Robert's Appendicitis

Our family had the bad luck of getting the stomach flu.  Yuck!.  I thought we were finally over it all.  Everyone was back in school and we were all feeling better.

I went to class on Thursday night.  While there, I got a text message from Mark telling me that Robert's tummy hurt.  I thought maybe he had eaten something that his tummy didn't agree with since his tummy was still a little weak from his stomach bug.

When I got home, I checked on him and I could tell that it was not a normal tummy ache.  We called the pediatrician's office and talked to the nurse.  She advised us to go into the ER.  Mark then called a friend that is an ER doctor and asked him where he thought we should take him.  There are several different hospitals to choose from.

We went into the Boerne Emergency Room.  They got Robert right back and then the wait began.  They ordered blood work and a Cat Scan.  When the results from the CT scan came back they said they couldn't find his appendix.  What?  That usually happens if the appendix has ruptured.  They had started Robert on morphine at this point because the pain was bad.

About 2:30 am they decided to transport Robert to the children's hospital in San Antonio.  I went home to get a couple of hours of sleep and to make sure the other kids got off to school.  

After everyone was at school, I headed into San Antonio to the hospital.  When I got there they told us that Robert was scheduled for surgery.  They still hadn't told us what was wrong yet.  The children's hospital did another CT scan and still couldn't find the appendix.  That was all we knew.  

Finally, the surgeon came in to talk to us and told us that it was an appendicitis and what to expect.  The surgeon was really good with Robert.  He explained things very well.  Then, we were taken up to surgery and Robert had his appendix removed.

I thought the pictures the Dr gave me were really cool.  They did a tiny incision by the belly button.  They put a camera inside and found the appendix and then pulled it out.  I found it amazing how the procedure worked.  The surgeon may have thought I was a little weird to think this was so cool. 

This is Robert's appendix.  

Robert spent another night at the hospital.  We were very blessed and thankful.  If the appendix had ruptured we would have been in the hospital for 5 more days.  We were only there 2 nights.