CRAZY

I woke up Saturday, June 11 about 5 am, Grady was fussy, which is pretty normal so I put his binki back in and went back to sleep. He didn't settle down so I finally went and picked him up. I could tell he was uncomfortable but didn't know what to do, I tried to feed him and he didn't want anything to do with eating. I got him to calm down but thought maybe he just wasn't feeling good. He finally ate really good at noon and since Mar was asleep and Garrick and Carl were at Grandpa's we laid down and went to sleep. He woke up about 45 min later and threw up all over the bed and everything. Needless to say that was the first of many puking sessions over the next twenty four hours with my cute boy. Carl came home Saturday night and we both figured Grady (who had spent the day sleeping anywhere I put him down and throwing up most everything he ate) had the flu.
Saturday night was a really long night I think we slept 1 hour all night. Carl headed to Church the next morning and the kids and I stayed home. Grady wasn't feeling any better so I asked Carl to see if someone would come and help give him a blessing. Our great friend Wade came and helped Carl. A couple hours later Carl and I both looked at Grady and realized that he didn't have the 24 hour flu and that we needed to talk to a Dr. I took him to the clinic and it turned out (after another puking session) that he was dehydrated and we needed to go up to McKay Dee and get him rehydrated. I promised the Doc that I would drive straight there, so I drove home and got Carl and the kids. My mom had already agreed to watch the kids and planned to meet us just off the freeway in Roy.
When we stopped I could smell that Grady'd pooped. I thought I'll hurry and change him, that was until I saw his diaper. It was bloody. (That was when I really started to freak out.) I told Carl to hurry. We went pretty fast, dropped the kids off and headed to the Hospital.
We had been pre-admitted so we went straight to peds and the great nurses and doctor saw us and had an IV going within probably 20 minutes. They took the diaper and the doc talked to us about what she thought it might be. Because of the diaper she ordered an x-ray and a ultrasound. I thought this doc was amazing she was very personal and took time to talk with us even though she was just finishing her shift. She could tell how freaked out I was and was really nice, before we went down to get the stuff done she pulled us aside and said, "I'm just going to warn you now so that you are prepped when you come back, if it is what I think it is, you can't be treated here and you'll have to go to Primary Childrens."
Yep, within another 1/2 hour we were on our way to Primary's, in an ambulance. Grady had Intussusception, it is a condition where the bowel slips inside itself causing a blockage. We were supposed to be pre-admitted to Primary's but they stopped us and had us go to the ER, where we waited and waited and waited and found out the kid in the triage next to us had been bitten by a rattle snake 2 times. We were lucky our friends Wade and Erin came and waited with us, I think we would have gone crazy without them (they are the best they stayed until 2:30am when we were settled in our room). After about 1 1/2-2 hours later they took us in to try Plan A: and air enema that would blow the bowel out of itself. Poor kid had a taped behind and I held his arms above his head so they could get him to hold still. Didn't work. Plan B: The surgeon was right there and he was really great told us they were prepping the OR and that he would be taking part of his bowel and his appendix while he was at it. (this is what he looked like right after surgery, really sad)
He was in surgery by 11:30 and we ended up in our room by 2ish. I don't think I've ever been that tired or worried ever. It was so sad to hear him fuss while he was drugged up and he didn't even know I was there. They took 7-8 inches of his small intestine and they took us up to the room. We had great nurses including our friend Laura Hoover, which was great, not only because she is a great nurse but also because she asked questions we didn't think to ask. It was also nice to catch up a little we hadn't talked in a long time. (Thanks Laura) They didn't let him eat at all until Wednesday and they had to make sure that he would keep everything down and also that he would poop. We found out that the Intussusception was caused by a Meckel's Diverticulum (thanks to Laura). It is a condition he has had from birth that is a little bulge in the intestine that can cause a weakness and in this case caused it to slip inside itself. He should be fine from here on out. But it was a rough go in the thick of it. It was a long week and we are really glad that he is okay and that we are home.

(This was the view I had of him most of the week.)



(This is what Grady looked like when we left, he had people wrapped around his finger)
I should give a shout out to a few people: My parents are amazing and kept our kids for the entire week and they loved it. Carl's mom was great to come and let us get some stuff done at home and sit with us on Monday. My sister Annita brought us food a few times and she also come to sit with Grady too. The great dr's and nurses (Laura you really are great, we loved Catherine too). Wade and Erin for coming and helping us keep our sanity during the surgery. Thanks everybody.