I felt helpless.

Disclosure:  This post is a part of the Blog Dare I am participating in for 2014. Come join us at BloggyMoms!

Back in May, I went missing for a while.  Our lives had been thrown into a tailspin and I felt helpless to stop it.  Kat had been having some stomach issues and missed a few days of school with stomach pain.  We already knew she had ovarian cysts, but this pain was different.  After a day or two, she started feeling sick every time she ate.  I took her to the doctor and they gave her a new prescription for reflux, and they gave her a medication to reduce nausea.

Later that evening, Kat wanted to try to eat something, and she started experiencing pain after eating only a few bites.  She was in so much pain, she was in tears!  I took her over to our local hospital and it ended up being a 6 hour nightmare.  Kat was the only patient in the ER when we arrived, so she was immediately taken to a room.  The nurse came in and took her vitals and history, almost immediately!  The nurse came back in and told us that they wanted to do an MRI and that Kat needed to drink 3 cups of contrast.  When the nurse appeared with the contrast, she also came back with a pill for nausea.  Every time Kat would take a few sips of the contrast, she would throw up.  This continued for about 4 hours.  Kat was miserable!  She was in pain, could not stop throwing up, and she was crying!  I felt helpless!

They took her down for an MRI at about the 4 1/2 hour mark, and when they returned, they told the nurse that she had gotten sick two times while in radiology.  The nurse came in and gave Kat a shot to try to halt the nausea, and told me that she would let me know when they had some answers.  I rubbed Kat's head and wiped her forehead and cheeks with a damp cloth, and she fell asleep.  She woke up 3 or 4 times during the next hour, to throw up.  At the 5 1/2 hour mark, the doctor finally made an appearance.  He came to tell me that they wanted to transfer Kat to the Duke University Children's Hospital.  That was the best news I heard all night!   She was finally picked up for transport 6 hours after we walked into that ER.

She slept the entire ambulance ride to Duke and only woke up when the nurses at Duke were trying to move her to her bed.  She was so wobbly that I had to completely support her.  She threw up again and they put her into bed.  Kat was surrounded by a team of doctors and nurses within moments of our arrival.  She was hooked up to IVs and didn't even wake up!  I was finally able to relax because I KNEW she was finally in good hands.

One week later, she was released from the hospital.  The problem was caused by her ileum (the end part of the small intestine).  It was not functioning correctly and fluid was sitting there stagnant.  When new food or water would come in contact with it, she would throw up.  No one knows what caused it, but after a week of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicines, Kat was better!  Thanks to Duke University Children's Hospital, I no longer felt helpless!