ER Visits and Hospital Security

Caleb and I had our first ER visit together last night. I don't recommend it, but that's just my personal opinion on the matter.

As many of you know, Caleb has an umbilical hernia. For the most part, this is a really minor medical condition where a piece of the intestines protrudes through the abdominal wall. It's more rare in Caucasian children than in other minorities, but Caleb has had his pretty much since we brought him home from the hospital. I can push it in and it makes a squishy sound and disappears back into his belly. But once I relieve the pressure, it will flop right back on out. The concern is that a piece of the intestines can get twisted as it leaves the body (kinda like a twisty-tie) and cut off circulation to the intestines-- its call incarceration. We're pretty lucky-- Caleb's hernia is rather small and hasn't given us any trouble-- until last night.

I got back from picking some friends up from the airport and Pete handed me Caleb and headed out for a meeting at church. Pretty much as soon as I grabbed him he threw up all over me. This was not baby throw up--- this was full on puking his guts up. He continued to do this several times (I was an absolute mess at this point-- emotionally and covered in vomit). I went up to give him a bath and as I was undressing him, I noticed his hernia was swollen and hard. He kept pushing my hands away and screaming anytime I tried to touch it, so that pretty much did me in. I called my standard baby emergency people-- my mom, my sister (an ER doctor) and Caleb's pediatrician. All recommended that I take the child to the ER.

So I rush him over to the ER, terrified that at this point he is going to choke on his own vomit in the car seat (I think they should take the imagination part of the brain out of new mothers-- it it way too over active). I get to the ER and in less than two hours the following has occurred:

1. Caleb sees a nurse, ER pediatrician and a pediatric surgeon
2. Caleb is given something to calm him down and stop the vomiting
3. Dr. Surgeon-man does something medically magical and reduces the incarcerated part of the intestines.
4. Caleb eats, laughs and goes slap-happy wild as he deals with withdrawal from medicine.

oh yeah, and...
5. My wallet and phone were stolen.


Apparently Caleb's intestines only "half" twisted, so the surgeon was able to manipulate it back into the abdominal wall without surgery. This is interesting for two reasons.

1. He was a surgeon who didn't cut Caleb open when he had the chance
2. This "half" twist supposedly NEVER happens... like they want to write about it in the journals.

Luckily, the surgeon was pretty convinced that we didn't need to rush surgery on him (they recommend having the hernia surgically repaired at age two if it doesn't heal naturally by then) and that he would be fine.

As for my phone and wallet? Looks like a long week full of days at the DMV, cancelled credit cards and heck-- a new iPhone?

:)