Exciting Day

November 2nd started out a little rough. Joel came into our bedroom at 2am, crying about stomach pain. We got him a bucket and sent him back to bed, but he never did go back to sleep. He was up and awake, crying in pain off and on the rest of the night. Not a good night's rest! He felt nauseous but never threw up, didn't have a fever at first but then had a temperature of 99.5 by 6:30am, and then he said that his stomach was hurting in the middle but that the pain had moved more to the right. Knowing the symptoms of appendicitis, having had one myself at age 10, I started worrying. At 7am, I called the doctor, not sure whether I needed to take him in to their office or to the ER or just wait. It could have just been a stomach bug. The fact that he was in so much pain, that he never went back to sleep, and had no other symptoms was concerning to me, though. The doctor said not to bother with coming to their office, that the only way to rule out appendicitis was to go to the ER for tests. I waffled for a few minutes because Joel's pain was less intense by then, and I just wasn't sure what to do. Christine's little guy, Blake, had his appendix out last year, and when I called her, she encouraged me to take him in sooner rather than later (and to pack an overnight bag--was glad for that later!). I left the kids at home, and Christine got them all to school for me. Joel and I headed to Randall's Children's Hospital, and they quickly got him settled in a bed in the ER. And then we waited. Joel watched a whole movie while we waited. My dad came and sat with us for a while, and we just chatted while we waited. Joel's pain was much less by then. He was smiling and pretty happy. I was convinced that he was fine and that they were just going to send us home. Dad prayed with us before he left, and we waited some more.

The doctor finally came after an hour and a half, and after just looking at Joel, she said we didn't have to go through all the tests that day if he was doing better, that if the pain came back, we could come back again. I didn't like the sound of that. We'd already paid the $150 copay, and I wanted to know for sure that it wasn't his appendix. She examined him, though, and after she pushed on his stomach a bit, she said, "Well, he is showing sensitivity in the exact area of the appendix and is protecting it carefully with his stomach muscles. We need to do the blood tests and ultrasound." I was stunned.

Immediately, they got things rolling, getting ready to draw blood and put in an IV. I'd been texting our parents and some friends all morning, and knowing my history of fainting, they were all justifiably worried about me and my inability to handle medical things, thinking about poor Joel with his wussy mom. I am proud to say, though, that I did just fine. I pulled the rocking chair/recliner right up next to Joel's bed, and laid back, relaxed, and held Joel's hand while the nurse did all the stuff. I felt a little icky, but I made it through. Joel shed a few tears after the doctor left the room and before the nurse came in, afraid of the possibility of surgery and more pain, but we talked about what he was afraid of, and I reassured him, it was all going to be ok. He was super brave while they were sticking him with needles.

My mom arrived while Joel was having the ultrasound done. She had just had a root canal, so half her face was numb, which was sorta funny and added to the drama of the day. It was then that I noticed I'd missed a call from Greg. I listened to his voicemail and couldn't believe what I was hearing. He was on his way to the ER in Gresham with a kidney stone attack. Unbelievable. My son and husband were in different ERs on the same day. It was crazy! Greg's mom went to be with him in the ER to make sure he was ok.

After the ultrasound tech finished with Joel, a doctor came in, took a look for himself, and confirmed the diagnosis. Joel needed an appendectomy. Things happened fairly quickly from that point on. They took Joel back to the ER and then immediately upstairs to be admitted because he was next on the surgery list. There were several nurses in the room helping prep him for surgery, and then they took us down to pre-op. We met the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and then they took him away. An hour later, the surgeon came in and told us it had all gone well! The appendix, while needing to come out, had not ruptured, and because he was so skinny, they'd been able to go in through just one entry point, through his belly button. Pretty amazing!  A nurse came and got me from the waiting room, to be with Joel in recovery, and once he was awake enough, they wheeled him back up to his room. It was all over so quickly!

While Joel was in surgery, Greg called and said his kidney stone had passed and that he was being discharged already. That was the fastest kidney stone episode he's ever had.

My mom left around 4:30pm, and Greg arrived to visit Joel and I at 5pm. We had some dinner together and chatted about our crazy day for a while before he went home to be with the other kids. Christine had picked them all up from school for us, and Greg's mom and dad met them back at our house so that Greg could come visit us at Randall's. What a day!

Joel was a great little patient. He ate a bit of dinner that night, and we watched the Blazer game on TV, while he rested and recovered. Neither of us slept much that night, but it wasn't too eventful a night. The nurses helped manage his pain pretty well. He was discharged the next morning, and we were able to leave the hospital by 10am. In and out of the hospital within 24 hours for an appendectomy--not bad!

With the exception of the first evening at home when he had some trouble with pain and the prescription pain meds, he's done really well. He's up and moving around and recovering nicely. His friend, Aidan, who doesn't have school on Fridays, came over Friday morning and played video games with him. That really lifted Joel's spirits and was a fun distraction from his hurting stomach.

