My weekend started out really nice. We went out for a hike on the Mission Hills with Wrapshell and her family. We saw some wild turkeys, a little bunny rabbit and lots of poison oak turning red. At the top, we stopped in the shade, ate our sandwiches, and cleaned up JellyBean's award-worthy poopie diaper. Then we hiked back downhill.
After that, we went to Palo Alto to get JellyBean some nice blankets at this place called Day One. JellyBean was very cranky and I initially thought it was because he was teething. On the drive home, I had to crawl to the back seat to pacify JellyBean. He was screaming his head off. Soon after we got home, he fell asleep - exhausted from all that crying.
Later that afternoon, he started crying really hard again. As I was changing his diaper, I noticed that his hernia was really really large. When I tried to push it back in, JellyBean screamed in pain. My nightmare became reality: we have to take JellyBean to the emergency room. An irreducible inguinal hernia is potentially fatal.
On the way to Stanford, we called his doctor and we were referred to a helpline. That wasn't encouraging. After 30 minutes of explaining and waiting on the phone, all the helpline person said was that we were doing the right thing. What a waste of time! I mean we spent half the time spelling out our names and where we live and stuff. To put it lightly, I was not happy at all.
At Stanford, they immediately took JellyBean's blood samples and put in an IV. I couldn't stand seeing my baby in such pain and being poked with needles! The tried on both his arms and legs before they got an IV line in. Sugar water helped calm him down. They later gave him sedative and some morphine for the pain.
At least three doctors tried to pop the intestine back in. It herniated back out. This male doctor pushed it in forcefully and JellyBean, in his sedated state still screamed in pain. They insisted that it was reducible and that we might have to wait until next week for surgery. I tried to explain that I would never have the heart to push the intestine back in when my baby is screaming in pain. And I wasn't excited at the prospect of JellyBean being poked with needles all over again. It started to look like they didn't want to do surgery over the weekend.
After 4 hours, they decided that the baby was in a lot of pain and that they would perform the surgery early Sunday morning. The good thing is that JellyBean's surgeon is the guy who invented this revolutionary method of closing up hernias with minimum invasion. All JellyBean got are three small incisions, 2mm each.
The surgery went without a hitch and he was released early this morning. We are totally exhausted but relieved that JellyBean is doing perfectly fine after surgery. He doesn't seem to be in much pain. So there went my weekend. A rollercoaster of emotions. There are people that I would give up my life for, but I didn't realize how much I am willing to sacrifice for JellyBean. Much more than I thought I ever could.
No comments:
Post a Comment