Need A Couple Prayers

[nc211]

Anyone who's of a religious belief, I could use a couple of prayers tomorrow in church. I'm posting from the 6th floor of Children's Memorial Hospital in downtown Chicago, my son's room. We've been here since Thursday night, after being transfered from the hospital by our house in the burbs. My son started passing blood in his diaper Thursday morning, but we didn't know it because it wasn't red, it was pitch black. Got our attention, but we thought it was just a reaction to the children's benedryl we gave him the night before, for the first time. Pollen has been bad this year, and bothering the little guy. Well, I get a call from my wife later that day to meet her at the hospital, as he had just thrown up in the den, with blood in it.

What's happening? Well, we're still not sure, but the doctors think it's something called a "Meckel". Basically, I think it's a remenant of his embilical cord that is still inside and acting like a vine around a part of his upper intestines, wrapping around it. The reason we can't say for sure, is because we can't find it. The little guy has been xrayed, nuclearized, photocoppied, xeroxed, faxed, cc'd, you name it. They're pretty sure it's in there, but just can't find it.

He's not in constant pain. Infact, to know him, you wouldn't think much was wrong. I'm sure he'll be just fine, just have to figure out what's going on.. So, a couple of extra prayers tomorrow for little NC211 would be warmly received here!

The reason why I left our home in NC for Chicago last year? So if I were ever faced with this situation, I could handle it. I tell you what, whatever feeling I use to have about all of this healthcare reform business, is out the window now. Spend two days in a children's hospital, look at the faces of the parents, and I promise you that you'll come away with only one wish....get them the tools they need to help their kids, without throwing them into chp 13! And do it NOW!! I'm on the lucky side of this debate, but I've seen one too faces here that tell the tale of them not being quite as fortunate, and that just brings tears to my eyes. Need to tax me more? fine. Need to increase my interest rate? fine. You need more money from me for this? FINE!

Two photos no parent ever wants to see...

[lenore]

I will give my prayers today and tomorrow...

[Jeffstpetebeach]

Your little man will be alright. I know its hard to see your little one in a way that you have no control over, Im a father of three 2 girls and 1 boy. 11, 7 3 You have my prayers. All I can say is Faith.

[dcfish]

My prayers are with little NC211 Have faith and keep on the positive, All will be well soon.

[SW03ES]

Oh man...I can't even imagine what it must be like to have a child sick and in the hospital.

He'll be okay...we're all pulling for you.

If they find this "Meckel" what are the options for removing it? Are they talking about Surgery?

If it should become neccisary, I know several Doctors at Children's Hospital in DC...

Keep us posted...

[jcrome04]

Oh no.. so sorry to heard NC. Hopefully everything works out ok!

You have my thoughts.

[LEXIRX330]

I am glad the LOC website let me pull this up with out locking up my computer. :chairshot:

NC my little man is about the same age as yours. I can't imagine how you and your wife are feeling...your family will be in my prayers. Take care bud...and keep us posted.

As far as the health care debate I will not get into it on this post. Only well-wishes for the little man!

[hpy2bme]

I was touched by your post and will carry little NC211 in my prayers until I hear you're out of the woods! I can tell he's definitely in good, loving, caring hands and will also pray for Mommy and Daddy.

Blessings!

[ArmyofOne]

Hey bud,

Just wanted to tell you I shared this story with my Platoon. We are all pulling for him. Tell him we said to get better and thats an order! ;) . He will be fine, just hang in there NC. Anything you need, just ask.

-Josh.

[nc211]

