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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