Well, not sure where to begin? And, to be honest, I don't know that I know what day it is? LOL.
This has been quite a week . . .
Tuesday morning, around 7am, Kaya came into our room and said her stomach hurt. I asked her if she wanted Pepto Bismo or some pain medicine--to see which type of pain she was having (upset stomach, flu, etc.). Then, I asked her to tell me 1-10, what kind of pain she was in.
She said, "9."
If you know Kaya, she's pretty much the toughest (translation = stubborn) child we have. Like, this is the child that will literally prevent herself from vomitting by clenching her teeth/jaw shut.
So, when Kaya tells me she's in pain--and it's a 9--I'm pretty much worried
By 8:03am she and I are on our way to the Urgent Care near our home.
After a 20 minute exam, the Urgent Care Dr. said, "I need to send you to Primary. This is classic appendicitis."
With map in hand, off we went to Primary (a children's hospital). (It's not around the corner.)
I call Dave on my way. He leaves work and meets us there.
Once in the ER at the hospital, Kaya goes through a battery of tests--and I mean BATTERY (a terrible IV experience, a CT scan that was more invasive than any procedure should be--all amidst pain at a level 10+).
Somewhere in the middle, Kaya's grandma Lorraine comes, too. (Thank you!)
And by 2pm it was confirmed: appendicitis. She needs to have surgery--STAT.
Because they weren't expecting Kaya, the Drs. told us we'd have to wait for them to fit her into surgery. And, that hopefully her appendix wouldn't perforate while we waited. (Oddly enough, the Drs. were fairly calm as they explained the situation/possible perforation--how the infection would spread, how bad that would be, etc.)
As we wait, Kaya's fever is 101, and her pain level hits the worst yet. They give her morphine, but it doesn't cut the pain. She is crying and screaming--truly writhing in pain. (Sidenote: Dave is insanely calm during all of this. Me, I'm getting angry with each passing moment: I want the surgery to happen NOW.)
Fortunately within about 90 minutes of the diagnosis, they tell us the OR has room for her. AND, Kaya will have the Chief of Surgery as her surgeon--a woman! (I should have mentioned, Kaya wanted female doctors for everything. And guess what? We have only had female doctors. Well, minus the anesthesiologist. And, our nurses have all been male. Love 2008!)
So Kaya goes into surgery around 4pm (a long time after her initial pain--which we learned started the night before), and by 5:30pm she is in recovery and ready to move to a hospital room.
And, that was 3 days ago.
As I write today, she's watching Underdog and getting ready for a walk.
Stay tuned for more photos. Today's photo is from my phone--and taken before she was diagnosed (so pre-surgery).