Warmest thanks my friends, greatly appreciate the uplifting comments. I have some good news, we're home now! However, we have to go back on Monday for what will be the toughest procedure yet, the scoping. Basically, they're going to put a tube with a camera on the end into his stomach through his mouth. Thankfully, he'll be under for that one. But at the moment, we're out of that little hospital room and back in our comfort zone. His hemoglobin count has increased, which indicated that his bleeding has stopped. I swear, he doesn't act like anything is bothering him, except for a few moments here or there "cramps". But they pass quickly. We're keeping our eye on him, know what to look for now. The scoping process is to either rule out the Meckel theory, or rule it in. If it's "in", then we're on a needle in the haystack hunt, as I've heard they're very difficult to find without actually going in to look around. Once they find it, then it's a surgical procedure to remove it. The hardest part is not really knowing exactly, but the symptoms match Meckel exactly..including the normal age bracket "right before 2" for when it shows up first. Quite a rare thing though. Obviously we'd rather have something treatable with medication, but we'll take curable too. You know, your mind usually goes to the worst case scenario first. It's human nature. The part about this that i'll never forget, is when i had to hold my son down while doctors did their thing, because he'd fight like a prize fighter. Obviously he can't talk much, or very clearly in great length. But he would keep trying to say the same thing over and over, and it sounded a lot like "what did I do?, what did I do?" with tears in his eyes looking directly at me. That last photo of him in the nuclear scanner was the worst, because it lasted for an hour. I had to find a few quiet places after those moments to regain my composure a bit. Cut me to the core, and that terrified look on his face will be with me for the rest of my life. Monday is going to be tough too, because he'll know what's going on when we pull up to the hospital again. But, sometimes you've got to do what you have to do, and we've got to do this. However, for the mean time, we're home, he's back in his bed with all of his buddies, and mom and dad finally got to shower and decompress in private. I was starting to get pretty ripe in that little room! Never noticed how gray the beard is starting to get too. Best part was when we had the ok to go home, the stomach tube came out, the iv came out, and I said "who wants to go home?" That little boy was dressed and standing by the door in 60 seconds flat, with a big ole' smile on his face. Got him to the car, put him in his seat with his teddy bear "brownie", and he was out like a light before we got out of the parking deck. We got home about an hour later, he woke up, we came into the house, and he gave us a look like "payback time". He took his shoes off and threw them at us! He then proceeded to roam around the house for about 20 minutes just barking like a junk yard dog, throwing stuff. It was pretty funny actually. Then he had a snack, and we were back to normal and mom & dad were forgiven! He looked at us with a "what the hell was that all about, you turds?"

Time to get some sleep. Haven't had much since Wednesday night. My eyes look like I've been hangin' with the Cheech & Chong boys.. Again, many thanks for the warm words!!! Really means a lot to me! :)

[SW03ES]

I'm glad to hear it!

The endoscopy is no big deal. I've had that done a few times and they keep adults mostly awake and its very easy. They'll put him out and when he wakes up he won't remember anything about it or feel anything.

keep us posted!

[LEXIRX330]

NC glad to hear that the family is home for now. I was hoping to see a post from you. Take care and get some rest. Hopefully the test Monday will go well and they can get your little man all better.

[cduluk]

Hey NC, I'm sure everything will turn out OK <_< Main thing is that he's surrounded with people that love and care for him, that's all he needs to get better!

[andee63]

hey guy u got my prayers God Bless u and that lil fella, sleep well

!!!

Warmest thanks my friends, greatly appreciate the uplifting comments. I have some good news, we're home now! However, we have to go back on Monday for what will be the toughest procedure yet, the scoping. Basically, they're going to put a tube with a camera on the end into his stomach through his mouth. Thankfully, he'll be under for that one. But at the moment, we're out of that little hospital room and back in our comfort zone. His hemoglobin count has increased, which indicated that his bleeding has stopped. I swear, he doesn't act like anything is bothering him, except for a few moments here or there "cramps". But they pass quickly. We're keeping our eye on him, know what to look for now. The scoping process is to either rule out the Meckel theory, or rule it in. If it's "in", then we're on a needle in the haystack hunt, as I've heard they're very difficult to find without actually going in to look around. Once they find it, then it's a surgical procedure to remove it. The hardest part is not really knowing exactly, but the symptoms match Meckel exactly..including the normal age bracket "right before 2" for when it shows up first. Quite a rare thing though. Obviously we'd rather have something treatable with medication, but we'll take curable too. You know, your mind usually goes to the worst case scenario first. It's human nature. The part about this that i'll never forget, is when i had to hold my son down while doctors did their thing, because he'd fight like a prize fighter. Obviously he can't talk much, or very clearly in great length. But he would keep trying to say the same thing over and over, and it sounded a lot like "what did I do?, what did I do?" with tears in his eyes looking directly at me. That last photo of him in the nuclear scanner was the worst, because it lasted for an hour. I had to find a few quiet places after those moments to regain my composure a bit. Cut me to the core, and that terrified look on his face will be with me for the rest of my life. Monday is going to be tough too, because he'll know what's going on when we pull up to the hospital again. But, sometimes you've got to do what you have to do, and we've got to do this. However, for the mean time, we're home, he's back in his bed with all of his buddies, and mom and dad finally got to shower and decompress in private. I was starting to get pretty ripe in that little room! Never noticed how gray the beard is starting to get too. Best part was when we had the ok to go home, the stomach tube came out, the iv came out, and I said "who wants to go home?" That little boy was dressed and standing by the door in 60 seconds flat, with a big ole' smile on his face. Got him to the car, put him in his seat with his teddy bear "brownie", and he was out like a light before we got out of the parking deck. We got home about an hour later, he woke up, we came into the house, and he gave us a look like "payback time". He took his shoes off and threw them at us! He then proceeded to roam around the house for about 20 minutes just barking like a junk yard dog, throwing stuff. It was pretty funny actually. Then he had a snack, and we were back to normal and mom & dad were forgiven! He looked at us with a "what the hell was that all about, you turds?"

