Throw Another Wrench In
Posted on March 17, 2011 - Filed Under Guatemala, Kids, Personal | 5 Comments
Two days ago, we all got a little ill with what seemed to be a stomach bug. Dorian was a bit worse off than the rest of us, but that’s not surprising, considering his stomach issues. He spent the night vomiting, but slowed the pace in the morning, so Irving went off to get an exam done, which is our standard MO for situations like this. We do the exam, then Irving either takes it to the doctor or we take Dorian in.
This time, we couldn’t get the exams back before noon when our doctor packs up and heads to the hospital, so, since Dorian was just tired and not vomiting anymore, we decided to wait til the next morning to take him to the doctor. Bad move. The test had come back as normal anyway.
Around 3 pm, he started in with vomiting again and this time with diarhea. I’ll spare you the gory details, but suffice to say, around 7:30, it was to the point that he was NOT doing well. He had turned grey, the color was gone from his lips and he was cold and sweaty to the touch, but his stomach was hot and distended. Not good. We made the decision to take him to the emergency room at Hermano Pedro, a private hospital in Antigua. Irving went to arrange for his brother to take us and since Vardin wasn’t there yet, his mom called the ambulance. I threw some clothes and necessities into a bag.
Vardin got back in record time and I climbed into the pickup with Dorian in my arms, wrapped well in his “Gramma blanket”, a quilt my mom made him, and we raced to the hospital, passing the ambulance on the way. Irving came behind us on his motorbike so he would have independent transport should it be necessary.
At the hospital, we were quickly admitted and within a few minutes, a doctor had examined Dorian and was quite worried about the level of dehydration he was seeing, as well as the amount of gas in Dorian’s belly.
Shortly afterward, we had Xrays done, which showed a lot of gas in his intestines, but everything else was normal. So, he was admitted, blood tests were done and an IV put in. Despite his intense dislike of all things medical, Dorian was quite cooperative and followed instructions from doctors and nurses and didn’t even whimper when they put in his IV (the nurse was wonderful, she didn’t lie, she told him it would be like a very hard ant bite, which I really appreciated). He was pretty out of it, to be honest, but that being said, he still roused himself enough to respond to questions and do as he was told.
The blood test turned up a stomach infection and he was started on antibiotics. The main concern, however, was the dehydration. They put two bottles of IV fluid into him at the fastest drip and as I write this, he is on his fourth bottle. He is sleeping fairly soundly now and has regained his color (thank goodness, it’s no fun seeing your child the color of concrete!). He wakes up every so often to ask if we can just go home now. He tried telling me he wasn’t sick anymore so we could leave . . . then promptly vomited. Then he tried to tell me that Dante needed him, so he had to go. And finally he lay back on his pillow and said, “This isn’t going to work.” I asked what wasn’t working and he waved his hand around, indicating the hospital in general, “This, this isn’t going to fix me. I need to be home.”
Soon enough! I’ll keep you posted.
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5 Responses to “Throw Another Wrench In”
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Oh my goodness. That sounds like quite a fright. So glad to hear he is doing better and I look forward to hearing the update.
Oh gosh, that last comment of his about did me in, poor little guy! Glad to hear he’s mending.
Oh, I’m so sorry!
Tell him to get well soon, because his “Internet Uncle” Levi will be down real soon to eat *ALL* of his chocolate!
Poor brave Dorian. I wish him a speedy recovery, and wish rest and a mind now at ease for you. All the best.