Our Heaven on Earth...or Asylum?

Jordan told me he was ill November 18th. Since the rest of us had had chills, fevers, and horrible coughs, we thought he was coming down with the same thing. He felt terrible and his belly ached a bit. He had vomited a few times- immediately after consumption, but nothing serious. Finally on Tuesday (20th) I took him to see our regular doctor. She told us, that yes he probably had the flu- and to get some rest. Thanksgiving was in a few days, Nicole was already in Ogden for the big day, so we thought we would all just go home and rest. That night Jordan kept coming in- telling us his belly hurt. I would tell him to go to the bathroom, take some tums, rub some essential oils on his belly, and go back to bed.
Yes. I am the worst mother in the entire world.
The next morning, (21st) Dave had gone to work, and I was just waking up. Jordan told me that he was dressed, and wanted me to take him to the doctor again. So I called, and she was not in yet.
He didn't care! He said he would be in the car waiting for me! I told him again she was not in, and he said I needed to take him to the hospital. I figured I had better- 15 year olds do not usually ASK to go to a hospital.

We went. They talked to him- he was not in huge pain, so nothing pointed in a specific direction. So they took blood. They were kind of just fishing at that point. Then I mentioned that Jordan had told me that the lymph nodes near his groin were swollen. This interested the ER doc and after feeling them- I could see a look on her face. A look of clarity crossed her face, and I know- something was up.

(Jordan, in pain, in the ER)

She then said that they were going to go ahead and order a MRI before the blood work came back. While I was surprised, I was glad too. They brought him some contrast to drink, started and IV, and in an hour- we would get some real answers! about 30 minutes later the blood work said his white blood count was through the roof, so we were already ahead of the game with the contrast! Good call Doc!

They let me come to the MRI. It was really neat.

It did not take long at all for them to come tell me that his appendix had ruptured. They said that we needed to move fast- because it was quite severe. Jordan then started having uncontrollable pain, and I called Dave and told him to get to the hospital quickly!

A surgeon came in- and said we would be in there as soon as a OR was open. He started turning gray. I was starting to worry. People started rushing, he had to get in, NOW.Afterwords, he felt so much better- he looked better. He had a new 5 inch incision, a drain, and lots of pain, but he was better. Thanksgiving became being thankful for Jordan still with us. He could have no food, water, or even ice chips for 4 days, but he was alive! Thank goodness!

After he started a 6 day at the hospital. He could not have ANYTHING my mouth for the first 4 days. Nothing! Not even an ice chip! It was super rough for him, but he was very heavily morphined, and the poison was continually draining out of him. He felt horrible, but you could see him getting better all the time. By the time he came home, he was so ready, and so were we. He couldn't take all his anti-biotics or his pain killers without vomiting because it filling hid tiny tummy. I had to crush them. He was only eating a bite or two every few hours, and he swore it was because his belly shrunk from not eatin for so long. days passed, then the vomiting and I realized my boy was wasting to absolutely nothing. I was panicing. I could see him dying this time.

ER again. this time when I showed up at triage the nurse looked at him and buzzed him in. They were putting an IV in before I was even done singing consents. The doc was ordering tests and his surgeon was there in 5 minutes. We were both very scared. His white blood count was 35,000 when just 4 days prior it was 7. He was to drink the contrast again and then another CT scan. Within a very short time, we were back in the same room, with a new plan. Jordan has a bowel obstruction. When the appendix burst, the bowel closest to it, seemed to die. They had to get Jordan healthy enough to give his bowel time to revive or they would have to open him back up and resect his bowel. It was kind of his worst nightmare! But Jordan was so emaciated- he was barely alive. My 5 foot 7 inch son was down to 86 pounds. He was so weak, it was bad bad bad. After getting him back on IV antibiotics, they started hydrating him. The surgeon came in later to put in a central line. That is an IV that basically goes into the large veins near his heart. That way they would be able to put him on total parenteral nutrition or TPN. The TPN was a miracle. He was getting fat, calories, sugars, everything you need to live! I was so grateful, when I went home that night, I just cried and cried. I was worry about the resection, but at least I was not watching him die. I am so very thankful for the medical knowledge the Lord has blessed the world with to save my boy. Thankfully within 5 more days- Jordan's bowels awoke and he had gained 5 pounds.