The Wheeler Family

Audrey is doing much better today…now here’s the FULL story…

So Friday Chris picked her up from school and she said her stomach hurt. I was with my mom so Chris called me and of course I was like… well duh, let her take a bath and watch a movie, she’s fine. I get home at about 4 and she’s still on the couch and when she sees me she start crying (now, she’s a dramatic little one, you will see her in movies one day I swear lol, so this was not a huge concern when that happened) so I cuddled with her and then got up to start dinner. At dinnertime she ate a little and then went back to the couch. At about 6:30pm she said that it was starting to hurt to breathe. At this point (yes, hand me the horrible mommy award) I was thinking how long is she going to be so dramatic?! So, thinking that perhaps she would balk at the idea, I offered to take her to the emergency room. She then said that she was scared of that and started to cry, but this time when she cried she held her stomach and wailed how much it hurt. I think then, I really started to think it might be serious. I decided that I couldn’t sit around all weekend wondering if there was really something serious, so I loaded her up and took her to the ER. We got there and of course, had to wait almost an hour before someone could see her because they were so busy. They got a urine sample and then were brave enough to attempt to get blood from my little screamer (it was hilarious though, because her nurse had a thick southern accent and was begging Audrey to just hold still and finally Audrey complied and the nurse said… I QUOTE…”Sweet baby Jesus, let me get some blood!” ROFLOL). When we first got there Audrey didn’t have a fever, but two hours in, she started to spike a fever so then they decided they should do an x-ray. After that she was complaining that the pain was worse and she couldn’t walk because it hurt so bad. Finally at about 11pm (and after Chris got a ride to the hospital to be with us) the surgeon came down to the room and said that he could do a cat scan to see more, but that would take 3 hours and he didn’t think it would really change the outcome, so he suggested that they do laparoscopic surgery and take out her appendix. They said that if it had ruptured or they found something more serious, they might have to switch to a more invasive procedure, but the laparoscopic offered them the least invasive start.

We signed the papers and got moved to the main ER to await an OR room. By this time it was very late, I would say 1AM and the ER was packed! We saw a passed out drunk girl, a guy with his arm split wide open, an inmate passed out on a gurney, and a girl who had been poisoned by her boyfriend… it was like watching ER the tv show right in front of me without all the hot doctors and nurses. She was a little scared just being around all the chaos, but she was laying down so she didn’t see any of it. Finally at about 3AM they came to get her to transport her up to the OR. Once there she had some questions for the anesthesiologists, and they did a good job of calming her down. Right before they took her off she asked if I would be with her, and it took all the strength I had to keep it together and tell her that I had to wait outside. I managed to stay calm and collected until they finally wheeled her away, then I lost it lol.

Chris and I sat in the waiting area until about 5:00AM when they said she was out, and doing fine. They had taken out her appendix which was inflamed and they had found pus around her bowels, so they had her on some heavy duty antibiotics as well. At this time they sent us to her recovery room and told us that she would be down as soon as she woke up. Chris decided to get home and get a little sleep. He and Josh had tickets to the big University of Iowa football game with Michael and Jacob so they were going to go to that and then come back after the game. At around 6:30AM they brought Audrey in to the recovery room. She had oxygen because she was very, very sleepy and she wasn’t keeping her stats up on her own.

I sat there fidgeting for probably an hour and then my savior of a Dad showed up to keep me company. He came bearing children’s movies galore lol. Audrey woke up a few times during the day, but usually only with a LOT of prodding. She had lots of visitors and she got LOTS of presents! My friend Rachel, from school, sent her a adorable and soft monkey and my other best friend, Jessica sent her a super cute puppy (stuffed of course, as was the monkey lol) and a balloon. My best friend Becca came by and brought lots of goodies for the both of us and the Roberts stopped by with lots of books for Audrey! My mom came to the hospital in the afternoon with our other friend, Angie, and we all watched the game on tv while Audrey slept. Michael and Chris came in the evening, as did my uncle (to play euchre lol… we were really getting cabin fever in that little room). My parents took Michael home with them at about 8pm and I let Chris spend the night with Audrey. I decided to come home and catch some sleep after being up for over 36 hours. It is now 11AM and Chris just called to say that they said that Audrey might get out today, but they aren’t sure yet. So, I will be heading there soon with high hopes that we’ll be home by tonight! Thanks so much for your prayers and well wishes!