Appendicitis, or maybe Pneumonia, or maybe a Mystery

There are a lot of really tough parts about being a parent, but on Monday we got a tiny glimpse of what the hardest strand might look like.  

Violet had a bit of a fever on Sunday.  

Then, Monday that little-bit-of-a-fever turned into a raging fire fever, and I found her doubled over on the bathroom floor crying in pain that her chest and stomach hurt.  She was breathing in this really shallow quick way; she was in agony.    

We ended up in the urgent care of Group Health-- and they started doing all of these tests--  putting IV tubes into her tiny arms, drawing blood, pumping her full of fluids, taking ultrasounds.  It's hard to have to hold your child while they are weeping in pain, and know that you have to be the strong one.  You have to comfort them and help them feel safe, even though you are scared bananas.  

Group Health decided without a doubt that it was appendicitis and that she needed to be taken to Children's Hospital to have surgery that evening.  So, off we went, in the middle of the night, across town to Children's.  

Let me just say first that Children's Hospital is an incredible place.  I was so impressed with them.  Every nurse and doctor there just showered kindness on our child.  Between talk and tests and fluid IV's we watched movies, played with play dough, looked at stickers….  and while we were all a bit distracted, they somehow were able to get her fever to come down a bit.  

More ultrasounds, and stomach poking, and X-rays, and finally we got word that the doctors and surgeons were not as certain of appendicitis as they originally had been.  We would have to wait and see if the stomach pain got better or worse and if it moved to the right side of her little bean body, and watch the fever too.  

2am, finally we were sent home.  

Tuesday, another checkup--  Violet asking me on her bed before we left "are they going to do more shots? do I have to go to the hospital?  am I going to have more sugar water in my arm through that tube?  sugar water, just like a hummingbird, that's funny!"  

But luckily, my little hummingbird has been getting better ever since Monday night.  They called and said it possibly could be a small case of what they described as "lower abdominal pneumonia", which often shows itself in young kids through similar symptoms as appendicitis.  

But her fever has tamed itself and she's jumping around like normal…so, at this point I don't really know what to think.  

Kids can get sick so fast.  It's terrifying, and its hard feeling so helpless.  

My tiny lady, who made me throw a birthday party for our cats last week, and who had me build her these giant fairy wings for Halloween.  I thought making fairy wings was hard, but let me tell you, this was so very much more difficult.  I would make fairy wings every day over having any of this happen again--  and really, even this could have been so much worse.