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Emergency Surgery

 Jake really gave us a scare today. After church we had lunch then headed home with plans to ride horses. Jake started spitting up blood. I grabbed a bucket and told Mark we need to go to the hospital now. I grabbed my information from post-op, glanced over it and read that he needed to drink ice milk. I grabbed some before getting in the car and called the hospital. Mark and I were in a panic. He was driving fast and I was holding Jake’s bucket trying to keep him calm. He was crying and getting upset. An on call doctor called me back and instructed me on what to do. We stopped and got some ice chips in water at Casey's. Jake was to hold the cold in the back of his mouth. Once we got to the hwy 141 the bleeding had stopped. Jake had about ½ cup of blood. We waited and debated what to do. The doctor told us to go home and have Jake sit in a recliner and keep icing. Mark thought we should go on to the hospital, but we waited. This was exactly what the doctor had told us could happen. We chose to go back home and all seemed ok. At home he had a small occurrence of bleeding, but we got it stopped right away. Jake sat in the recliner for an hour and a half when the bleeding started again. This time seemed to be flowing more. We got in the car and this time we were going to the hospital no matter what. Half way to Des Moines the bleeding stopped again, but we kept driving.  We got to the ER and immediately Jake was prepped for surgery. An iv was put in with ease. Jake was brave and was just as shell shocked as Mark and I. We never imagined he would be going in for another surgery. Everything happened so fast. We arrived at the ER at 7 and he was in surgery at 8. Because it was a Sunday, I felt like we were the only people in the whole giant hospital. The anesthesiologist explained what was going to take place as he nervously studdurd. That did not make me feel to confident. Mark and I held Jake’s hand and prayed over him before he was whisked away. A nurse pointed us to the waiting room and we sat down in shock. The waiting room was empty, dark, and quiet. We instantly prayed together. We were overwhelmed with a lot of emotions. There was a lot of unknowns in a situation like this. His bleeding could aspirate into his lungs, he had eaten and food before surgery can cause him to vomit, and the bleeding. We made quick phone calls and texts so others could be praying too. Then we prayed silently. Mark was on his knees and very emotional. It was a very long 40 minutes before the doctor came out and assured us everything went fine. I told them after Jake’s surgery last week he was looking for us and alone when he woke up from surgery. I did not want that again. They brought us back to the recovery room while Jake was waking. Once again it was quiet as Jake was the only patient in a large room normally swarming with patients. I did not like seeing Jacob hooked up to machines trying to wake up. He was shaking and moaning. He would open his eyes and look at us with big scared eyes, than fall back to sleep. We kept telling him we were there and held his hand. It was really hard to see him like that. We beat ourselves up wondering if it was something we did wrong that caused his tonsils to bleed. The doctors kept telling us there are so many variables it is hard to know why. There is a 1% occurrence of this happening. In Des Moines they said they see more like a 10% occurrence. 
 
Mark and I walked beside his bed as they wheeled him into his room in the hospital. They got him all situated and hooked up to iv for the night and morphine for pain. The nurses were very kind and helpful. There were technicians and physicians that came in to see Jake and ask questions. Jake was pretty groggy and out of it. He did not want to talk or open his mouth. He was thirsty but had orders of nothing until morning. Mark and I settled in for the night, Mark in a recliner and I on a couch for the night. It was cold and drafty by the window and I woke every time Jake moved and every time the nurses checked him throughout the night. Jake was a trooper. In the morning around 7 I was awake and Mark and I took turns to get some breakfast, we had not had supper. There were several more physicians, pediatricians, resident, and even the anesthesiologist came by to check on Jake. They are very thorough! Jake had to drink a certain amount and eat before he could go home. He was still very groggy and not talking until I came back with my lunch, a ham and cheese wrap. Jake wanted a bite and pretty soon he ate the whole thing. He sure perked up after he got some food and the morphine wore off. Getting a teddy bear from Dad and a balloon bouquet with a cute little weenie dog from the Wahlert side really helped cheer him up too. It was a big relief when we got the approval to go home. We took our precious cargo home thankful to God that everything went well.

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