So, I quit my job. As in, my full-time job at the airlines. I couldn't keep up with my job and my business and actually ever see my family, and that just wasn't working for me. I caught a glimpse of Todd a couple of times over the last few months... he looked familiar, but it took me a while to realize who he was. I'm kidding of course (sort of), but that's pretty much how I'd been feeling. I hated that the moment the boys got home from school, I'd get them a snack then say "Ok, Mommy is going upstairs to nap/edit/pay bills, so don't bother me unless someone is bleeding or unconscious." So something had to give. It obviously wasn't going to be my photography business.... after all, that's my passion. That's what I've worked hard for over the last few years. It's what I love to do... and they say that when you love what you do, you don't work a day in your life. And hey, who's a better boss for me than me? Yep, that's what I thought, too. So my last day at the airlines is Monday... and I can't wait.
A couple of weeks ago on Friday, Tate woke up vomiting. He was sick a few times until he was just dry heaving. It was pitiful. He went back to sleep eventually, then was fine the rest of the day... keeping down food and liquids with no problem. Then the next morning, on Saturday, he was vomiting before he even got breakfast. He missed his last soccer game of the season that day, as well as the coaches taking all the kids out for ice cream afterwards... I was sad for him that he had to miss that. He was pretty worn out for the first half of the day, then he was fine. Then on Tuesday last week, exactly 15 minutes before we were leaving for the airport to head to Niagara Falls for a few days ("last hurrah" trip before I quit my airline job :), Tate came to me and told me he felt sick. I asked him if he was going to throw up, he said he thought so. So I grabbed him a plastic grocery bag that was right next to me, and he said he wanted a towel (we lay him on a big towel when he's sleeping when he's sick, just in case). So I grabbed him an old hand towel that was in the drawer next to me... obviously not taking him seriously enough. He said "Mommy, I said I wanted a towel"... I told him that it was a towel, and that it was just an old towel. Then he proceeded to throw up all over the floor (thank goodness it wasn't on carpet!), and I realized that he must have been requesting a beach towel... in the towel-for-two variety. He became VERY pale, as in the same pale that he was when he passed out at the doctor's office at his post-surgery checkup. He got very dark circles around his eyes. It really scared me. We got him to the couch and laid him down, gave him some water to sip on, and went back to clean up the mess. He was asleep in no time... the kind of slumber that I only dream of. He was carried to the car, driven over an hour to the airport, carried on to the shuttle bus, and into the airport before he was awake again. Yes, I was worried about continuing the trip after he had gotten sick again, but with a split second to make the decision, I figured we'd at least head to the airport and see how things went.
The trip was great. Tate did well for the whole mini-vacation. He didn't throw up anymore, and he only complained of his tummy hurting a few times the whole trip. So we thought it was odd, but that he was ok. So we were home on Friday, then on Sunday, he threw up before we ever made it out the door for church. Now I'm worried. I was trying to figure out what was going on, and a friend told me to ask him if his head had been feeling funny before he got sick. He said "No Mommy, it doesn't feel funny, it just hurts!" Yep, that's my kid... the non-complaining, gotta-drag-it-out-of-him kid. I asked him if his head had been hurting every time he had been sick, he said yes. Cue the call to the pediatrician. They were able to get me in at 3pm that day, so I took it. The doctor was as concerned as I was, that 9 days of sporadic vomiting was not normal. She said she had no idea what was causing it before running some tests, but she was determined to figure it out. Because of Tate complaining of headaches, she wanted to start with a CT scan.
So on Monday, I waited
So we leave the ocularist's office promptly at 2pm and head back towards home. We go straight to the hospital and find Outpatient Radiology. We had forgotten til we got there that Tate was supposed to have his prosthesis out for the CT. Oops. We don't have our cool little suction-cup-on-a-stick. So we're thinking no big deal, we'll just pull his lid down, tilt the eye a little til we can grab the edge, and pull it out. Right?? So after Todd's unsuccessful attempt (only successful at making Tate cry), Tate says he wants Mommy to take it out. So when I realized I couldn't get the right angle with him sitting up, I have him lay down on the little couch in the waiting room. I'm leaning over him, one knee on the other side of his legs, digging my Purelled finger into his eye socket while he cries that I'm hurting him. Keep in mind that I'm pretty sure no one in the waiting room knows that Tate's eye is fake. So I gave up and instead, I sat and waited for someone to call DSS on us while Todd went up to the eye center and borrowed the infamous (and much coveted) Suction-Cup-on-a-Stick. By that time, I was taken to a little "booth" to go over what was going to happen during our visit. I had no idea that Tate was getting an IV that day. Poor kid had already had such a rough day, so when the nurse came in with that needle, he totally melted down. He cried like I hadn't heard him cry in a long time. A hurt cry, a sad cry. It broke my heart. He's had IVs before and always done really well with them, but I think after the long day he'd had, he was just done. It took me a while to get him settled down for the scan... after all, he had to stay perfectly still... but he did fantastic.
The results of the CT came back normal, so we did blood work next. Tate didn't flinch, didn't bat an eye, didn't even squeeze my hand when he had 3 viles of blood taken on Wednesday. He really is such a brave boy. I am really proud of him! The doctor ordered the bloodwork and is referring us to a pediatric GI doctor. We'll see him next Thursday. The lab results came back today on the bloodwork and everything looked normal. So there is no indication of an ulcer, inflammation of the intestines, colitis, or any of the other things the doctor rattled off today. So... we wait. (I should be used to waiting by now, but I'm really, really terrible at it.)
Can I just say that it's really difficult to take your kid anywhere when you're not sure if he might throw up with no warning? Especially places like restaurants, pools, even Target. I do have plastic grocery bags in my purse and car at all times now. You never know when you might need one!
Jake and Noah are going to Grandma's house this week. Tate was supposed to go, but he has to stay here for his doctor's appointments... that, and I'm not mean enough to send him to someone else's house for a week when he's randomly throwing up.... after all, I LIKE my mother-in-law! So Tate will miss his big brothers something fierce, but I couldn't cancel the trip for the boys to go... they would have been really disappointed. I'm sure they'll have a great time... they always do so much fun stuff with Grandma, they never want to come home! I'll miss them tons, and my To Do list will grow instead of shrink, since I'll be the only human entertainment for the 5-year-old for the week, but it's all good. I think we're going to have to enjoy some Mommy-Tate time this week. I can't think of a better way to spend my time!
What? You did want a picture, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment