Anden's Hospital Visit

Date: July 31st- Aug 1st

On July 31st in between coordinating supplies for the landscapers,

I left about noon to take the big kids to their Dad's house.

They were headed up north to the mountains to go camping for few days.

They were excited to ride quads and play in the cooler temps!

They texted and let me know they made it there safely about 4pm.

Well about 6pm I get a call that Anden is in extreme pain

and they are rushing to the nearest hospital about 30 mins away.

My heart sank!

One of my biggest fears is letting my kids go riding in the mountains where they get sketchy

phone service and having them wreck or get hurt on the quads without me there!

So I immediately assumed that's what had happened!

I stayed calm and asked what the symptoms were.

 Extreme stomach pain and it might be his appendix.

I was completely shocked as he was totally fine just a few hours ago!

I didn't want to panic and asked if I should hop in the car 

and drive the 2.5 hours up there.

They said they didn't know and they'll keep me posted when they get to the Payson ER.

Well at the same time Taylee is texting me telling me how scared she is

and that she's never seen Anden sobbing in pain like this before.

Jeremy had taken Anden, Taylee and his girlfriend's 2 kids by himself up there.

So I knew he was juggling 4 kids and now this ER situation.

I was scared but trying to downplay it.
But my heart told me otherwise.

I'm lucky enough that we rarely have even a cold in our family, let alone a hospital visit.

I hurried and grabbed a few things, threw the little girls at Ryan

and raced out the door for a heart pumping 2.5 hour car ride up the
winding mountain road in the dark!

I was so nervous and scared and emotional!

I was praying for the best outcome possible.

They were sending me updates from the hospital as I was driving.

They admitted Anden and put in an IV for pain meds.

Then they took him for CT scan.

I came racing into the hospital as they were still awaiting the results of the CT scan.

By then Anden was drugged up and half asleep.

Maybe it's a good thing for my momma heart that I didn't see him wailing in pain.

I definitely would have lost it at that point.

Soon after the doctor came in and confirmed that he had acute appendicitis

and that he needed surgery immediately to remove his appendix before it bursts.

They didn't have a pediatric surgeon at this small hospital

and also knew we were from Phoenix.

So he recommended transferring him by ambulance back to Phoenix for the surgery.

Which is exactly what I anticipated would happen.

I did ask if I could just drive him myself.

He advised against it in case complications arose.

So we started the paperwork for the transfer and waited for Phoenix to be ready for us.

At this point Jeremy decided to go back up to the cabin and get everything cleaned up and put away.

They literally left all the quads out in the yard and just jumped in the car to come to the ER.

I told Taylee to just go with him and hopefully make the most of their "mountain getaway".

Then I stayed with Anden.

Luckily Ryan was situated with the little girls at home so that I could just focus on Anden.

About 10pm the ambulance arrived and they prepped Anden for the transfer.

I tried to keep him in good spirits and was joking around.

Told him to enjoy every minute of this ride because 

I'm sure it'll be the most expensive 2 hour ride of his life!

But in all honesty it broke my heart that he had to ride alone for that long.

I obviously had my car and had to get it back to Phoenix too.

So I followed right behind the ambulance the whole way.

We forced some smiles to document this crazy adventure.

I figured he would want all these pictures later.

Then they closed the doors

and I jumped in my car following the ambulance 

and praying the whole drive back to Phoenix.

Also Ryan and I were scrambling to rearrange our plans.

We were supposed to leave in the morning to go to Utah for his best friend's wedding.

They had asked Ryan long ago to actually perform the wedding.

So there's NO way he could miss it!

But there's no way I was leaving town with Anden in the hospital.

So we decided that I would just have to stay home and he would still go to Utah alone.

He would just shorten his trip and drive up and back within 2 days!

Gosh it's a good thing we didn't buy plane tickets for this trip like we had planned.

Now Ryan had flexibility to change his plans.

We got to the Phoenix hospital about midnight.

