Sick, Sick, Sick!

Yep, we've entered the world of "blogging"....So, please bear with us as this site is definitely a work in progress.

While coming across a fellow blogger's site, I noticed the title of their newest posting was "sick, sick, 'sick' and I realized this pretty much sums up the last two weeks in the Garry Household.

Two weeks ago tomorrow, Logan came down with what we thought was a just a flu bug. After a week of various "flu-like" episodes (I'll spare you the details--you can use your imagination), he doubled over on Friday evening, screaming in pain. Call it "mother's instinct" or maybe just good ol' common sense, but I rushed him to the nearest Urgent Care Clinic. After x-rays and bloodwork, they admitted Logan to the hospital with dehydration and a whole slew of scary symptoms. After two days of fluid, morphine, and chicken noodle soup, it appeared as if we were on the road to recovery. We were discharged from the hospital two days later.

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I had a definite skip in my step as Logan and I exited the hospital on Sunday. I really thought this was a small blip on the radar screen and we were on our way to freedom, never to look back, never to return to that dreary hospital room again. Boy, was I WRONG!!!

A mere three days later, on Wednesday of this week, we were back to the "oh so familiar" urgent care again, only this time they admitted him to Children's Hospital. Just the mere mention of "children's hospital" made my eyes well with tears. How could our vibrant and healthy 8-year-old end up here??? And the question of what was causing these flares up to return was something I couldn't even face. As a mother, you hear of days and episodes like these...That the scary things that warrant the most worry strike on some idle Tuesday. I was terrified of what lied ahead for Logan and our unit as a family. I've just never seen Logan so immobilized by pain, so peaked, so thin and white.

The doctor's at Children's wasted no time and started extensive testing on everything....Logan was forced to put his modesty aside while they examined every bodily fluid coming from him. All these tests and scans and blood work did not reveal anything dire or dangerous. Everything, thus far, has checked out wonderfully. Please--a moment of silence while I let out a big sigh of relief.....Of course, I'm thrilled his appendix isn't going to burst, his bowel isn't twisted, his liver is operating on a business as usual basis. However, we still need answers and we don't have any at this time.

Logan was discharged on Thursday, but then had another immobilizing bout of vomiting and pain that night. Knowing, more than likely, it isn't anything too serious, we made him tough it out a bit. The thought of another hospital stay made Brad and I want to vomit. To make a long story short, Logan hasn't fully recovered yet and we're meeting with a GI specialist next week. We're hoping to send him back to school on Monday. He's already missed 8 days of school and it's only October.

Anyways, this past two weeks has made me ponder other parents in similar or worse situations than us. We felt like our life was on hold, we hadn't even seen our other child, let alone our new puppy. She was wondering if she had already been abandoned. It was stressful. We endured limited sleep, food was sparse, even checking to see if the sun appeared that day was difficult. This really made me want to reach out to other parents enduring even worse arrangements. I can't imagine what you're going through on a daily basis...The stress, lack of sleep, the overall balance of work, home, and life. Not that it matters, but I understand now. Maybe not fully, but I have a taste and my heart goes out to you.

We'll keep you posted as we hear more from the specialist....