he had no fever and seemed to be feeling fine. I texted the parents of the kids I babysit as a warning, and got everyone to bed. On Wednesday, Jax seemed mostly fine during the day. He was a little grumpy, and woke up with a fever around 100. Tylenol kept it down during the day, and we assumed a little stomach bug. By Wednesday evening, Jax was not a happy camper. He complained whenever I touched him, and said "ow, mommy" over and over. He would tell me his leg hurt, and then his arm, and then his belly. I figured he must be achy from the fever and sent him to bed with more Tylenol. At 3 a.m. Thursday morning, he woke up crying and with a fever of 103.9. I immediately dosed him with Tylenol and Ibuprofen and wet his skin with a facecloth. At 7:30 he woke up and the fever was down to 99.9 again. Thursday was not a good day. He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't drink, and he wouldn't pee. He cried when I touched him, and he cried when I put him down. He said his skin hurt. And he kept saying, "Ow, mommy. My mouth." Whenever his Tylenol came close to running out, his fever spiked again. He slept in the morning, and again all afternoon. He laid in bed with daddy (who was newly recovering from surgery), because I didn't want him sleeping alone. By that evening, after refusing to eat and drink all day, and after complaining about his mouth and his ears, I called 811 and asked for advice. After asking dozens of questions, they recommended I take him to see a doctor within 6 to 12 hours. Because we have no clinics or after-hours here, that meant outpatients. My favourite question from 811 was their last question:
811: "If you hadn't called 811 for advice, what would your have done?"
Me: "Probably sit here all night questioning my parenting skills."
811: *stifles laugh* Is that your official answer?
Me: "Absolutely, sounds about right!"
811: "Well thank you for being honest."
Seriously, I'm a "let them bleed" type parent. I can count on one hand the number of times we've been to see the doctor for reasons other than regular check-ups and vaccinations. I don't take my kids to the doctor for the flu, unless it gets out of hand (like the lack of food and drink for 24 hours combined with high fever), and bumps and bruises are a part of our every day life (except for the toddler fracture last year, whoops!). I'm glad to have a resource like 811, for when I'm seriously questioning my parenting skills.
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| I carried him all day, and he would periodically fall asleep on me. This kid weighs 29 pounds. And had a fever of 103. But, hey! Baby snuggles, right?!? |
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| Aww, those cheeks... a clear sign of being terribly unwell. Also, our first hint of the scarlet fever! |
Anyway, off to outpatients we went. When we arrived, the nurse took us in to be assessed. She excused herself for less than a minute to find a toddler thermometer, and Jax promptly began vomiting. I found one of those little blue bowls and handed it to her when she returned. "Well, there's the only red freezie I managed to get into him today." His temperature was 104.5, and we were immediately taken to see the doctor. Before the doctor could see us (less than 5 minutes) Jax fell dead asleep. They had to pry his mouth open to administer ibuprofen and acetaminophen, which he choked down while barely opening his eyes. The doctor was able to assess him and discovered he had the flu, and also strep throat. "It's really bad," she said. "And it will probably get worse before it gets better. I wouldn't expect him to start feeling better for another 48 hours. Also, I'm pretty sure those red cheeks are a bit of a rash, so I wouldn't be surprised if you see a rash all over his body before the 48 hours are up, too." Do you know what a full body rash + strep throat equals? Scarlett fever. Which he got.
By Friday evening, his whole stomach and back and legs was covered in a rash. He ate some crackers and drank some water Friday evening, too, which he immediately threw up all over me. We climbed into the shower, fully clothed, and rinsed off. Because Jax didn't want to be put down, and because Danny couldn't carry him, I somehow had to get my clothes off, and his, with one hand. I sat on the floor of the shower where I shampooed and cleaned us both off while Jax sat on my lap. Did I mention the fact that he had the most horrible diarrhea ever? No?? Oh yes, we also had that pleasure on top of everything else. The whole time he was sitting on my lap, naked, in the shower, I kept thinking "Please don't fart on me. Please don't fart on me." Parenting is glamorous... have you heard??
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| Not the first time Jax threw up on me... and, unfortunately, not the last. |
Saturday was not a good day either. He whined and cried and fevered and threw up all day. He put himself to bed for a nap. I contemplated taking him back to the doctor, when Danny reminded me what the doctor had said. 48 hours. He woke up Sunday morning a totally different little boy. He drank a full cup of water without crying. He had half a piece of toast for breakfast. He laughed again. And he walked around the kitchen without anyone needing to carry him for the first time since Wednesday. Ahhhh... antibiotics were working! We were on our way to recovery!
Did I mentioned that because Danny was post-surgery, he was spending most of his time in bed, and when he was up and around, he was not allowed to lift anything over 15 pounds. Which meant I carried Jax... all day, for 3 days! I was up at night because Danny was uncomfortable sleeping in our bed, and I spent all day carrying Jax and parenting the 2 other spirited children in this house. I was tired! By Tuesday, Jax was mostly back to normal, but Danny contracted the flu portion of Jax's illness. Ugh.
It's been a long couple of weeks. But we're on the other side of it now, and things are looking up again. And I should be able to catch up on all the sleep I've lost sometime over the next 15 years, I'm sure!
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| Feeling well enough again to play in the dirt with Ella! |