Time to get some sleep. Haven't had much since Wednesday night. My eyes look like I've been hangin' with the Cheech & Chong boys.. Again, many thanks for the warm words!!! Really means a lot to me! :)

[smooth1]

All the best NC211. Believe and be strong.

[dcfish]

Nc, Still praying

[flop170]

i got ya bro

[nc211]

Thanks all, we're doing ok now. The doctors passed on doing the scope procedure for the moment, and we're waiting for a follow up meeting with the doctor on Thursday to get the results of all the lab work. The little NC211 is doing a-ok now, and back up and running full speed ahead. I think we're dealing with Meckels, as every symptom is exactly what we're dealing with. But we should know more on Thursday. For the time being, we're out of the woods and back to pushing our Ford truck around the driveway!

[LEXIRX330]

Great to hear NC!

[nc211]

.....so, here's a little update....

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm210443.htm

Just so happens, the only medication my son had 24 hours prior to the beginning of this episode was.... Children's Benadryl. Look at the bottom of that list in the link.... see what I see? However, the lot number on the recall list 535, but my son's lot number on his bottle at home? One digit off, 534!!!! Only one time has my son ever had this stuff, and it was the night before all of this started. 8pm on Wed night, a tiny amount given to him per the instructions of our doctor "smaller amount then suggested on the bottle itself!". Wake up the next morning to find the black diaper, followed by another black diaper, then the vomitting of blood, then the hospital, and you know the rest. To date, the doctors have not been able to pinpoint an exact cause to all of this. And you'll notice the date of my first post was before the date of the recall notice.... Any bets this recall gets expanded? Any bets lot 534 for Children's Benadryl gets added? Any friggin bets NC211 is going to lawyer up 2 seconds after lot 534 gets added to the list? I'll give you a hint...I wouldn't bet against it.

[SW03ES]

Wow...keep us posted on that...

[LEXIRX330]

.....so, here's a little update....

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm210443.htm

Just so happens, the only medication my son had 24 hours prior to the beginning of this episode was.... Children's Benadryl. Look at the bottom of that list in the link.... see what I see? However, the lot number on the recall list 535, but my son's lot number on his bottle at home? One digit off, 534!!!! Only one time has my son ever had this stuff, and it was the night before all of this started. 8pm on Wed night, a tiny amount given to him per the instructions of our doctor "smaller amount then suggested on the bottle itself!". Wake up the next morning to find the black diaper, followed by another black diaper, then the vomitting of blood, then the hospital, and you know the rest. To date, the doctors have not been able to pinpoint an exact cause to all of this. And you'll notice the date of my first post was before the date of the recall notice.... Any bets this recall gets expanded? Any bets lot 534 for Children's Benadryl gets added? Any friggin bets NC211 is going to lawyer up 2 seconds after lot 534 gets added to the list? I'll give you a hint...I wouldn't bet against it.

Yea. My wife and I had to toss out (3) bottles of medicine that are on this recall list. Her sister had to do the same. Bad thing is that we had just given our little boy one the night before because he had hit his head. What a bunch of BS.

NC hope your little man makes out ok...and I am just glad that he is out of the hospital...those little ones are tuff aren't they.

[nc211]

Yes sir, they certainly are! And worth every single sleepless moment, dollar, patience level, and "test". One "dada", and everything else just melts away... But it sure does bring out your "defender" persona! I've never quite felt the "Papa Bear" feeling like I did during those few days in the hospital. Really defines a person sometimes, and certainly motivates them to stay focused on what's important..

[tom14]

Don't worry dear take care of your son.We all will definitely pray for your son.By the God grace your son will be alright.Have faith on God.

[lambert19]

We all will definitely pray for your child God is great he will definitely help you.