Another Life

Friday, December 3rd

You have been sick all week. It seemed like the flu. You were a trooper. Just slept and laid around. Took you to the doctor on Wednesday, everything checked out. Early this morning you seemed to be improving. Held down a little milk and smoothie.
Around 5pm things changed fast. You threw up several times and your belly became extremely distended, like a balloon. Your countenance changed. Olivia said "Mommy, William doesn't look like William. He looks like a different person." I took you to urgent care and found out at the door that there was no urgent care at our doctor's office. Put you back in the car. Your eyes were rolling back. After talking with Daddy and Grandma I rushed you to the ER.
The moment the front desk attendants saw you they rushed you back to an exam room. I sat down and watched as 14 doctors and nurses and whoever else was available went to work. As I sat there counting I quickly realized this was bad, really bad. They couldn't get an IV in you. They later said you were "locked-up." You were in shock and all the blood in your body went to your torso to protect yourself. So they drilled a hole in each of your shin bones to get an IV directly into your bone. Crazy huh?
The rest is a pretty big blur. They told me they were going to have to transfer you to Doernbecher's Children's Hospital and that I needed to call Dad. Maria and Victoria rushed over to the house to care for Olivia and Lance so that Daddy could come. Grandma packed her things and started the 3 hour drive down. And you rode in an ambulance with the Panda Team (and me) to the hospital.
At the hospital the surgeons said you needed to go into emergency surgery. They had taken an x-ray and determined that you had a blocked intestine. They had theories, but no time to really investigate without just going in and looking. Your belly was so distended that it was cutting off the blood flow to your lower body.
The surgeon and anesthesiologist spoke with us about the procedure and the risks. We were told that there was a real possibility that you would not survive. Daddy and I tried to be strong and have faith. Daddy gave you a blessing and we felt confident that we would see you when the surgery was over.
You did well in surgery. They found a portion of your small intestine (10 cm) that was dead. They don't know how, but they guessed that possibly some sort of "band" had formed that strangled your intestine and it died. When it died the intestine broke open and the contents of your intestine spilled into your abdomen. Those contents burned the inside of you. In the surgery they removed the dead portion and cleaned out your abdomen. There is no definite cause of these "bands" and they said we did everything right. It happens quickly and without a lot of warning. They left your abdomen open with a sort of upside down bag, called a "silo," over the wound to protect it. They couldn't put you back together for fear that the pressure would build again.
You were considered to be in "septic shock," in critical condition, and near death. They gave you a breathing tube. Put you on blood pressure meds (pressures), three antibiotics, pain and anxiety meds. You required blood during surgery and they also gave you plasma.

Daddy and I slept about 2 hours on Friday night. Isn't it amazing how life can be flipped upside down in a heartbeat. I look back on Friday before 5pm and it truly feels like Another Life.