"Will there be a mint on my pillow?"

Levi had been sick for about a week. Every night when he came home from work, he had a horrible stomach ache and was way more grouchy than usual. But big boys don’t need doctors. On Friday, we were at a friend’s place and as Levi was lying on the floor in severe pain, Hatty and Mitch looked at him and said “Dude, you need a blessing.” So thankful for good friends with good intuition!

Saturday night, the fever hit. I thought Levi was just finally in a good mood, but as he started talking nonsense and giggling uncontrollably, I realized that it was something different. Luckily I’m a die-hard ibuprofen girl, so once I doped him up he seemed much better.

Sunday was the day it all went to pot. That night we were at Hatty’s again and Levi was still in pain. After going home, he decided that it was time to see a doctor. Checking in to the ER at 11:00 p.m. is never something looked forward to.

 

After 5 hours, 2 doctors, an ultrasound, and a cat scan, the 7 foot tall doctor came back and said he thought that they could see the “remnants” of his appendix. (Levi likes to call it his shrapnel.) Doc said that his appendix had probably ruptured Friday, but miraculously his body had walled off the toxins and kept them contained, rather than spreading and trying to kill him like normal appendicitis. Levi and I looked at each other, and then I cried. Mitchell and Hatty probably saved his life with that blessing.

 

Around 5 a.m. on Monday, they finally let us out of the ER and took us up to an actual hospital room. As they wheeled us into an elevator, Levi asked the nurse, “Will there be a mint on my pillow?” Always my lighthearted boy. J

The doctors wouldn’t do surgery where his appendix had already ruptured for fear of those toxins spreading and causing more damage. So, the next four days were full of lots of antibiotics, pain, visitors, and healing. Now we’re home and still doing antibiotics, trying to get things back to normal.

Not where we thought we’d be spending our 1-month anniversary, but we’ve quickly learned the truth to “in sickness and in health”.