The day Jeff moved

Last Saturday, March 6th, we helped a friend and fellow CCR band member to move. It was to be a family event, but Kassie was invited to spend the night at a friend's house the night before, so she wasn't with us. Avery woke that Saturday morning around 7 am complaining of stomach pains. This is not uncommon, so we had him come along, thinking the pains would pass as they normally do. As we were moving Jeff I would check on Avery from time to time. He was staying in our 15 passenger van, trying to rest on one of the bench seats. It seemed each time I asked how he was, the pain had increased and there were more and more tears. I would resume my duties helping with the move thinking Avery just needed to pass gas or have a bowl movement. That always helped in the past, but this time it wasn't!
Ashton, sorry to tell you this, but you look an awful lot like Kassie in this picture! (She hates hearing that!)

This depiction of the Last Supper was on display in the apartment complex where Jeff will now be living. I loved it!! Had to take a picture!

Alas we had Jeff moved! Time for an early lunch from Subway! This is when I knew Avery was sick... he wasn't feeling well enough to eat! I called our doctor. He wasn't on call so we had to see one of his associates. Dave, another friend and fellow band member, drove Avery and I to the doctor's office and dropped us off. This way Dale and the other children could finish up their meal and meet us at the doctor's office when done. The doctor's visit went quick. After examining Avery she told us to go over to the emergency room at the hospital. The problem was, I had no way of getting us there! The only cell phone we have is Dale's work cell. Fortunately, I had that with me, but unfortunately I had no way of contacting Dale. The phone at Jeff's old house had already been disconnected, and that's where everybody was. I called Bonnie to see if she had any cell numbers for the other family that had helped Jeff to move, but she didn't. It's a good thing we were only two or three blocks from the hospital. Even with Avery doubled over with pain, we had to walk/run to get there! Meanwhile, Dale misunderstood which doctor's office I went to with Avery, and went to the wrong place. His second guess was that we must be at the ER, which by then we were. We got there at around 11:45 am. Just before 1 pm Avery started drinking the thick white Barium in order to then have a CAT scan.

Try as he might, that Barium was hard to get down!

I kid you not when I say it took him an hour and a half to drink about 1 1/2 inches down from the top of cup! I was becoming frustrated and impatient! I kept saying, "Avery, MAN UP and drink it!!" Nothing I said was helping. It wasn't until the doctor came in and told Avery that if he didn't drink the Barium, he would have to put a tube up Avery's nose, down his throat and into his stomach to get the Barium into him that way. That did the trick! Now Avery was drinking, perhaps a bit too fast, because when he only had about a half inch left in the cup, he threw it up!! He had to start over! UGH! After more than three hours of Barium torture he was ready for the CAT scan. During this test Avery was to lie completely still. I was watching Avery during the CAT scan when suddenly his body started to jerk. I thought he was having some type of seizure! I said, "What is he doing?" Very matter of fact the technician replied, "Throwing up." The test didn't seem to be affected by his movements, thank goodness! Back to the ER to continue our wait. It was nearly eight hours after entering the ER that we knew Avery would need an appendectomy... that night! The surgery started around 8:30 pm and was over by 9:30. All went well. The doctor was able to remove Avery's appendix through laparoscopic surgery. Avery has three small incisions on his stomach with stitches under the skin. There were no other children currently at the hospital, so they had to call in nursing staff just for Avery! Once the nurses arrived, Avery was moved from recovery over to pediatrics. After drinking all that Barium and having an IV all day, Avery literally had to urinate every 10 to 15 minutes! It's after midnight and I'd like to get some sleep on the chair next to Avery's hospital bed, but I'm having to jump up every 15 minutes to get him to the bathroom! I finally told Avery, "Just to go to sleep, then you won't know you have to pee!" When the nurses came in at 2:30 am, they helped him. At 4 am when the nurse came back, Avery waited until she left and then told me he had to go. I told him, "Why didn't you ask the nurse to help you? She was just here!" I was exhausted! It was like having a newborn again! Later in the morning Avery was able to have a liquid meal... broth, jello and juice.

By 9:30 am the doctor came in and gave Avery the go ahead to be discharged. I was to use my best judgement on when he could return to school, but the doctor said no gym classes for a week to ten days. That's what hurt Avery the most out of all of this -- no gym! Avery was home Monday and Tuesday, returning to school on Wednesday. It seems the teachers were surprised he returned so soon, but Avery is doing well, so why not? I don't want him running around and playing basketball at recess, but he can certainly sit behind a desk and do school work. He is also glad to be back in school.