Grant, our oldest son, just about died! He was super sick for about a week and a half (around the time of my surgery and for the first little bit of my recovery). So, I didn't pay as much attention to his illness as I should have.
He kind of had a flu, and he was in a LOT of pain as well. He thought perhaps he had thrown up so much that he had pulled a muscle, or had a hernia, or something like that. He walked kind of doubled over. After staying at our house over the weekend (right before the semester started), he went back to his apartment Sunday morning. He watched a CES Fireside at his girlfriend, Aleisha's, house that night. By the time it was over, he could hardly move. He made it back home, and had a pretty bad night.
Monday morning he called Rick, just sobbing because he was so sick and in pain. I made an appointment with Dr. S-, hoping he would send him to get a scan. But, all he did was say that it wasn't a hernia, and took his urine and blood and sent it to the lab. I wasn't too happy about having to wait for the blood work (2-3 days). :(
Grant went back home to his first studio class that afternoon, and then to some other classes on Tuesday. Tuesday night, he called and he was shaking so badly, he could hardly talk - he had collapsed at the studio, and his friends were taking him home. He couldn't talk because he was throwing up over the car window. When he got home, he was freezing, shaking, sweating, etc. all at the same time. He called, and I had a feeling I should tell him to go to the ER, but I didn't. (Stupid, typical, me). He wrapped up in a blanket, and slept for 8 hours on the bathroom floor - with his roommates checking on him throughout the night.
The next morning, around noon, he called to ask me about the blood work. When I called the doctor's office, it still wasn't back, but I told them how sick he had been. A few hours later, the blood work came back - elevated white blood cells, and elevated liver function. They ordered a CT scan, and Rick picked him up and brought him to AF hospital for the scan. They did the scan at 5:00 pm, and called Dr. S- with the results - he called Grant, who was waiting in the waiting room at the hospital with Rick. Dr. S- said "Your appendix burst. We don't know when. It could have been a few days ago. There is an encapsulated pocket of infection - they'll have to operate right now. It's amazing you are even alive - I can't believe you busted through the pain like that - for days!"
So, the count now is APPENDIX = 2, MOM - 0! That's right, once again, the appendix won. (When Michael had an appendix attack a few years ago, I didn't take him to the ER for a few hours, and his almost burst!) My surgeon, Dr. T-, looked at the scan and said that she couldn't even see an appendix - that it had probably burst so hard, it disintegrated! So, they admitted him to the hospital and started IV antibiotics and other fluids. By the time I got to the hospital, he had a terrible headache. They tried lots of meds, even morphine, but nothing touched it. He was so upset - he said "I'm in a hospital, and they can't even stop my headache???!!!!!" Finally they found a pain med that got rid of it, and he slept.
The next morning they put a drain into the pocket of infection, and drained a ton out. He went into the hospital on Wednesday night and we brought him home on Sunday. It was a rough week - he's been in pain, sick to his stomach, etc. He's weak, and shaky, but alive! We figured that the appendix probably burst Sunday night, so he actually went 3 days with a burst appendix before we found it. He should have died. And, in fact, if the infection hadn't encapsulated, he would have died probably within the first 24 hours. Monday night, after studio, the professors told everyone that they had to move all of their stuff around to another area of the studio, so Grant even did that with a burst appendix! On his facebook post, he said: "Was so busy being manly last week, that when my appendix completely exploded all over my insides, I didn't even notice. I shouldn't be alive right now."
We've realized, as we've pieced together the events of the last week, that because of priesthood blessings (he got several - from Rick and his friends), but especially because his brother, Michael, is serving a mission, Grant was spared. We are SO grateful for Michael's service, and the blessings it brings to our family. Really, Grant could be gone right now, but because of his brother's faithful service, he is here. We thank Michael from the bottom of our hearts.
Grant is so happy to be home. (So am I - I stayed at the hospital, almost non-stop, for the whole week - it's was a little tough, since I was still recovering from my surgery.) The previous weekend, when I told Michael that everyone in the family was either recovering from surgery or sick, he wrote back saying: "I'll bet you're all super glad that I'm on a mission or you would all just be mostly dead. Yay for blessings!" That was the day that Grant's appendix burst. Michael had no idea for a week what had happened. YAY FOR BLESSINGSm indeed!
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