Monday night, after eating supper, Haddon said his tummy hurt. He didn't feel like he was going to throw up, but it hurt when he moved, laughed, sneezed, etc. (Red flag #1) I sent him upstairs to take a shower, but when I didn't hear the water turn on after twenty minutes or so, I went up to check on him. He was in his pajamas and laying in bed. "I got stuck in my bed," he said. Since he was already laying down I poked around on his belly. It hurt below his belly button. He said it hurt on both sides, but as I pressed, he said it hurt worse on the right side. In fact, it hurt on the right side when I pressed on the left side. (Red flags #2 & #3) It even hurt more when I let go then when I pressed down...hello, red flag #4! I started grilling him about his bowel habits and discovered that he hadn't pooped on Monday. (Red flag #5) Being the uber mom that I am, I made my son get in the shower anyway. My exact thought was, "If he's going to have to have surgery, he'd better be clean!"
But, he slept all night. Like a log. When he got up I asked him how his tummy was and he just said, "The same." He didn't eat any breakfast, which is unusual for him, but he seemed okay. So, off to school he went. I put in a call to my favorite nurse, Dawn, so that she could talk me down. That plan kind of backfired, fortunately, when she said that I'd better bring him in to be looked at. We set an appointment for 12:15, when he'd be at lunch. I checked in on him several times during the day. He seemed fine, but very still. I could tell that he was really guarding himself, trying not to jar himself or move too much. That worried me, but then he ate two cheeseburgers and fries for lunch!
I ended up taking him in to see Dr. K. and then the next three hours went very quickly. We went straight from Dr. K's office to the surgeon's office to the hospital to surgery to recovery. I went from suspicious to worried to justified to relieved. Jason went from skeptical to worried to relieved to indifferent.
Haddon was alert and not in much pain right after surgery. He's such a trooper! He had an entire entourage of hospital volunteers fawning over him both before and after surgery. His respiratory therapist couldn't get over how cooperative he was. He did so well that he got to come home less than 24 hours after his appendectomy! He's a little pale & has three holes in his belly, but other than that he seems good as new.
He is now comfortably enjoying his hard-earned mini-vacation at home. He can't go back to school until Monday...Dr.'s orders. He's filling his time with movies, computer games, the Wii, and army guys. He's eating like a horse! And even though he walks around like an old man, he doesn't complain a bit (except that his tummy is still bloated and funny looking). If the surgeon hadn't confirmed post-surgery that Bub did, in fact, have appendicitis, I'd think he faked the whole episode just to get out of school for a few days!
