Minus 1 appendix

Jackson had his appendix taken out on Monday (1/28). He started feeling sick on Friday. Went to a friends house while Matt and I went on a date Friday night. When we picked up the kids they said he had thrown up a couple times after dinner. We thought he was probably getting the flu. He was pretty miserable on Sat but still just seemed like flu symptoms. Sunday we were starting to get a little more worried - symptoms were the same - but nothing was changing and he kept complaining about how his belly hurt. So when Monday rolled around we decided to go ahead and take him to the Doc to rule out the flu. Even the Doc didn't think it was his appendix since he was walking around but after feeling his belly and talking to him a little he decided to have us go to the hospital for a CT scan just in case. I had left the girls with our friends but still had Caleb since I hadn't anticipated going straight to the hospital. I was totally unprepared - no snacks, no cup, no blankies....... Jackson had to have blood drawn. He knew that one was coming and handled really well for a needle hating Jackson. Then he had to drink a big cup of stuff and wait 2 hours before the CT. I decided to run Caleb to our friends - after a quick stop at home for the blankies :) I am so glad that we have friends so willing to help us out at the last minute with huge requests - like, can you keep these guys for who knows how long while we do all this today??
Jackson had to have another needle (IV like) to push some dye for the CT. He was not happy but handled it ok especially considering he had no advance warning for that one. We waited for the results in a little hallway waiting room. He was pretty distracted by the TV but also a little worried because he knew surgery was a possibility. Sure enough - I get a call from the Doc saying it's acute appendicitis and he needed to go in for surgery quickly. I cried, he cried..... then we went and got him checked into the Peds ward. We had the Kindle Fire with us so I kept him distracted with movies. Matt came to wait with us. That helped me a lot :) It took longer than I thought for them to get everything going. We got the surgery call just after 4 and it was after 8 before they took him back for surgery. The regular IV was the worst needle experience of the day - mostly because it was the 3rd time and he was stressed and exhausted. We went down with him while they gave him sleepy stuff. He was gone for about an hour.
His appendix did not rupture but it did leak a little bit. The doc was still able to clean him up through the laproscopy incisions so those are the only ones he has. If there is a rupture they have to make larger incisions to clean it out, leave a drain in for infection and recovery is much worse. Jackson didn't need the bigger incisions or the drain but the Doc did want him to stay longer than the normal 24 hours just in case. He was up and walking the next morning a little. He was in pain but doing really well with all of it. He didn't want to see the bandages and cuts or hear anything about the surgery.
We would have been out of there Wed afternoon but the Doc was held up in surgery and didn't make his rounds until after 9 pm. He didn't want to send us home without the prescriptions so we had to wait until Thur morning to leave. Matt and I traded off so that one of us would always be with him. Usually me during the day and Matt overnight while our friends were still helping out with the other kiddos.
He's home now and doing great. Still stiff and sore but has a pretty positive attitude. He's out of school until the 11th. We did stop in and say hi to his class and pick up his homework yesterday. He's fine to be walking around but needs to take it easy. He needs to avoid getting sick - flu and colds would wreck havoc with his sore tummy.
We are very happy to have everyone at home together again and that there were no major problems or concerns on top of his surgery.
Thanks for the calls and cards/gifts. It has helped him feel a little less disappointed and isolated :)