A Humbling Few Days....

On Wednesday, October 27, Nathan had his appendix taken out. It was a crazy week, to be sure! But, it was also very humbling to me and it was a good opportunity to see how the Relief Society works.

The weekend before, Nathan wasn't feeling very well. He had a small stomache ache and a head ache, but he took it slow that weekend and was feeling well enough to work on Monday and Tuesday. He was still having stomach pains, but it wasn't bad enough to keep him from his responsibilities. Then on Tuesday night they started to get really bad. He said it was like a sharp persistent pain in his stomach, primarily on the right side. He was able to sleep for a bit on Tuesday night, but then the pains woke him up. By 3:30 he could hardly walk. He woke me up and told me we needed to get the ER (Doesn't this sound like a labor and delivery story??? lol) I was a bit surprised, but not really. Interestinly enough, I had been waking up every few hours when he would come back into bed and he would tell me that he was in pain. I had a feeling that we would be taking him to the ER that morning, and he would be getting surgery. I was able to call our friends Jen and Jared and Jared came over to be here when the boys woke up.

When we got to the ER, they took some blood to run tests on and also gave him some "contrast" to drink. He was told he was going to have a CT scan to check for appendicitis, and the contrast would help them see what they needed to see better....or something...anyway. They also gave him some morphine to help with the pain....and THAT was interesting. I've never seen Nathan so out of it, but oh man, it was hillarious. I can't repeat most of the things he said--it would make him too embarrased--but he definitly had some wierd thoughts going around in his head!

So he went for the CT scan and then about 20 minutes later the doctor came in saying it was appedicitis and he would be having surgery that day. About 30 minutes later we met with the surgeon and he told us Nathan would be going in at about 12:30 for the surgery. At this point it was about 9:00 and Jared had class soon, so I went home to put Xander down for his nap and to spend some time with Michael. I was home for about an hour and a half, and I was busy the whole time! I had to arrange for people to watch the boys so I could be at the hospital with Nathan. I also took a shower and prepared the diaper bag and got the boys ready for the day. During this time, Jared had called to tell me that he had just been assigned to be our Home Teacher! I found it interesting that the one couple I felt the most comfortable calling in the middle of the night turned out to be our new Home Teacher! Coincidence? I think not! At about 11:00 Michael went over to Jen's house and stayed until 12:30 when he went on the bus for preschool. He stayed at preschool for most of the afternoon and come off the bus before 4:00 and went back to Jen's house. I took Xander over to Tony and Shayna's house.

Nathan went into surgery at 12:20 and was back in the room at about 2:00. The surgery went well and the doctor said by the time he got in to the appendix, it was pretty swollen. It's a good thing they got it when they did, because it looked like the appendix was pretty close to bursting. If that had happened, Nathan would have been in the hospital for about 10 days!!!! Which means, he would STILL be hospitalized, or at least coming home today! I'm so glad it didn't burst!

I stayed with Nathan until about 4:30 and then came home. That night was our ward halloween party, and I really debated on taking the boys, but I decided that they needed to have some normalcy/excitement in their lives! It was a crazy day, and I hated that they hadn't seen me or Nathan much that day, so I decided that I would take them. So I ran home, got the boys from Shayna's and Jen's, and then came home and got them dressed in their costumes. Then we went back to the hospital for a bit so the boys could see their dad, and so Nathan could see them in their costumes. On the way back I got Michael something from the drive through for dinner and we went to the Halloween party. It was a lot of fun, and while we were there I saw my visiting teacher and relief society president. I was surprised that they already knew what was going on. The visiting teacher offered to bring me dinner the next night, and the relief society president offered to help me figure out babysitting the next few days so I could be with Nathan and she also said she's help set up dinners. I was so grateful for those offers of help! While talking with the RSP that night, I discovered how she found out about our situation. Jared had called the Elders Quorum President, and then the EQP called her. Then she called my visiting teachers. It was just surprising to me how quickly word travels, and I was grateful for the system that is in place to provide RELIEF.

So after the party I came home and put the boys to bed. Then a lady from the ward came over to house sit (the RSP had called her and asked for me) so I could go up and be with Nathan again. I stayed up at the hospital until about 10:00 that night.

The next morning I called the Relief Society president and told her the hours I'd need babysitting. While she was calling around, a friend of mine called who'd heard about the surgery and offered to come over and watch the boys for me. We decided she'd come over in the morning, and then the RS president found someone for the afternoon. The great thing was that the person for the afternoon was able to drive over and get the boys and take them to her house. She had a boy that was the same age as Michael so they, of course, had a blast playing together. Xander, unfortunately, did not have a blast. I went to pick them up at about 4:30 and as soon as I got to the door I could hear the wailing!! I felt soo bad! She also had a daughter a few months older than Xander, and she was also wailing. When she answered the door she was holding both children on her hips. They both had huge tears running down their cheeks and their faces were bright red. It was quite the sight to behold.

We got home and I fed the boys, played with them for a few minutes, and then started calling around trying to find someone to watch the boys/house sit again so I could be with Nathan. It seemed like everyone I called was busy or not answering their phones. Finally I had the thought to call one of the ladies in my ward. It turns out, she was actually the compassionate service leader in the ward. So she knew about what was going on and offered to make some calls and figure it out for me so I could spend my time getting the boys ready for bed. She had a hard time getting someone too, so she came over with her baby and husband (they decided to make a date out of it...at my house....lol!) so I was able to go sit with Nathan some more. I think I stayed that night until about 10:30.

Finally the next day--Friday--we were told that Nathan could go home! So I quickly called someone that morning and she came right over and I was able to go back to the hospital and bring him home! It was such a relief to be home! It was such a relief to not have to worry about where my kids were, to not have to worry about if they were alright, to not have to worry about if they were missing us and how they would be when we got home.

Nathan has been home for a week now, and he's doing really well. He stayed home from work the full week after the surgery and went back to work yesterday (Friday). It's been slow going, but he's healing and getting better.

It's also interesting to note that a few months ago I was trying to decide if I would be able to fly to St. Louis for a work conference. I really wanted to go, but every time I thought about it I had a really bad feeling. I thought it was just because I didn't want to wean Xander so early and that was why I had the bad feeling. A few days later another opportunity came up for Boise and I decided that I would go to that meeting instead. Well, this week I realized that the meeting in St. Louis was for this weekend. If I had decided on going to that conference, I would have left yesterday!! There was no way Nathan would be ready to be with the boys one on one for 5 days! But, he will do just fine in 2 weeks, which is when my conference in Boise is.

It's just so humbling to take a step back and to realize how blessed we were through this whole ordeal!