Wednesday, January 07, 2009

A Day

That started off with me finding Mary curled up asleep on the bathroom floor. Apparently she'd spent the entire night throwing up. Oh and, by the way mom . . . there is blood in my urine. Well, I guess that warrants a call to the pediatrician's office. It takes a lot for me to take my kids into the doctor and, for the most part I take a "this too shall pass, so suck it up" attitude. But, blood in the urine - that caught my attention. I first had to run Hilary to the audiologist where they ran some tests on her cochlear implant. The information from the tests was recorded and will be forwarded to Cochlear Corporation's engineers for interpretation. We won't know anything for a few weeks.

Next stop, pediatrician's office. The doctor suspected appendicitis, so off to the ER we went. Six hours and a CT scan later, we received the official diagnosis ---- kidney stones! I didn't even know that kids could get kidney stones. The stones are small enough to pass on their own, so Mary is loaded up with pain meds and she is supposed to be drinking lots of fluids. Problem is, she is still puking non-stop. She needs the fluids to help "flush" out the stones, but she can't keep anything down. Not a good thing and I have this real fear that we will end up back in the ER for dehydration.

And, because both Mary and Hilary missed school today, I decided to let Eric skip school and go to the Zoo with his cousin Bridget and her boyfriend Joe. What the heck, life is too short. What's one missed day of school when you have the opportunity to spend time with family (and visit the Insectatarium) right?

As for Jack . . . he is doing fabulous!

That's my day in a nutshell. Hope your day was a bit calmer.


In the ER


Home and sleeping (with pain meds on board)



My Rx. There's nothing like a beer and tater tots at the end of a long day ;-)

15 comments:

Gretch said...

(((((((HUGS))))))) That is one heck of a day!!! I hope Mary is well soon!!!!

Alicia said...

Prayers for Mary to get better soon. That has got to be so painful. :(

As for the end of your day, amen to tater tots and beer!

Alicia

The Marangella Family said...

Wow, I don't know if I envy you for all the fun you had today or the beer! Yes, kids can indeed get kidney stones, Max has had them twice. He get's them from me and I can tell you the vomiting is almost worse than the pain. Mary needs zofran and now, it really helps. Hope she feels better if you need to do another ER run let me know, God knows I live for those!!!

Ann said...

Thanks Patricia -- I'll call in the morning and see if I can get some Zofran. I just hope it won't be too late, she is still puking and I can't do anything about it tonight because Mark is at work.

Anonymous said...

Poor Mary, I hope she passes the stones soon, that can be really painful. I'd love to join you in that beer at the end of the day, that's the way to relax!

Anonymous said...

I hope everyone has a better weekend! Poor Mary. Kidney stones seem very unpleasant. GLad Jack is doing well.
Kristy

Anonymous said...

Who knew teens could get Kidney stones?! I am so glad you finally made it home and were able to enjoy a cold beer. I hope Mary is feeling better, that the stones pass soon and that you are able to relax. Please give Mary lots of hugs from me and tell her next time I see her I will be sure to bring stickers, lollipops and an eye spy book :-)

xoxo
Carrie

Anne said...

Tell Mary I said hello and that I hope she's feeling better. :)

Susan said...

Oh that's awful Ann. Steve had kidney stones too once and he threw up and looked like he was going to die. I hate to think of Mary handling that much pain.

Actually the beer and tater tots combo sounds quite good. Might have to get a bag for my next bad day.

Jennifer and Elizabeth said...

I hope Mary is feeling better real soon. I can't even imagine being her age and passing them. I'm an adult and they are horrible for me. I couldn't pass mine though. I was lucky and never had vomitting though. I agree with the zofran. It works great. That poor girl. I hope she passs them quickly. I'd say and painlessly but form experience I know even with the meds it's not possible. You're in my thoughts and prayers.

Anonymous said...

Oh no, I hope that Mary feels better soon. That has to be so miserable.

Beer and tator tots, maybe that should be a part of the menu in Feb.

hugs,

Sandra

Anonymous said...

Thank you everyone for thinking about me and leaving your comments! It means a lot :

Mary

Cindy said...

OH NO! Poor Mary. WoW, she is young for kidney stones. I hope she is felling better soon.

Faith said...

You know it's been "a day" when your child who on life support is the most stable one in the house!

Praying for a speedy recovery (for everyone involved)

Jen :)

Anonymous said...

What a day ... I'm hoping by the time I leave this comment you guys will have had major relief since it's been over two weeks since this post! Kidney stones ... CI failure ... ER visits ... every day life ... oy vey!

That's a major bummer that they think Hilary's CI is failing. Luckily she's still under your insurance like you said!!! Have you guys (and Hilary) thought about bilateral CIs if she has surgery again? The Cochlear Freedom Processor is awesome -- aside from personally using one, I love it ;) Cochlear Corporation has been around the longest and other companies have had recalls. My students love it ... it is ascetically pleasing and using an FM or MP3 player is amazing.

BTW -- now I'm craving tater tots!