Medical Monday

During the surgery, the OR team removed part of Jaydon’s intestine and patched it onto the bladder, making it big enough to hold about a liter of liquid. Then they removed his appendix and created a stoma through which he will be able to catheterize himself once everything has healed. Then, they discovered his urethra was closing off so they fixed that issue. He has 3 new holes in his stomach, 2 catheters (1 suprapubic and 1 in the stoma until it heals to prevent it from closing off), a 4-inch incision and various stitches all over. Poor kid was really worked over! We spent exactly a week in the hospital recovering.

We had hoped we could go home Sunday-crossing our fingers but not holding our breath. The doctors had hinted Friday night, Saturday or Sunday. Aunts, cousins, Grandma, Grandpa and all his siblings came to visit and to play in the Forever Young Zone on Saturday. Did you know 13 people fit in one hospital room? Jaydon was really worn out and in all the commotion, we (all of us) had forgotten about pain meds-he seemed to be fine. We discovered Jaydon doesn’t complain about pain until it is overwhelming. He started throwing up Saturday night. As a result we got to spend Sunday in the hospital. The branch president happens to be related to one of Jay’s parent’s neighbors in Montpelier and he knew several of Jay’s aunts and uncles. Small world, huh?

We have been home from the hospital for about a week. Jaydon has been doing well except for the fact that I can’t seem to get him to eat. I have heard that going under anesthesia can cause strange side effects with taste buds. My mom finally got him to eat on Friday by offering him a variety of things like pizza bites, hotdogs and apples. We think he over ate because that night, he started throwing up. Poor kid wasn’t even able to keep pain pills down. At any rate, he fell asleep around 5. Sometime after 7, I woke him and told him he needed to come out and TRY to drink at least a little bit. He groaned and rolled over. I tried again. He pulled the blanket over his head. I leaned my hip against the doorjamb, folded my arms and said “Here’s the deal. You can either come out and drink some Gatorade OR I’ll drag you to the car and take you to the nearest hospital and have them put in an IV.” He practically flew out of bed and down the hall. I almost had to take the Gatorade away to keep him from drinking it too fast. Silly boy. I’m here to tell you, kids bounce! Sunday, he was up and moving like he hadn’t been hugging the pink bucket all day. He seems to be doing fine.

Mom caught a cold. My wonderful children shared it with me. Because being the primary care-giver 24/7 is so draining, I'm not doing entirely well. I'm starting to feel better, not so much like I've been run over by a truck now. The Relief Society has been wonderfully supportive. I was able to attend a writing chat online with Ali Cross Thursday and the ladies were amazingly supportive and made me feel like I have accomplished A LOT when I actually feel like I'm dropping the balls I'm trying to juggle. I can't do it all and what I can do at the moment needs to be enough.

Thanks to everyone for all your prayers, thoughts, smiles and support! I couldn't do this without you!