Surprise!

I had started this blog post about 2 weeks ago and have not had the time to finish it until now. It is pretty long, but I feel like it is something I want to record in its entirety (or at least what I can remember!).

 
The day after my parents' party, we got up and went to church and then immediately after we went shopping to buy things for our Operation Christmas Child boxes. We had just dumped all of the stuff from the party in the kitchen and I decided I would go through it all the next day, since we were all off for Veteran's day. I had let the housework go in the days before the party to prepare. So the laundry baskets and the sink were overflowing and the house was already in disarray.

We came home from shopping and ate a quick dinner. We began to get the kids ready for bed, telling them if they showered quickly we would have time to watch a movie. While Bella was in the shower, Josh said that he was beginning to not feel well. She got out and Elias got in and Josh's condition was quickly deteriorating. By the time Elias got out of the shower, Josh could barely stand or walk and it was only about 30 minutes after he first said he didn't feel well. When I was able to talk him into going to the Urgent Care Treatment Center in less than 10 minutes, I knew it must be serious.

When we got to the Urgent Care, they almost immediately said it was appendicitis and told us to go immediately to the Emergency Room.

And so the craziness began! He ended up being admitted that night and given pain medication and antibiotics to lower his extremely high white blood count. The doctors decided that since it was after 10 p.m. that they were going to wait until the morning to take it out and hopefully get some of the inflammation down with the antibiotics. Unfortunately, they had to check him every hour through the night to make sure that it wasn't rupturing. I had to go home to turn off all the lights that we had left on during our hasty departure, pack some clothes and a few things we would need at the hospital, and make arrangements for the kids for the next day. Also, they didn't want to give Josh enough medicine that he was totally out of pain and not be able to tell if it was rupturing. So neither of us slept at all that night.

At 5 a.m., they came in to prep Josh for surgery and we met with the surgeon at 6. Thankfully, the surgeon had been preforming this surgery for decades, so we felt very confident that he would do a great job. He told us that he was going to try to do it completely laparoscopically. If the appendix was too enlarged, the second least invasive was incision at the belly button. If there was evidence of any rupturing, they would have to do a full incision. He also said that Josh's intestines were very inflamed as well and he suspected that he may have Chrohn's or colitis, in addition to the infected appendix. That was hard to hear. We have friends who struggle with Chrohn's and colitis and know it is a difficult cronic condition that requires a complete diet overhaul and long-term treatment. At that point that worried me as much as getting the appendix out. The surgeon said he would go ahead and scope the intestines while he was doing the appendectomy to check for these.

So he left to go get himself prepped and they started Josh on the morphine and we both caught a little more sleep. Then they came in to wheel him downstairs. We met with the anesthesiologist and they did more prep work. But shortly after the anesthesiologist left the room, a nurse ran in and said that the surgeon and anesthesiologist were going to have to do an emergency C-section before doing Josh's surgery. I heard the two men outside the room talking about how they didn't like this turn of events, but the surgeon popped his head in and said that we would have to wait another hour to hour and a half. But then the two men said as soon as he stepped back into the hallway that he didn't think that they should push Josh's surgery back anymore and that they were going to have to figure something else out with the C-Section. In the meantime, they wheeled the poor contracting, scared mother into the operating area. I didn't see her, but I could hear her and I felt for her. But then about 10 minutes later, the surgeon popped his head back in and said they had it figured out and that they would come get him immediately for his surgery. About 10 minutes after that they were wheeling him back. I had not cried the entire time, but when they began wheeling him back, tears pricked the back of my eyes. But I didn't have time to cry because I needed to get washed up and eat because they said the surgery would only last an hour. So I went to his room and a friend met me there with a breakfast sandwich just after I got cleaned up and dressed for the day.

When I met with the surgeon right after the surgery, he graciously told me first that the inflammation in Josh's intestines was caused by the appendix and there was no sign of any secondary condition. Josh ended up having to have the belly button incision, so the recovery would be longer than a completely laproscopic surgery and he had to be more careful to prevent hernia, but it went as expected with no complications.

So Josh had to be off work for a week until he got his staples out. The week he was off, he took his pain medication every time he was able and slept a lot. I knew he must be in pain because he doesn't like taking medicine for anything! The second day he was home, I was helping him dress and change his bandages after he showered. He thanked me for helping him and hugged me for the first time since before everything began. I instantly began to cry for the first time. It felt like the weight of everything that had happened was rolling off my shoulders. It didn't last long, but it made me realize just how much anxiety I had actually felt without realizing it.

He went to get his staples out a week later and they told him that he couldn't lift anything heavy or do any significant labor for 6 weeks or play soccer. I think that hearing that he couldn't play soccer was the hardest news for Josh to take!

He is getting better, but still has to be careful not to overdo and gets sore and still takes ibuprofen if he has been too active. He is getting frustrated that he can't just be better already, but I have to say he has been a very cooperative patient with this!

 After it was all said and done, I was so thankful the way things worked out. Even though it was not desired or anticipated, we were blessed by many things that made it easier.

1. The doctors diagnosed what was wrong right away and that it was a health risk that could quickly remedied and that doesn't leave much residual long-term effects to his body.
2. Josh realized right away that something was terribly wrong and didn't argue (like he normally would have) about going to the hospital. We know how dangerous it could have been if we would have waited. Also, we are glad that he didn't have to have the full incision. Even though they still had to make an incision at his belly button, it was smaller and less invasive than a full incision would have been.
3. Our friends from church was so helpful! We had so many people who helped us out and many others who offered. Here is just a short list of things that people did:
1. Watched our kids at a moment's notice. Our children had more fun when Josh was in the hospital than they would have ever had if he hadn't gone! They stayed the night with one friend the first night and then another friend picked them up and took them ice skating and for ice cream and then brought them up to visit Josh. Then yet another friend took them home, helped them with their homework and get showered and ready and took them to school the next morning.
2. Came to the ER to sit with us until we found out what exactly was wrong.
3. Brought me food at the hospital. Several other people offered to do this also.
4. A friend of Josh's sat with me and just talked to make the time go faster as I waited for Josh in recovery.
5. Went to the grocery store for me.
6. Came and brought us dinner when we got home or offered to do so.
7. Fixed our broken toilet.
8. Covered us for our church obligations.
9. Many people texted and sent messages to check on us and let us know they were thinking of us.
4. The kids didn't have school the day after the night he went into the hospital. This made arranging care and sleeping, etc. so much easier.
5. It happened the day after my parents' party and not before or the day of the party.
6. All of the hospital staff was extremely kind and efficient and personable. We had excellent care and felt that we were treated like people, not chart numbers. I would return to UHC again if we had to have any type of surgery.
7. We were told that the very experienced surgeon who preformed Josh's surgery is almost never on weekend call anymore. We were told by multiple staff members that we were very fortunate to have him as the surgeon.
8. We know that he definitely doesn't have any secondary intestinal conditions.
9. It wasn't closer to the holidays and we didn't have any major events that we would miss or that would have to be rescheduled.
10. The kids have been extremely helpful and willing to pick up the slack from Josh being down. I have realized that I should be having them do more on a regular basis!

I am probably forgetting a few things, but I am still thankful for them all! Mostly, I am thankful to God through whom all of these blessings flowed.