Thursday, June 28, 2012

Vomit and Kidney Stones

This week started off with a BANG!!! And not in a good way!

Saturday after his party and nap, Bacon threw up not once but twice, all over Tim both times! Tim handled it quite well and we chalked it up to sugar overload from all the festivities.

Saturday night/Sunday morning around 3 am, Pickle crawled in our bed, laid down and said, "My throat hurts." I grabbed him and ran for our bathroom. We made it to the sink just as he puked. He looked better and felt better, so off to bed he went.

Sunday morning dawned early for Tim and later for me. I didn't hear any children wake up, so Tim got up with them. I had my head wrapped in a blanket and was snoring! I guess I was tired but I only remember waking up at 8:45 am, when Tim came in the room. I sat up and he said, "Pickle's thrown up twice since he's been up" and he walked back out.

I slowly headed downstairs, dreading what the day was going to most certainly bring. More puking, fevers and no husband to help. Tim was heading out of town and although he was busy packing he did all he could to help me until he actually left. Pickle seemed better and had made it to the bathroom each time. However, that did not last. After Tim left, he threw up 3 or 4 more times and only made it to the bathroom half those times. On the bright side, little by little my kitchen floor and family room carpet were getting cleaned! As was the furniture.

Sometime that night I called a couple friends over to give Pickle a blessing and to bring a thermometer (ours has dead batteries). He had a whopping 103 fever and all he wanted to do was snuggle! After the blessing, he was able to keep things down (finally)! He ate and kept the medicine down as well. Off to bed we all went, exhausted!

Monday I woke up at 5:15 am with a pain in my side and throwing-up. I was so out of it and of course, panicked a bit since I was by myself, sick and puking, with 3 small children! I called some friends for a blessing and waited downstairs. They came, gave me a blessing and thankfully, took all 3 boys away. I was so worried because I didn't know how I was going to take care of Jake at all. I didn't even know how I was going to get him downstairs I was so weak!

Around 1:30 pm or so, I panicked again. The pain in my side was worse and I was alone and didn't know what to do. I was hoping I would get better but that wasn't happening and I had kids at other people's houses. My mom called and said I needed to go to the hospital. I gave her a couple numbers and she did all the calling for me. A wonderful lady came and whisked me away to the hospital. I did have a lucid moment in there when Tim called and I finally told him what was going on. I hadn't wanted to bother him or worry him since there was nothing he could do. He knew something was up anyway. He knows me all too well. I didn't answer his texts because I was too tired. That's how he knew.

At the hospital I sat waiting, going in and out the back for a couple things and puking while waiting for a room. The ER was packed and I found out Monday's are the worst day time wise. People wait out the weekend to see their doctor and then end up in the ER anyway. We arrived at 3:15 pm and finally I got back to a room around 7:30 pm. I was still in pain and threw up more. I was severely dehydrated because I couldn't keep anything down. The only positive aspect was the doctor arrived around 10 minutes after I got to my room.

Finally at 8 or so I got the pain medication. I was set up on a saline IV drip (which helped so much) and given a shot of morphine and some anit-nausea medicine. The morphine was absolutely fabulous! Tim called at 9 pm, just after I headed for my CT scan saying he was on his way to the hospital. He had flown from Spokane, WA to Tucson while I was in the waiting room at the ER.

The CT scan showed I had a kidney stone in my left kidney about to enter my bladder, hence, the pain. I also have a cyst on my liver. Tim and I sat around the hospital until 2:15 am waiting. The doctor wanted to see how my pain was doing before I left. I was fine but exhausted and completely out of it.

As part of the discharge the nurse gave me a strainer to pee in, so I could catch the stone to take to a doctor and have analyzed to find out what caused it. Well, all I have to say is: When a patient has been in pain for over 12 hours and is given a shot of morphine, a clearer explanation is called for. I was given a prescription for pain medication. I haven't been using the strainer because I figured if I needed pain meds, it was going to hurt to pee the stone out so I would know when to use the strainer. Oh, not so!

Today I went to my regular doctor so she could order an ultrasound for a more comprehensive look at the cyst on my liver. And what do I find out?????? Many people pee out the stone and don't even know it! It doesn't hurt!! So now I have no idea if I passed the stone or not! Tim just laughed and said, "I heard them say for you to strain your pee!" I replied, "I was in pain and hyped up on drugs! Do you think I really knew what was going on?" And I also found out I have a stone in my right kidney. Guess when I get that excruciating pain I'll know what to do.

So now I am home. I don't know if the stone in my left kidney is still in my bladder or not. I have one in my right kidney that may or may not cause me problems. And I have a cyst on my liver but don't know if it's benign or not. I hate the waiting game. And my body still hurts and is tired. My front torso is still tight and sore from all the puking. My right arm is still sore from the IV. And when the nurse today took my blood pressure I realized my left bicep is still sore from the blood pressure machine at the hospital! And to top it off, Zach threw up last night!

Luckily though, Tim is home and that makes everything all better!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Bacon's 1 year Party

My little Bacon turned 1 last week and we had his birthday party today. It was a lot of fun and he even stayed awake through the whole thing. It went pretty smoothly. He had help from his brothers opening a their presents to him. Then he opened a few presents on his own. The first one he got hung up on a piece of tape. He kept trying to rip it off. Finally Tim ripped it off and he moved on to opening the present. It still took him a minute. The last present he opened though, he ripped that paper off in 10 seconds!

The cake was fun. We had a hard time coming up with something for him because he doesn't have anything he really likes and is attached too, like the other boys did. Since he does really like water and loves to splash in anything with water, Tim made a bathtub cake. He did an amazing job! And it was probably easier than the vacuum, which we joke is Bacon's best friend because he likes that so much too!

Below are pictures from the even (mostly). The wagon walker he got a little early from grandparents, so those are from before.

The wagon walker, to help him walk.

How it's normally used.

His personal birthday cake. He LOVES water
and LOVES to splash in the tub.

The cake for everyone else. It was lemon!

The first present he got to open
by himself.
  
He went right for the rubber ducky and ate that first.

He didn't eat much at this point, mostly just made a mess.
  
He likes forks a lot. He's stabbing a piece of frosting.

Now he's actually eating the cake and
enjoying himself even more.

All gone.

Playing with his friend Dan. No one could
believe he sat still enough for  Dan to
stack those rings on his head.