Ben Details: Friday

This is my last post on the details of Ben and the hospital last week. I know you are all glad. = )

Friday morning started at 6 AM, not because of nurses but because we had to be at the hospital by 7:45 AM. Have I mentioned that I'm NOT a morning person? Somehow I managed to get a shower, dress myself and consume a slice of toast and half-a-cup of tea.

A sweet friend, Jessica, came to our house at 7 AM to watch Will & Ellie while the rest of us went back to the hospital. Oh, fun. Not.

We arrived at the hospital in plenty of time and found the room the nurses the night before had told us to go to. Only it was the wrong room. We had to go back to the first floor to admitting. You know hospitals and paperwork! Ben received his bracelet and we went back upstairs. And waited. And then filled out more paperwork answering the same old questions. Ben changed into the cute hospital pajamas and Joel & I received our bracelets.

While I changed Ben, Joel actually read his bracelet. And realized they had Ben's middle initial wrong. The bracelet on Ben's arm also had the initial wrong. The bracelet I'd just approved 20 minutes before.

Which meant the entire time he was in the hospital the wrong initial was on his records and all 3 of our bracelets. In my defense, when your son is pooping blood, you are seriously sleep deprived and you are loudly subjected to Sponge Bob at all hours of the night the last thing you are concerned about is if the middle initial is correct on the paperwork.

I'm not sure who made the mistake initially. It could have been the folks in the ER. It could have been me. Somehow Benjamin J.(oel) got turned into Benjamin W. Again, in my defense, I live with Joel William and William Timothy so it's an honest mistake to make.

Anyway. Joel brought the mistake to the attention of the nurse and she had to do the paperwork all over again. It remains to be seen how this mistake will affect the insurance paying for our hospital stay. I'll fight that battle when it comes.

We finally got all the paperwork settled. And went to wait in another room. With LOTS of toys. Ben didn't mind all the waiting. = ) While we waited Dr. Paul (a woman) came out and explained the colonoscopy procedure and asked us all the same dadgum questions! Then I signed more paperwork giving permission for the procedure.

A little later the nurse came to get us and took us down a hallway. Only one parent could go into the back so we had to choose. I asked Ben who he wanted to go to the back with him and he chose Daddy (who was carrying him at that moment). I confess to being o.k. with that decision! I exited through a door at the end of the hallway and went to ANOTHER waiting room (yes, there were 3 waiting rooms!).

Joel came out about 10 minutes later. He said they laid Ben on a bed and had him play with a gas mask thingymabob. Ben got to choose one that smelled like grape or cherry. He chose grape. Even after playing with it for a few minutes he still got a little scared when they put it on for real. Joel said his little lip quivered and pooched out (I expected that!). And then he went to sleep. And Joel came to the waiting room with me.

By now it was about 9 AM and I was hungry so I walked over to the cafeteria for a bagel and Dr. Pepper (remember I'm a southern girl and don't do coffee, pop/soda/coke for breakfast is a whole 'nother story!). I returned to the waiting room and had the pleasure of watching Regis and Kelly. Sometimes I wonder if she really is that ditzy or if it's an act.

While we waited I told Joel I felt like the doctor had already made up her mind she wasn't going to find anything. She really seemed to stress constipation and "straining during bowel movement" just like all the other doctors did!! You can understand my frustration. My biggest fear was that they would find "nothing" and send us home. I knew that would mean doing it all over again in a couple of months.

After about an hour and a half, Dr. Paul came into the waiting room. She explained she found a polyp just inside Ben's rectum and some other small bumps further in his intestines. VINDICATION!! I am not a crazy momma and know the difference between blood from strain and more serious blood. ThankYouVeryMuch!!! Don't get me wrong. I would prefer that there be nothing wrong with my baby boy. But I knew in this case something wasn't right and I wanted them to figure out what it was! Biopsies of the bumps were taken and the polyp was removed. (We go back March 19th for a follow-up and to get the lab results.)

Right after the doctor left us the nurses called us to come to the recovery room. I had asked them beforehand to have us (me) in the room before he woke up. I told them he would have a really hard time if we weren't there. I was right.

We got to his bed and he was thrashing his legs around. I don't think he was really awake at that point. I started talking to him and he calmed down a little but didn't really look at me and kept arching his back. The nurses had a "recliner" next to the bed so I picked him up and sat in the chair and just snuggled him. He kept squirming and arching his back. He still had an i.v. with fluids going (he hadn't had anything to eat or drink all morning) so I was a little concerned he'd pull that out.

As I snuggled him I started singing the songs I sang to him when he was a baby to put him to sleep. To the tune of one of Barney's songs: "I love you. You love me. We're a special fam-i-ly. With a daddy, momma, Will, Ben and Ellie (added that last part after she was born) don't you think we're special, too." I have other variations about Ben being special, made by God, blue eyes and his dimple. As I sang he calmed down considerably! And then he passed gas. I really think the gas was what caused him to thrash around.

After about 20 minutes he calmed down completely and fell into a natural sleep. He slept about 45 minutes; gradually waking when I started touching his face, moving him around and talking more. After a couple of minutes he was his usual cheerful self. He managed to keep down a cup of apple juice and we were discharged. We arrived home around noon. All a little weary but no worse for the wear.

Around 5:45 PM our pediatrician, Dr. Silversmith called. That's on a Friday night. After office hours. He asked how everything had gone and explained that he'd been keeping up with us through the on-call doctor in his office. He was glad they had a diagnosis. His words were "I wasn't going to be satisfied with a 'no-diagnosis." I can't tell you how impressed I've been with our group of pediatricians. They acted just like doctors ought to act - believing the momma that something is wrong and not being satisfied until they figure out what that thing is.

Ben has been fine all week. No more blood. Back to his normal active happy-go-lucky self. Momma on the other hand is pretty nervous and trying to keep the "crazy" thoughts in my head under control. You can my praying for my sanity and that the biopsy results to come back benign. = )