Yesterday, being Monday, I was drudging the fact that I had to clean, as it's my self-appointed day to be sure the house is in order so I can spend time doing other things throughout the week. Well, Romona got a phone call around 9am from Pa saying he was at the doctor's because of abdomen pain. The doctor wanted him to go immediately to the hospital for tests, so she had to go pick him up and take him there. Awaiting news of this unusual course of the day had anxiety underlining everything I did (or didn't) do that morning. I managed to pay bills, get Ariel to do her schoolwork, clean the bathrooms, eat and serve breakfast, do dishes, laundry, lunch, and vacuuming upstairs before I heard anything from Romona. She called to say that he had a hernia and to call everyone else and let them know what was going on. Later she called to say that they were discharging him and had scheduled an appointment for the doctor to discuss what needed to be done.
Whew. So, meanwhile, Dustan had taken a half day off work to accompany the home inspector while he preused the premises of our soon-to-be home. They found a few things that need to be fixed- including the broken glass in the window in the kitchen (still), a leak from the furnance, faucets that aren't working up to par, and I think that's about it. All fixable things, so now we just have to see how cooperative the sellers are about getting it done.
Well, you might think the story of the day ends here. Nope. After I had swept and mopped the floors, I had dinner to make and after dinner was finally break time for Mommy. It was about 6:30pm and I was sitting at the bar having a snack when Nathaniel came over and said he was hungry and asked for a snack too. Well, I asked him what kind he wanted and I couldn't understand him, and so I told him to look at me when he talks to me, and he wouldn't. He usually is very obliging when asked to do this, as his speech is still not up to speed and he often has to repeat things for others to understand him.
I told him again, and again he wouldn't look and said nothing. *Note to self: this is not normal.* So, I reached down to turn his chin towards me so I could understand him better, and I noticed that his neck seemed to be swollen. So, I felt it. On the side of his neck was a lump and so I checked the other side. Another lump. His neck was so tight. There was severe tension from the back of his ears to his shoulders and all his glands seemed enlarged under his throat and along his neck. I immediately made Dustan feel his neck, who in turn, made Romona come immediately feel his neck. We were all stumped. She called the nurse hotline. They were stumped. She then called our family doctor and left a message. I called the peditrician and left a message. Romona called Aunt Pat, who is a nurse, and she said that perhaps it was related to the mumps, but obviously he needed to be looked at.
We waited more than an hour before the family doctor called back to say he had no idea and that we should go to the emergency room. So we packed up a few things and left. It was 8pm. By this time The swelling had noticeably gotten worse and on the left side the swelling had spread to his jaw, under his chin and down the front of his throat. It was very odd. I was majorly concerned that the inside of his throat might be swelling too, and cause problems with swallowing or even breathing.
When we arrived at the hospital, I relayed the information to the triage nurse, and they got us in to see a doctor within a half hour- hour's time. (Anyone who's ever been to an ER knows that this is very quick.) The doc thought that a CAT scan would be the best idea to see of perhaps there was something lodged somewhere or a cist. I thought that was silly because so many glands were affected, but I also thought it'd be nice to be thorough. So, in came the nurse to give my brave boy his first IV. He did very well with it and only cried a little bit, which is fantastic, especially given the fact he was in pain, hungry, scared and VERY tired as by then it was nearly 10pm. The took 2 vials of blood to be tested for white blood cell count among various other things.
A bit later we were called back for the CAT scan itself and we had already explained how it works to Nathaniel, but he was really scared. He even said so in his little whimpering voice and clung to Dustan. It was so sweet and heartbreaking. They finally convinced him that lying down and taking a ride on it would be fun, and it was. He got a couple of giggles out of it as the nurse took him in all directions before actually putting him in.
He laid perfectly still for the pictures. Everyone thought he was sleeping- including Dustan and me, but when it was done, his eyes immediately opened and he was ready to get out of there. We still had awhile to wait for the test results, so we were shown a room with a bed this time instead of a waiting room, and we nestled down and played the little portable Nintendo. It was midnight when the doctor came in to tell us that the CAT scan showed nothing and that they really weren't sure what was causing it, so they were assuming it was some kind of viral infection. We got a script for a steroid and told to see our peditrician in 3 days or to come back immediately if it got worse.
So we stopped to get the new medicine and then home and in bed at nearly 2am. Dustan thought he was Superman and that he could get up at his usual time of 4:30 for work, but when that alarm went off, he turned it off and back to sleep he went. I, on the other hand tossed and turned after that. Ah well, such is the little annoyances of sharing a room with someone.
As of this morning, Nathaniel could move his head, but not 100% and he said it didn't hurt anymore. As of this evening, after 2 doses of meds and a long nap, he is just fine and running around like the energetic happy little boy that he is. Praise be to God!
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