The Stomach-ache Saga

Oh yes, this stomach-ache is a "saga", believe me. Never thought it would turn out that way. This post is for the many friends and family who have been inquiring about my sweet Ethan's health this week. This way, I can just share it all in one place. Yup, I'm lazy. And sleep-deprived. Don't expect total coherency.

Last Friday, after supper, Ethan started complaining of a stomach-ache. I thought he had probably eaten too much or too fast. I also didn't know if it was pain or nausea. Ethan does not have a lot of experience with nausea. This healthy little boy of mine has only ever thrown up three times in his whole life, and only one of those times is actually in his memory. So, when asked if he's feeling like he's going to throw up, he doesn't actually know. He hasn't felt that feeling enough to know. BUT, in thinking back to last October, when I cleaned puke out of bed cracks, floorboards, walls, dresser and multiple blankets, I "armed" him with a bucket beside his bed and thorough instructions on when and how to use it. Though I wasn't convinced.

He went to bed, slept pretty well. Saturday, he was fine all day. Didn't complain at all. Saturday evening, before supper this time, he started complaining again that his tummy hurt. He could barely get through eating, he was so uncomfortable. I got him to bed and he did end up in our bed at some point in the night, but overall, he had a good night.

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday. Fine all day and then around 5pm, he was hurting again. At this point, I was pretty sure it wasn't nausea or anything like that because he hadn't thrown up and didn't have any other indications of a stomach bug. We did lots of cuddling, I lightly massaged his tummy, and we gave him a hot water bottle for it. All of these seemed to ease his discomfort, but he still would not go to bed on his own. He only relaxed if someone was with him. He woke once in the night, very uncomfortable, but came into our bed and was fine.

On Monday, he and I talked about fears and worries, because I didn't know what else to do and thought maybe there was a psychological aspect to it. We have had nothing big going on in our family or in his life, but I just was trying to rule out everything.

By Monday, he was having slight pain all day long. The severity of it varied all day, too. Evenings and nights have proven to be the worst, though. Monday night, around 10:30, he woke up and was writhing in pain in a way I'd never seen before.

I brought out the paracetemol (generic brand pain killer, like Tylenol). Now, my kids generally aren't sick and generally don't complain about pain. Especially Ethan. So, they generally don't get paracetemol. Especially Ethan. And that's been a good thing, because Ethan is very particular about what goes into his mouth. So, of course, there was no way he was going to put a spoonful of this foreign substance into his mouth (no matter how fruity or sugary it was). We finally mixed it into some milk and Colin convinced him it was "vanilla milk". It's a special treat for Ethan to get some of the vanilla soy milk that Colin sometimes buys for his coffee, so this worked. It didn't taste anything like vanilla milk. But he drank it. I now know that I didn't give him enough for his weight, so it probably didn't even touch the pain. He continued to writhe in pain for another two hours, not able to sleep at all, not with comfort, not with snuggling, nothin'.

At 12:30, I made a decision to take him to the A & M at our hospital (Accident and Medical = ER). This was a first for me, as a parent. So, in the heavily pouring rain, we made our way through the dark streets of our little city, to the hospital.

By the time we got there, I had a happily chatting child in the backseat, who was clearly having very little pain. Murphy's Law, right? But, in we went, went through triage, and then sat in an examining room, waiting for a doctor. Finally, he came in. He spoke in a very thick, unfamiliar accent, making it difficult for Ethan to understand him, so I had to repeat everything he asked. He was really not a child-friendly kind of guy, but he was alright. He examined Ethan, and then wanted us to stay for awhile, for "observation", in case the pain got worse. Meanwhile, the nurse (who WAS very child-friendly and I loved her) put some numbing cream on Ethan's hand and up on his arm, in case they had to draw blood. This child has never had a needle in his life. I shuddered just thinking about the potential trauma that would be to my sensory-sensitive son. I just started praying it wouldn't have to happen and if it did, that the numbing cream would truly numb.

So we waited. And waited. Ethan would have small bouts of complaining of the pain, but nothing big. And the longer we were there, and the more antsy he got, the more I thought he was much more tired than anything else. He just wanted to sleep. *I* just wanted to sleep. The nurse came in with a small cup of some sort of liquid antacid, which, much to my surprise, Ethan drank! It was minty. He shuddered and made faces the whole time, but he did it. I was so proud of him. Maybe he didn't think he could say no to the "medical authority". ;)

Finally, the doctor came back, did another brief exam and told us we could go. It was now 3:15am. The rain had stopped for our drive home and Ethan made me smile by saying, in a completely awed tone of voice, "Wow!!! The lights are SOOO pretty!" Yes, those would be the city lights. Just your every-day, average streetlights. Clearly, Ethan has not been out much at night in his young life. ;)

At home, we crashed, and I knew my dearest Silas would have me up in about 3 hours. Which he did! I made an appointment for Ethan to see our GP Tuesday afternoon. We went and he said the ER doc had sent all the paperwork, saying it was "non-specific abdominal pain", which, our GP laughed, was rather "non-specific". He did all the same exams and had Ethan do some jumping around for him, which Ethan did with absolute ease. He said if it was appendicitis, that would have been too painful for Ethan to do. He said he DID notice some redness in Ethan's throat and slightly swollen glands. Nothing major. And Ethan has not complained of a sore throat at all, and I've asked a couple times. The doctor said it could be a mild virus that is causing tummy pain, which is not uncommon in children. That's a "might", though.

Still no answers. I have requisitions for blood and urine tests (which I hope I don't have to do) if it's still bad in a few days. Last night, Ethan was still up multiple times with the extreme pain like he'd had before. I feel so helpless. The paracetemol (the right dose this time) didn't help at all. I can't stand the feeling that my kid is in pain, there are no answers, I can't do anything for him, and I have no idea how long we will have to "wait it out." I'm trying to cling to the doctor's words that it is a virus and we SHOULD see an improvement in a few days. But our nights have certainly not improved from when this all started, so I just don't know.

And that about covers it. Today, still a slight stomach-ache, but he doesn't complain as much when he's distracted and/or playing. I'm already dreading tonight. I haven't really slept in two nights now. I'm way too old and way too pregnant to not be sleeping.

Oh, and just to add to our general stress, now we're moving! This is actually a good thing, but really crappy timing. And no, the move isn't stressing Ethan out, since we found out about it AFTER the stomach-aches started. And he's extremely excited to move anyway. I can see many things potentially stressing Ethan out. Moving is not one of them. It's what we "do". But our moving is a post for another day. Maybe a day when I've had more sleep. Yeah, sleep. I really want some of that.