It was an usual pain, but he decided to sleep on it and call the doctor in the morning. That Thursday morning, the pain was still there and a bit worse so he headed into our normal doctor who sent him in for a CAT scan to check on what may be going on. The earliest CAT scan that Brian could get was at 3 pm that Thursday and just over an hour later that afternoon Brian received a call from our doctor that said he needed to drive himself safely to the nearest emergency room and have an emergency appendectomy. He indeed had acute appendicitis and we didn't want to be in a situation where his appendix ruptured.
Wait. What?!
That is how it all began. Just like that. In 24 hours we went from Brian having a weird stomach pain to sitting in the ER waiting for Brian to get out of surgery. It was crazy.
Fortunately, Brian was wise enough to get this weird pain checked out. I have told him multiple times that I'm not sure I would've called the doctor if I was in the same situation. And based on everything that I read and everything that I was told, TIME IS CRITICAL when you have acute appendicitis. Most appendixes rupture between 24 and 72 hours after symptoms start appearing and that means a whole different, way more serious situation for the person involved, not to mention, about triple the recovery time.
But Brian knew his body and after having kidney stones while living in Scotland and experiencing the same sort of pain, that is what he thought it would be and that is why he called the doctor so promptly. But it happened to be his appendix.
They took Brian into surgery late on Thursday night. Thankfully, Mary and Tom, Brian's Mom and Stepdad, were able to sit with him in the Emergency Room while I took the girls home and fed them dinner, got them bathed, and put to bed. We tried to keep our routine as normal as possible.
Once everyone was asleep and Brian was in surgery, Mary and I swapped spots. It was just after 11 pm on Thursday night. She came and stayed with Kate and Maya while Tom and I headed back to the hospital to await any further communication from the doctor. Maya had been sleeping solidly until 2 am recently, so I hoped she did the same that night. At least, I had planned on being at the hospital from 11 pm to 2 am and then coming back home to feed Maya and go from there.
When Tom and I got back to the hospital, we met up with Andy, Brian's Dad, who had been there while we weren't. Brian was still in surgery.
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| Brian was the only one in surgery at the time, so he was noted as the green patient on the screen. It says "Surgery in Progress". |
Just after 11:30 pm, the surgeon came out and said that he had finished Brian's surgery and that he was in recovery. We were to wait until a nurse called us to meet Brian in his recovery room.
The surgeon had mentioned that there are four levels of appendicitis; one being a perfectly fine and healthy appendix and for being a ruptured appendix. He had said that Brian was just past a 3 and everyone was thankful that Brian was able to get surgery before any rupturing occured. Other than that, the surgery was normal and they were able to complete the removal laparoscopically so that meant less invasive and less recovery time needed.
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| 11:32 pm and Brian is noted as "In Recovery". |
About an hour later, we received a call to meet Brian in his recovery room, room number 9010. Only Brian would figure out a way to get the penthouse suite while in surgery. (That is mostly a joke because there are no penthouse suites in the hospital but he was on the top floor.)
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| Penthouse living. #no #notatall |
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| Headed up. |
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| Brian's view, though I took this photo the next day. |
Tom and I arrived at his room quicker than Brian had, so we waited for him to arrive. A few moments later, we heard a couple of nurses laughing and wheeling a very groggy yet joke telling/funny story telling patient around the corner. Of course this was Brian.
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| 1:30 am - Groggy and right out of surgery. The pillow protected his abdomen. |
Tom and I made sure that Brian was comfortable and cared for. It was weird having to leave him at the hospital to stay by himself but I had two girls I had to tend to at home and there wasn't really a place for me to sleep like there was in the maternity rooms. (Other than this visit, the only other two times we've been at the hospital for one another were at both of our children's births. #gratefulforthat)
Either way, I knew Maya was going to be waking soon for a feeding and then the household was going to be up soon after that, so we bid our farewells to Brian who was already dosing off and promised to see him in the morning.
The next day, Mary and Tom came over to watch the girls while I made my way to the hospital. Even though he was on a clear liquid diet only, he was already up and walking around. Just what the doctors ordered.
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| Trying to stay positive. #justlikebrian |
Brian was at the hospital from Wednesday night until Saturday afternoon. I spent my time traveling back and forth from home to the hospital to tend to my children and my husband. And I was extremely grateful for Mary and Tom who held the fort down as best as possible while we swapped spots.
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| That meant fun popcorn snacks! |
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| Enjoying happy babies! |
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| Coloring and tracing with chalk on the driveway! |
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| And a few park visits! |
Brian graduated from a clear liquid diet to a liquid diet to a soft solids diet to a bland diet before he left the hospital as per normal protocol during this routine type of surgery.
He was also sent home with the instructions to rest, recover, get up and walk as his body allows it, and no lifting of anything for four weeks. He will also most likely be home from work for the next week.
He had to cancel his trip to California for a class he was going to be taking this week but we are all glad that he is going to be ok.
It's been a scary few days. Anytime you have to go to the hospital for loved one to have emergency surgery it's scary. It's been a tiring few days. I've either been home tending to the kiddos or traveling to/from the hospital tending/hanging out with my husband. It's also been a grateful few days. We are grateful this is nothing more serious. We are grateful that Mary and Tom were able to help so much, and we were grateful for our wonderful girls, Kate and Maya, who made this different situation not even seem to bother them. Among many other things like the nurses and the doctors, the many well wishes and prayers from family and friends, the fact that Brian's appendix didn't rupture, etc.
Brian hit a bit of a bump in the road with this appendicitis, but we have confidence he'll be back on his feet, working his tail off, and being his normal self in no time. Now let's just hope he doesn't get cabin fever too quickly...
#hegetscabinfeverontheweekend #sigh
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