Sigh
Something really really good must be coming our way, because once again, we're having a bit of a tough time.
Nate spent Saturday throwing his guts up and hurting a lot. We called our doctor in the evening and they told us to head to the ER to get some fluids back in him so he could kick whatever was bugging him. One of my visiting teachers came over after we put Addison down and we headed up to McKay-Dee in Ogden. We only had to wait about an hour and a half to be seen, and they were quick about giving Nate a fabulous hospital gown, morphine, anti-nausea stuff, an iv full of saline, and a barf bag. We talked to a doctor shortly thereafter and explained about Nate's Crohn's Disease and they decided to do a CT scan of his intestines. There was a 2 hour prep where he had to drink two giant cups of disgustingness and the x-ray was scheduled for 1:30 a.m. We sat around, read, chatted, and tried to ignore the noise coming through our shower curtain that served as a door.
Then at about 1:15 it became really obvious that there was a new trauma patient right next door to us. Doctors and nurses hollered (chest x-ray! pelvic x-ray! right femur x-ray! I need at least four bags of blood!) and the poor guy (who had been in a car accident) screamed as they set about 600 broken bones. It was horrifying. And our CT scan got pushed back an hour. To make a long story short, at about 5 a.m. they told us that Nate had two obstructions and would have to stay in the hospital.
He's been doing really well and hasn't been on any pain or nausea medication for several days. He also started on a clear liquid diet yesterday, which is a lot better than a diet of nothing, which he's been on since Friday night. He's still hooked up to an iv giving him nutrients and a steroid called Remicade, which is helping to get the inflammation in his small intestine under control. Yesterday the doctor said he might be able to come home this morning!
But alas, he had a small bowel follow-through yesterday, which is where he has to drink a lot of barium (which apparently tastes like chalk) and walk around a lot and have x-rays every 15 minutes to see its progress through the intestines. This morning Addison and I came for our normal visit with a sack full of clothes for Nate's grand getaway. And then the surgeon came in and said that the test showed that somehow the end of his small intestine is hooked to the end of his large intestine, meaning that food goes through the small intestine, skips the colon, and is out. Awesome. Translation: surgery tomorrow and at least a week in the hospital for recovery. My main worry (other than Nate being bored out of his mind and finding a babysitter every day) is his intestine healing without becoming obstructed again because of his Crohn's.
Anyway, this is a tough time for us and we really could use your prayers. We'll keep you posted.
Nate spent Saturday throwing his guts up and hurting a lot. We called our doctor in the evening and they told us to head to the ER to get some fluids back in him so he could kick whatever was bugging him. One of my visiting teachers came over after we put Addison down and we headed up to McKay-Dee in Ogden. We only had to wait about an hour and a half to be seen, and they were quick about giving Nate a fabulous hospital gown, morphine, anti-nausea stuff, an iv full of saline, and a barf bag. We talked to a doctor shortly thereafter and explained about Nate's Crohn's Disease and they decided to do a CT scan of his intestines. There was a 2 hour prep where he had to drink two giant cups of disgustingness and the x-ray was scheduled for 1:30 a.m. We sat around, read, chatted, and tried to ignore the noise coming through our shower curtain that served as a door.
Then at about 1:15 it became really obvious that there was a new trauma patient right next door to us. Doctors and nurses hollered (chest x-ray! pelvic x-ray! right femur x-ray! I need at least four bags of blood!) and the poor guy (who had been in a car accident) screamed as they set about 600 broken bones. It was horrifying. And our CT scan got pushed back an hour. To make a long story short, at about 5 a.m. they told us that Nate had two obstructions and would have to stay in the hospital.
He's been doing really well and hasn't been on any pain or nausea medication for several days. He also started on a clear liquid diet yesterday, which is a lot better than a diet of nothing, which he's been on since Friday night. He's still hooked up to an iv giving him nutrients and a steroid called Remicade, which is helping to get the inflammation in his small intestine under control. Yesterday the doctor said he might be able to come home this morning!
But alas, he had a small bowel follow-through yesterday, which is where he has to drink a lot of barium (which apparently tastes like chalk) and walk around a lot and have x-rays every 15 minutes to see its progress through the intestines. This morning Addison and I came for our normal visit with a sack full of clothes for Nate's grand getaway. And then the surgeon came in and said that the test showed that somehow the end of his small intestine is hooked to the end of his large intestine, meaning that food goes through the small intestine, skips the colon, and is out. Awesome. Translation: surgery tomorrow and at least a week in the hospital for recovery. My main worry (other than Nate being bored out of his mind and finding a babysitter every day) is his intestine healing without becoming obstructed again because of his Crohn's.
Anyway, this is a tough time for us and we really could use your prayers. We'll keep you posted.
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All my love,
Aunt Jana