I mean I get that part. The world does keep spinning even when my personal world stops. I get that. So Friday night my wife and I hop in the car and take the all too familiar drive to a Pediatric ER in Tarzana like its old hat. Colin had not slept all day on Friday and was clearly having episodic abdominal pain. Leilani had run out earlier for errands so we met at the pediatricians office. I arrived first and felt so out of place without her there with us, so Colin and I kept watching the door for Mom’s arrival. He smiled pretty big when she walked in the exam room.
Our Doctor is great. She is a new mom and you can really tell she just loves Colin. She examined him, asked all the appropriate questions and in the end was at a loss. As we all are.
She suggested we contact the GI specialist get his opinion as well and go from there. I could hear the muffled conversation between the two of them outside our exam door. I have eavesdropped on so many of those doctor consults and have become highly attuned to hearing my son’s name or condition in what otherwise would be oblivious conversations.
The two of them agreed that maybe it was time to rule out an earlier thought of intessusception, wherein Colin's intestines were telescoping into each other. But was this it? There was just not enough to say YES this is it? So the question we rely on as parents and patients often comes down to: “if this was you or your child ?” If this was the one you love.
The answer had us hopping in one car and taking that all too familiar drive.
The ER was a little crowded but we had to wait three hours with a hungry and scared child amongst of bevy of people doing their jobs and living their lives. Side note: Yes I am selfish, but its then that people on the outside appear as such “worker” ants to me. I have no understanding of anything except what is in front me at that moment, my family. I am working on that.
Colin would need to have a barium enema to rule out obstructions and possibly fix any intessusception.
It is not a horrible procedure, but when you are one and in the hospital again… Needless to say he recognized many things at the hospital and knew what to fear and what not to fear. I did make it clear that on this night, in this ER , for no other reason than the most severe medical emergency would my son have any needles placed in his skin. There would not be a 1/2 hour IV session tonight. We had promised him, and once again selfishly we were not sure we could take it. There were no needles.
We waited for the radiologist on call from the Westside to arrive. They were great in Radiology, did their job, helped us the best they could and found nothing obstructing his intestines.
So we all climbed back in the car and headed home. He has been doing pretty good this weekend so who knows. Maybe this helped in some way and maybe he’ll get that one year “well check” soon.
I would love that because you kind of have to be well to get the check :)
8 comments:
being a parent, i feel for you and your wife. i too have been there... may i suggest that you are not satisfied with what is going on at children's go to the mayo clinic. they have had diagnosed several members of my family correctly and given their support.
saying those prays...
i vouch for mayo too, as it was always my source of research when I was finishing college in 2006 (this was my second time around in 20 years). Anyway, Mayo Clinic is good, but closer to us is UCLA. My husband's best friend went there when he had something unusual happening to him,and they helped locate the problem and this man had surgery and he is fine and happily married today (don't know if that would be the case if he had stuck with his regular hospital!).
I'm a first time parent as well and my son has a heart murmur and although it's nothing to fret about, it is always in the back of my mind that one day he might need the procedure. So I feel for you, hope all is going well, thanks for the update!
I'm so sorry this isn't over yet! Poor Colin! I hope they'll figure it out soon so that he can get back to being healthy and happy.
VAL, I listen to you in the mornings. I am so sorry to hear that Colin is having so many problems. My daughter who is 13 now had many problems when she was 1 with her tum tum. She was constantly getting impacted, stomach cramping the whole shebang. I noticed that it started happening when she started switching over to foods and milk. Once I kept the milk away from her she started doing fine. She grew out of it. One doc told me that her intestines were not growing as fast as she was.
VAL, I listen to you in the mornings. I am so sorry to hear that Colin is having so many problems. My daughter who is 13 now had many problems when she was 1 with her tum tum. She was constantly getting impacted, stomach cramping the whole shebang. I noticed that it started happening when she started switching over to foods and milk. Once I kept the milk away from her she started doing fine. She grew out of it. One doc told me that her intestines were not growing as fast as she was.
No kidding, but I would HIGHLY suggest you get ahold of Oprah. That woman will have doctors of all sorts finding out what is wrong...and youre in the right profession to get her attention, too!
I dont know how youre feeling about God right now, but Im still praying for you and yours :)
Val - Welcome back to Cleveland radio by the way! We have a 15 year old son with a rare heart/lung condition (so rare, he is the ONLY one being treated at our great Cleveland Clinic for it.) It's one test after another - maybe this, maybe that, no no - try this. . . . Advice? Take a deep breath, and do it again. None of it makes sense so it's impossible to make sense of it. I pray for you and your wife (and little Colin) he grows out of it.
Jana
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