The doctor said he can resume sports and physical activity in a week, and Joel is anxious to get back to playing basketball. The first day of basketball tryouts was the day before he had to go to the hospital. So, he got one tryout in before he had surgery. This is what was high in his mind the whole time we were at the hospital. He didn't want to miss out on basketball! The coaches have been kind and understanding and are working with us as best they can. Today, three days after surgery, Joel went to the last day of tryouts and sat and watched. He was at least present for 2 of the 3 days, as required. We're hopeful he can still play.

We're thankful for so many things in this whole ordeal--that Joel is ok, that we got him in early and his appendix didn't rupture, for an amazing children's hospital, that Greg's kidney stone passed quickly, for friends and family who helped us in so many ways, and for the fact that this all happened before Greg left for his week-long business trip! Thank you, Lord, for these mercies!

Joel's sweet teacher had the class write "get well" notes for Joel and sign this poster. I loved reading all the little messages. Apparently, he is an integral part of his math group, and they are missing him a lot. :) The boys want him to get well so he can come back and play basketball. They all know he loves it and seem to enjoy playing with him. The poster and notes were very kind gestures, and Joel loved them. We're hoping he can go back to school on Monday. We'll see!

Funny Grant

We had broccoli soup for dinner one night, and I was trying to get Grant to taste it. I said, "Grant, you might like it. You like broccoli, you like milk, and you like cheese."
He put a spoonful in his mouth, swallowed, and declared, "Well, I don't like them together!"
His happy, quick response made us all laugh.

And another funny Grant moment:
As we were heading out the door for school one morning last week, I noticed Grant's high-water pants and said, "Grant, your pants are too short!"
Without missing a beat, Grant said, "It's ok, Mom, because I'm wearing long socks!"
It's hard to let go of your favorite pants.

Field trips

I went on a field trip with Joel's class to a children's theater in downtown Portland. We saw the show, "Rock the Presidents." While well done, it was way too long and way too much of the same thing--a full hour of three people dancing and singing information about all 44 U.S. Presidents. I was half-asleep by the end and so were the kids. The combination of the long, noisy bus ride there, and then an hour of loud music, and the same long, noisy bus ride back to school completely wore me out! I wasn't the only one who felt that way. One girl fell asleep on the bus ride back to school. Some field trips are better than others...

Grant's field trip was a fun one. It was my last kindergarten pumpkin patch field trip to Bushue's Farm. I enjoyed spending time with Grant and his classmates, getting to know who's who. We went through the little corn maze, saw the farm animals, made a "dirt baby," and took a hay ride out to pick pumpkins. He loved it all, of course.

Fall and the Harvest Hustle

The last two months have been nuts. Grant started kindergarten, and I thought I'd have all this extra time on my hands, so I said yes to doing...everything. I said yes to doing a bible study once a week, yes to volunteering every Tuesday at the elementary school, yes to being on the PTC board as vice president, and yes to being on the fundraiser committee for the middle school--all this in addition to kids playing on four soccer teams, piano lessons, community group, youth group, and basketball academy. Add in three orthodontist appointments, six dentist appointments, a couple doctor appointments, and two field trips, and you've got a couple months of very full days! I'm working on getting some balance back in my life now. Lesson learned!

The fundraiser I helped with was a big commitment, much more than I realized when I agreed to be a part of it. I joined four other ladies in planning the 2016 Wolverine Harvest Hustle, and I really enjoyed getting to know these ladies. We made a great team, and they are fun to work with! We met several times over the summer and put in many hours planning the event, asking businesses to sponsor the event, and figuring out all the details of how to make this new obstacle course/fun run a success for the school.  It was a lot of work! But it was worth it. The event itself was a blast and a smashing success. The students and teachers enjoyed it and were all super supportive. We had over 40 parent volunteers helping us that day. It was a great day. We continued to collect money for two weeks after the event and were completely blown away with how much the students brought it. We kept the final amount a secret until the assembly where we revealed the amount to the students and staff. Our grand total was $22,500! Everyone was shocked. It was so much fun to see the teachers' and principal's faces and to hear the students' cheering. All worth it! Our team leader, Kat, is already planning for next year's event. :)

We set up a lot of the obstacles the day before, in the pouring rain. It actually ended up being pretty fun, even though we were all drenched by the end. The next day, the day of the Hustle, was dry and beautiful, even if a little cold. We were so relieved! We'd already moved the date once, due to heavy rains, so we were very happy to have no rain.

Braces Off!

Kari is enjoying her smooth, braces-free teeth after 22 months of metal in her mouth. The retainer made her gag for the first couple days, but she's used to it now.  Joel is next! 

Family Photos

It's been 5 years since we've had a professional take our family photos. It was beyond time, so I was thrilled when Hannah had an opening for a family mini-session this fall. I love how they turned out. She's talented!