We just returned from the pediatric surgeons office, and JP will be having hernia surgery on Tuesday November 8th.
For those of you who don't know, JP had a pretty rough October. It all started with him having a fever. He was a little sluggish, and I just assumed that he had caught my head cold from the previous week. We fought a fever the night of the 15th, and most of the day on the 16th. After putting him in the bathtub and trying to calm him down with a cool bath, I got him out to get him dressed. When I laid him down to put his diaper on, I noticed a HUGE bulge on his right scrotal area. So after having John look at it, I decided to call our nurse line, and after a conversation with her we were told to take him to the emergency room. They feared he could have a scrotal hernia.
After an evaluation at our local hospital, they decided to put an IV in his arm, and transport us by ambulance to Dell Children's Center. We arrived there, and were taken care of by some of the BEST Doctors and Nurses I have ever met. After an ultrasound, it was determined that he has an Inguinal Hernia. What that means is that the lower intestine slips in and out of a gap left in the muscle tissue, a gap left from when his testicles formed and descended into the scrotum. This isn't life threatening, and is fairly common in little boys. We were referred to a Pediatric Surgeon, and sent home at about midnight on Sunday 10/16.
At 6am we were headed back to the hospital. In the middle of the night, JP started having Strider. That is when they are having trouble breathing, and make this awful noise, like a squeal when they are trying to breathe. When we walked back into the emergency room at Dell Children's, the woman behind the registration desk recognized us, and asked why we were back. We didn't even have to answer that question, because as soon as she heard JP struggling to breathe, she was on her Nurses cell phone, and two women burst through the doors, and whisked him back. I have never been so amazed at the level of care from a Hospital in my life. These people were able to identify the problem, and get him back to a room before we could even fill out the registration forms.
He was diagnosed with Croup. Which is a viral infection in the larynx and windpipe, that causes them to swell and push against each other, and if not noticed soon enough their windpipe can close. It's not as bad a whooping cough (which the infection is in the lungs, and not the throat), but it's still terrifying knowing that my child was struggling to breathe. He was given an oral steroid, and had a couple of breathing treatments, and we were admitted to the hospital for a day.
Since then, he has gotten over the Croup and is having no trouble breathing, but the hernia continues to present itself. So we will go in on Tuesday, and he will be put under to have everything fixed. This is all new territory for me, as he has NEVER even been sick, much less sick enough to be operated on. The Surgeon assured me today, that this is a routine procedure, it only takes about an hour, and then he will be able to go home that same day. Even so, I am terrified about him being put under anesthesia, and I know it will drive me nuts not being able to see him. I'm crying right now, just writing about it, so I know I will be a hot mess on Tuesday. I do trust these people, but being a mom has turned me into a worry wort when it comes to my little man.
Just for my sanity if everyone could keep JP in your prayers that would be amazing. Pray for the surgeon to have a steady accurate hand, and pray that things go smoothly with the anesthesia and operation. I will keep updated on his procedure and recovery here. Thank you to all of my amazing friends and family for being so supportive and focused on our little man. It means the world to us.
Hope everyone is having a great day!!
XoXo
-Courtney
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