for those of you who have not heard, my brother cameron went into the emergency department on thursday late afternoon with sever abdominal pain and nausea. the university health center suspected appendicitis and sent him over to carle hospital. being the closest family member available, i drove over on thursday night to stay with him in the er while awaiting tests, arriving at 7pm. when i left my house, we thought he might still be okay and that i would take him back home with me or that i could bring him in the next day for treatment. cam was doped up on morphine by the time i arrived, and the nurse quickly informed me that all they wanted was confirmation by cat scan of an infected appendix to perform surgery.
okay, so, a bit unprepared, i called jesse asking him to line up a possible place for me to stay overnight in champaign and maybe even babysitters for the next day. go mckinley!, because several hours later appendicitis was confirmed by the cat scan. two other cases (both young boys) had come in around the same time and, therefore, cameron was at the end of the line waiting his turn. a dead cell phone battery later, i had a place to stay (thank you matt and lisa), someone picking up stuff for cameron back in his dorm room (thank you micah and laura), babysitters to watch my children the next morning (thank you gina and ellen), and parents on the way to champaign the following morning. oh and a fantastic husband too (thank you jessekins)! it was actually really fun to hang out just the two of us while waiting. we watched the season premiere of er while in the er - pretty cool, huh? we talked, goofed off, and chatted up the nurses and techs.
they brought cameron up around 11pm and told me they would come get me in about an hour, hour and a half. micah and laura showed up with cameron's stuff shortly into my wait and kept me company in the lonely surgical waiting room. thank goodness, because it was almost 1am before the surgeon came in. cameron had an abnormal looking appendix (even for appendicitis). it had been tucked behind the intestines and the infection seemed to have possibly affected the bowel wall. he was in post-op care and they would know more about his recovery the next day.
exhausted and spent, i crawled into bed at 1:30 am fully clothed (no pajamas in my magic bag) and slept a measly 5 hours. i wanted to get to the hospital early to be present for the doctor's visit and plus i just couldn't get back to sleep once i woke at 6:30.
cameron was groggy, but awake and in good spirits when i arrived. we spent the day watching tv, listening to music, naming his drainage bag, jackson. the nurse and i took him on a walk (very big deal) and he drifted in and out of sleep throughout the afternoon (i read through half an overpriced novel bought in the giftshop). we also enjoyed pressing the happy button for morphine (curse the triple beep forbidding him this wonderful drug!) our parents arrived around 4pm and i left the patient about an hour later.
thank you to all of you praying and thinking of him. my mom spent the day with him and we were hoping he would be released today, but now we aren't quite sure it will even be tomorrow. cameron had a much more painful and difficult day today. the anesthesia from the surgery has worn off and he is off the morphine for the most part. he had a hard time making it out of his room today and was quickly brought back to bed. he is up for visitors though. when finally released, he will go back home to the burbs for the week while recovering.
a funny thing is that cameron had enjoyed the yummy food of fat don's (a res hall restaurant highly recommended for it's grilled fare and super soft chocolate chip cookies) for the first time on wednesday night and the pain started at small group immediately following. he assumed that the steak, ribs, etc. were not sitting well with him. the whole night he was up with the pain and making frequent trips to the bathrooms to vomit, thinking, "i am never eating fat don's again." well, i guess he can partake in the grilled goodness again after all.
okay, so, a bit unprepared, i called jesse asking him to line up a possible place for me to stay overnight in champaign and maybe even babysitters for the next day. go mckinley!, because several hours later appendicitis was confirmed by the cat scan. two other cases (both young boys) had come in around the same time and, therefore, cameron was at the end of the line waiting his turn. a dead cell phone battery later, i had a place to stay (thank you matt and lisa), someone picking up stuff for cameron back in his dorm room (thank you micah and laura), babysitters to watch my children the next morning (thank you gina and ellen), and parents on the way to champaign the following morning. oh and a fantastic husband too (thank you jessekins)! it was actually really fun to hang out just the two of us while waiting. we watched the season premiere of er while in the er - pretty cool, huh? we talked, goofed off, and chatted up the nurses and techs.
they brought cameron up around 11pm and told me they would come get me in about an hour, hour and a half. micah and laura showed up with cameron's stuff shortly into my wait and kept me company in the lonely surgical waiting room. thank goodness, because it was almost 1am before the surgeon came in. cameron had an abnormal looking appendix (even for appendicitis). it had been tucked behind the intestines and the infection seemed to have possibly affected the bowel wall. he was in post-op care and they would know more about his recovery the next day.
exhausted and spent, i crawled into bed at 1:30 am fully clothed (no pajamas in my magic bag) and slept a measly 5 hours. i wanted to get to the hospital early to be present for the doctor's visit and plus i just couldn't get back to sleep once i woke at 6:30.
cameron was groggy, but awake and in good spirits when i arrived. we spent the day watching tv, listening to music, naming his drainage bag, jackson. the nurse and i took him on a walk (very big deal) and he drifted in and out of sleep throughout the afternoon (i read through half an overpriced novel bought in the giftshop). we also enjoyed pressing the happy button for morphine (curse the triple beep forbidding him this wonderful drug!) our parents arrived around 4pm and i left the patient about an hour later.
thank you to all of you praying and thinking of him. my mom spent the day with him and we were hoping he would be released today, but now we aren't quite sure it will even be tomorrow. cameron had a much more painful and difficult day today. the anesthesia from the surgery has worn off and he is off the morphine for the most part. he had a hard time making it out of his room today and was quickly brought back to bed. he is up for visitors though. when finally released, he will go back home to the burbs for the week while recovering.
a funny thing is that cameron had enjoyed the yummy food of fat don's (a res hall restaurant highly recommended for it's grilled fare and super soft chocolate chip cookies) for the first time on wednesday night and the pain started at small group immediately following. he assumed that the steak, ribs, etc. were not sitting well with him. the whole night he was up with the pain and making frequent trips to the bathrooms to vomit, thinking, "i am never eating fat don's again." well, i guess he can partake in the grilled goodness again after all.
by the way - i am still exhausted, our kitchen was gutted today for a complete renovation which will be done almost solely by jesse, and luca, gia, and i are getting sick - please pray for us!
