It's a long one

Drew was able to come home yesterday...thanks everyone for your prayers and sympathy. We are still waiting for some test results but he seems to be feeling much better.

Wednesday morning when he woke up coughing, gagging and throwing up, I wasn't all that worried because he has had several strange episodes since January where he couldn't keep anything down for several hours and then, suddenly, was all better. Of course I was a little worried about this developing pattern and began to wonder if it might be a food intolerance. The last time it happened, though, was April and I hoped the problem might have resolved.

This time, however, the vomiting just wouldn't stop and actually began to increase in frequency as the afternoon wore on. Finally, after hours, I called his pediatrician who recommended we head straight to the ER. His vomit was becoming quite colorful and his cries of pain ever louder. Turns out, stomach acid is neither tasty nor soothing to the skin.

I pulled Ethan and Drew out of their beds, prepared them as quickly as I could and we headed out. We arrived at the ER around 8 pm and were ushered into a small, curtained-off area, never dreaming we would spend the night there. Poor Drew continued to throw up, his mouth bleeding, for two more hours while various people stopped by, poked and prodded and asked the same questions over and over. Around 10 pm they put in an IV and he was able to get some fluids. That's when his vomiting stopped.

Ethan and Adam were wide awake and ready to run laps, climb mountains, tear down Gorbachev's wall and eat it but sadly were asked to sit still and STOP DOING THAT! Well, Adam was not asked to sit but I did silently beg for him to at least become sleepy like any normal baby might, hours after his bedtime. Instead, he squirmed and kicked in my arms until 1 am.

I sent Keith some messages but was not able to contact him and my battery began to beep.

Doctors ordered x-rays and blood tests and we all traipsed around the hospital to the x-ray room. They asked if I wanted to stand next to Drew during his pictures and I said that of course I would but, you see (don't you?), I have these other kids right here and what to do with them? Oh. So, Ethan, Adam and I squeezed ourselves in behind the little window in the x-ray room with a technician who apparently was not aware that ten-month old babies cannot give high-fives and aren't really amused by surgical gloves blown up like balloons with a face drawn on it. I appreciated the effort though.

Around midnight the doctor told us that they wanted to admit Drew. The x-rays looked good but they wanted to do further GI studies to rule out something like an impacted or twisted bowel. His white blood count was high as well.

I explained to them that my husband was out of town and I didn't have many options but I really wanted to stay with Drew. Everyone was very understanding and went off with promises of "working things out". In an hour or so, a new nurse or doctor would come by and try to convince me to leave Drew in a room with another family since there were no private rooms. I said that I would rather take him home with me or sleep outside his room in the hall if need be. "Oh well, I understand. We'll see what we can do."

Around 1 am, a very kind ER nurse decided to take matters into her own hands and rolled in another cot for us. We were surrounded by bright lights and loud noises but I was grateful to be able to stay. I lay at the end of both beds, listening to the sounds of "environmental services" mopping a few feet from me. Someone yelled a joke to a co-worker. A mother of a nearby patient told her sad life-story to an orderly. New doctors came in around 3 am, and asked us all the same questions.

6 am we were magically admitted to a room and trekked across the hospital to get there. More doctors, same questions, more tests. Drew had had enough. He begged for water and to get OUT. They did a blood draw and an hour later realized they needed to do another one. In between his cries, he slept.

Finally, it became clear we would be there for many hours, if not another night, so I called Keith on the hospital phone and he was able to head back. Which was surely a good thing. He was able to take over and stay with Drew that night.

In terms of a diagnosis, the GI studies (swallow and x-rays) did not show a problem. His white blood cell count came back down. Thursday night they did a blood culture to test for celiac disease. Results are pending. Hopefully, we'll have some answers soon.