The Result of the Sickness

That tummy ache Joel had Tuesday morning... turned into vomiting almost all day Tuesday. I got very concerned about Joel's health because he couldn't keep anything down and even the Pedialyte was coming up. I was very worry of him being dehydrated. Tuesday night came and Joel wasn't feeling any better and now he was complaining of more stomach aches. By this time, no vomiting and it looked like he didn't felt the "need" to vomit anymore which was a good sign for me. Still, he was complaining of his tummy hurting. The first thing to came in my mind was that maybe Joel's stomach muscles got sore because of all the vomiting he did during the day. He went to bed and I went to bed thinking that it wasn't that big of a deal and his tummy was just sore from throwing up.

Wednesday morning came. My hubby got up around 4ish in the morning to get ready for work. At around 5ish, Joel got up to go to the bathroom and then went to bed. I then got up to go to the bathroom too and when I got out of the bathroom my hubby came to me with a worried face telling me to come see Joel. Gosh, he scared the crap out of me because the first thing in my head was "Oh no, he's throwing up blood now"!!... but that wasn't it. My hubby told me that the pain Joel was having could be his appendix so right there we decided to take Joel to the ER. We got to the ER at around 5:30 in the morning and glad the ER had couple of people waiting and it wasn't a full room; Joel got called quickly. So, Joel got an ultrasound and blood tests done. When the doctor came to let us know what was wrong with him, he said "Appendicitis". Great!! Joel got transfered to Children's Hospital. It was our first time for Joel and me to get in an ambulance... so that part was cool.

Joel got a room right away and we shared the room with two other boys that had surgery (both of them got released today so we have the room for ourselves for now). It was a little difficult for all of us because since Joel was an Add On for surgery, we couldn't get an exact time for his surgery. We got at Children's Hospital at around 11ish in the morning on Wednesday. But, thank goodness for the pain medicine that made Joel feel a little better and was able to sleep. The final hour to get ready for surgery came at 10pm... and probably the surgery began at 10:30 or 10:40. The surgery took an hour. Close to midnight, the doctor/surgeon came to the waiting room and told me that surgery was over and that everything went smoothly and Joel was ok. When Joel woke up from the anesthesia, one of the nurses came for me so that I can be with Joel. It was surprising to see Joel wide awake, talking and eating popsicles which made me very relieved to see him like that. After that, they took him up to his room.

My hubby hasn't gone to work since Wednesday because he's taking care of Seth while I stay here in the hospital with Joel. But Thursday and today, my hubby HAD to stop by his work to take care some of his things... on Thursday he left me Seth here in the hospital because he had a 2 hr meeting. Today (Friday), he had to stop by his work but this time he took Seth with him.

So far, my stay here in Children's Hospital hasn't been a bad experience. Everybody is nice and very helpful... and, they are great with kids. Before Joel going to surgery, a woman came by to say hi to Joel and to explained what was going to happened to Joel in surgery so that he could understand and not be too scared. She explained it with a doll and explained to him about the appendix. Another time, a fireman came by to say hi and to give him some toys (Seth was here too so he got toys too). Everyday, someone comes (besides the doctors and the nurses) to either give the kids something or to tell them that there are Play Rooms around here that are open at certain hours so they can grab movies, use the computers, toys, video games, board games, etc. and not get too bored in their rooms. I think Children's Hospital is great!! Today, I noticed they have a Shower place for parents!!... if I knew that ahead of time, I wouldn't have gone home to take a shower yesterday. Too bad I didn't bring shampoo, conditioner, mousse, etc. to take a shower here tomorrow... ugh! Oh well.

So, the doctor came this morning to check Joel out and it's going to be another day here at the hospital. Hopefully, tomorrow (Saturday)... Joel will be able to go home!!