The good thing about arriving in an ambulance is that you don't have to check in or wait.

They had his room in the pediatric unit all ready and they just wheeled him right up to his room!

The nurses got him all situated and said they would be back at 6am to prep him for surgery.

Anden fell asleep about 2am.

I tried to sleep but couldn't.

I was too worried if Anden's appendix were to rupture.

And of course nurses kept coming in every hour to check on him.

So comforting to see him peacefully sleeping.

Such a cute boy!

At 6am they started to get him prepped for surgery.

He was first on the list for the surgeon that day.

Wheeling him down to pre-op

The nurses brought him a treat bag full of toys

All ready to head to the OR

Gosh my heart was beating so hard at this point

although I was calm and cracking jokes with Anden to keep him relaxed.

And off he disappeared behind those big doors.

So I went to the waiting room and waited and waited...

I texted updates to family and friends.

Then I decided to check on the backyard progress.

Hhhmm looks the same as yesterday!

There's SO much prep with laying turf that these poor guys were still leveling the ground.

All the pool backhoes and bobcats wrecked havoc on the dirt.

It was so uneven and bumpy.

Finally about an hour later the surgeon came out and told me that everything went great.

His appendix was severely inflamed and ready to burst very soon.

So luckily they got it removed before it did burst!

Then they took me back up to his room

and they brought Anden in soon after.

He was still pretty out of it and groggy.

The nurses came to check on him and show me the incision and how to care for him.

The doctor came in later to do the same.

His first question...how soon can I play football again??

Six weeks was the answer!!

His poor heart sank!

His season literally just had started.

And to complicate matters, school starts next week too!

She said he wasn't even allowed to carry anything over 10 lbs for 4 wks,

yes that means not even his backpack!!

He was a champ and accepted the news.

We hung out for a bit and then Ryan and the little girls showed up to visit him.

They came in with all sorts of balloons and treats for him!

And in our true chaotic fashion, Eastlie was messing around when he was trying to corral

the fly away balloons and also get the girls out of the car.

Right when he went to shut the car door she put her hand in the door frame.

Yep he shut her fingers in the door.

So she was sobbing and he had to help her without the dang balloons flying away.

Then he had to carry the girls, the balloons and the treats

all through an unfamiliar hospital until he found us.

Needless to say when they walked in....he and Eastlie both looked like a hot mess!!

Sorry but I couldn't help but laugh.

Welcome to my life babe!

It's a 3 ring circus every single stinkin day!

The girls were so excited to see Anden and give him loves...and push every button in that room!

After an hour they had to head back home for naps.

Ryan had to unexpectedly work from home that day too since I was gone.

So we wished them well...and told them to keep all arms and legs in the vehicle at all times! :)

A couple hours later Jeremy and Taylee finally got back in town.

They came by to visit Anden too.

I had been chatting with the nurses all day to see how soon we could bust Anden out of there.

They had a list of things he needed to be able to do before he could leave.

Normally they would keep him overnight again.

But since his surgery was first thing that morning they were hopeful he could leave that evening.

Anden was a trooper and was able to get up

and walk the hall, etc like they wanted him to do.

We were thrilled when they said that they would in fact release him that night!!

Woohoo!

I knew it would be easier to be his nurse/slave at home

and then still be able to take care of the other kids.

Oh and the added dilemma that Ryan had to leave for Salt Lake City that night too.

Not exactly the adult weekend getaway that we had planned!!

The final check before they released him!

Wheeling him on out of there!

I got him all loaded up and we were ready to head on home!

Awww we made it!

That was an insane roller coaster 28 hours!!

Or was it 5 days?! Gosh I don't even know!

Ryan was waiting for us when we got home

to carry Anden into the house.

We got him situated and comfortable

then I ran to pick up all his prescriptions.

Then it was Mommy Nurse Duty all night.

Soon after that Ryan had to leave us for a couple days.

Yes I was alone.

Deep breath, deep breath.

I can do this!