Last Monday afternoon at about 4pm Mason started complaining of a stomach ache. He had been laying down reading/resting for about an hour prior to this.
At 4:30 he was holding his right side doubling over and softly wincing/crying a little about the sharp pain.
I almost immediately headed for the hospital. When Mason complains of pain you know it’s bad. This kid has an incredibly high pain tolerance and never complains about anything unless it’s an unfair lack of tv/video game time.
Our next door neighbor Kenzie came over to watch the kids. My brother Nathan happened to call me as I was leaving the house. He was in town and offered to help with the kids as well.
By 5pm Mason and I checked in at Cardons children hospital. We didn’t get called back for about an hour. We were not at all prepared for the wait. Mason didn’t have his book or tablet and my phone battery was quickly dying. At the front desk they asked Mason a series of questions. One of the questions was “on a scale of 1-10 what is your pain?”. He answered about a 6. So as we sat waiting for them to call us back Mason could see all kinds of other people getting called back. He commented that certain people were going back that checked in after us. I explained to him that they probably were more sick and needed more immediate attention. Almost immediately Mason responded “I should have told them my pain was a 10. Then they would have taken us back sooner” lol. This kid sure cracks me up.
Around 6 or 6:30pm they brought us back and did some blood work, urine sample, x-rays and an ultrasound. The urine sample was pretty funny. The nurse quickly explained the process of peeing in a cup and Mason’s immediate response was “Wait. What?”
Around 10pm it was confirmed that he did have appendicitis. He’s such a funny kid. He hasn’t complained at all since we got to the hospital. But he did get a little teary eyed when I told him he couldn’t play water polo this week because of surgery.
At 11pm they transferred us to our hospital room for the night. I was helping him get ready for the night. And I moved his IV tower a little so the light wouldn’t be right in his face and he yelped “Ow!” I jumped and thought I had pulled on his IV cord too much. Then he smiled and said “just kidding!” I love his sense of humor and good attitude even when things are not going his way.
Surgery was scheduled for 9am the following morning.
There are a few things about the hospital I don’t like. I DON’T like that I can’t go back with my child while they put them to sleep. I totally understand them not wanting me there during surgery but I want to be there when my kid goes under. Mason on the other hand could care less. He is so trusting and confident. I remember when he had his first eye surgery, my little 7 yr old getting wheeled away and I started crying. He turned and waved a happy excited wave. Oh Mason.
I REALLY don’t like that after surgery they don’t let you come be with your kid until they wake up. After surgery the doctor came and told us all about how it went gave us this cool picture of his appendix and then said “Ok. They will come get you when he wakes up” ... 45 agonizing mins later!!!! Why can’t I go wait by my kid until he comes to? I should have asked but I don’t like to be annoying or high maintenance.
We hung out at the hospital all day just playing card games, watching tv, and going for walks in the hospital hallway. Mason is such a jokester and a funny kid. As crappy as the situation was I really enjoyed some one on one time with him.
Post-Op instructions:
1. No immersion in water for a week (showers are ok) oops... we didn't quite make it a week.
2. No contact sports for an additional week (no water polo)... does wrestling with your brother count? or Dodgeball with friends? oops.
This kid is pretty incredible. He only asked for Ibuprofen 1 time after surgery. His pain tolerance amazes me. The first night home from the hospital they told me to set my alarm and wake him up every 3 hours to give him alternating pain meds Tylenol/Ibuprofen. I set my alarm for 2am and collapsed in bed soooo happy to be in my own bed and not on a makeshift cushion mattress in the hospital. I was so tired I had forgotten to turn the alarm ON! I woke at 5am and JUMPED out of bed alarmed and worried! I rushed out to Mason on the couch only to find him peacefully sleeping. I woke him up and gave him some Ibuprofen.
After his first shower on Wednesday he jokingly told me "Mom! This is my first shower with out an appendix take a picture!" lol So of course I grabbed my phone to document. Mason took it easy for about a day and then was pretty bored. People have constantly asked me how he's doing and I have to remind myself that he just had surgery. He has begged to play water polo and get back into the swing of things. Poor kid. I don't know what to do with him. We went to Sunsplash yesterday and he said he was good. I'm really hoping that the surgeon doesn't get mad at me this next week at our post op appointment.
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