What a week!

So...Last Friday morning, Chloe woke up and didn't get out of bed. She started throwing up and wasn't able to keep anything down all day long. I kept thinking it was just the stomach flu and that she would feel better by the end of the day. She laid on the couch all day long and didn't really even talk at all. All day. She wasn't even interested in watching t.v. That should have tipped me off that something was seriously wrong. That night we put her to bed on our floor so we could keep tabs on her. In the middle of the night she started saying "Ouch, ouch, ouch" and clutching her stomach. She was in so much pain she couldn't even walk. We tried to figure out if the pain was just on one side, but it seemed to be all over. As soon as it was morning I called the on-call doctor who told us to go to the Emergency Room, just in case. After hours of waiting, a urine test, blood test, IV fluids and a cat scan, it was determined that she probably had appendicitis. We decided to transfer her to The Children's Hospital so that a pediatric surgeon could perform the appendectomy. She got to ride in an Ambulance (with me) while Ryan and Lincoln drove the car. The surgeons at the hospital looked at her CT scan and told us it looked like we had caught it early and that it hadn't ruptured, so she would probably be able to go home the next day. They finally took her into surgery at about 8:30 on Saturday night. When the surgeon came out to talk to us an hour later, he had a different story. Her appendix had ruptured and her entire abdomen was filled with infection. He said they got as much out as they could, but that she would need to stay in the hospital for a week on high doses of antibiotics to try to kill off the rest of the infection. I kind of freaked out at that point. Our other two kids were with friends and had been for over 12 hours. We were exhausted and stressed out. I am just so grateful that we trusted our instincts and took her to the hospital. I always second guess myself in these types of situations because I tend to overreact. I guess I wasn't this time!! This picture was taken about 18 hours after the surgery. If you think she looks bad, you should have seen her immediately after. (Am I totally weird to document this on film?!) When she came out of surgery, she had a tube in her nose going to her stomach to drain it. She had a central line (an IV near her shoulder). She was on oxygen, she had a catheter and they put splints on both of her arms to keep her from pulling at all the tubes she was hooked up to. She basically slept all through the night on Saturday, and most of the day on Sunday. She was on morphine, which helped her. The orange tint on her skin was that stuff they used to clean her. She looked like an Ooma Loompa.

Here she is on Monday sharing her bed with Lincoln for a few minutes. She obviously was still not feeling that well, but at least she was acknowledging the exsistence of others. Isaac and Audrey went with their Uncle Michael and Aunt Shelly down to Colorado Springs on Sunday and stayed there until Tuesday afternoon. Ryan took the whole week off of work so we could both be in the hospital with her, especially at the beginning when she was so sick and weak.

Thats the Chloe we know and love!!! On Monday night she started feeling a lot better and she turned into a totally different little girl--talking, playing and being just sweet and cute. This hospital we were at was AWESOME!!! We had a nice plasma tv in our room, full of pre-recorded kids movies available at the touch of a button. There was an X-box in every room too, but we didn't ever use that. There was a couch that folded into a bed that I slept on, plus another chair that reclined for Ryan. They provided us with a little red wagon that had an IV tree welded onto it and encouraged us to get Chloe out and about as much as we could. On Monday night we took her in her little red wagon down to the "restaraunt" for dinner (it was really just the overpriced cafeteria.) She didn't eat much, but loved the experience. There was a playroom right down the hall that she came to know and love. It had tons of toys, games, books, crafts for her to make and the highlight for Chloe--an air hockey table.

After Ryan went to get the kids on Tuesday, it was just me and Lincoln and Chloe in the hospital. Luckily, the hospital had its own library as well, so I wasn't bored out of my skull. I actually think it was a valuable experience for me and Chloe. I don't usually have so much free time to devote to just her. It was nice just to go to the playroom and play with her without worrying about cleaning the house or making dinner--or having any other kids compete for my attention.

On the last day, Ryan brought the other kids up to visit and help pick Chloe up. They are enjoying the little red wagon for the last time in the picture above. The other kids loved the playroom as well, especially when Isaac discovered that it had a Nintendo Wii!!! I'm telling you this hospital was SO NICE! If it hadn't been for the incessant beeping of the IV machine, I would have felt like we were on vacation!! We are home now, which is nice. Chloe is not out of the woods yet. Because the infection was so widespread, she is at risk for a secondary infection, called an abcess. We are watching her closely for the symptoms. But she is doing really well. We are so grateful for all the blessings we experienced during this time. We are grateful for good friends who will take our kids for over 24 hours at the drop of a hat. We are grateful for family who will take our kids for even longer without a second thought. We are grateful for members of our church who have brought meals and run errands for us. One friend just came up to the hospital to hold Lincoln so I could shower one night and even brought me dinner from the Macaroni Grill!! We are grateful that we got to the hospital when we did and that she is doing well. We are just grateful for Chloe!! Thank you to all of you for your prayers and love and concern. We will keep you posted...