"Mommy, my belly hurts"

On Sunday late morning, after a Saturday sleepover, my sweet Grace complained of her belly hurting. Not knowing what she had eaten but assuming it was lots of sugar I told her to go lay down. After a few hours Grace ate some soup for lunch but really was not feeling much better.

We were supposed to go shopping but Grace told me she felt like she was going to "throw up". So I went without her. By dinner time my angel was not feeling any better. So, I decided to call the on-call nurse for our pediatrician. After describing the symptoms I was instructed to go to the nearest ER. Well, after the incident with Matthew I wanted to make sure we were not dealing with a "constipation issue".

Feeling pretty confident that the belly ache was not related to anything else off I headed with Grace to the pediatric ER only to be told to go home because Grace probably had the stomach virus that was going around. I certainly was not convinced as Grace was in so much pain and had vomited on the way into the ER.

The doctor dismissed my concerns and gave us a prescription for an anti-nausea and sent us on our way. Since it was Sunday we had one heck of a time finding a pharmacy open. Dave finally was able to get the medicine. Once we gave it to Grace it worked on the nausea but had absolutely no effect on the pain.

After several hours of laying in bed with Grace and realizing how serious her pain was I returned to the ER at about 3 AM. Finally they diagnosed her with appendicitis! It was horrible to watch my sweet baby in so much pain and vomiting during the catscan. I so just wanted someone to do SOMETHING to help her. Finally, at about 9:30 AM the hospital transported us, via ambulance, to the children's hospital so Grace could have surgery.

However, it wasn't until 2:00 PM on Monday that she had the surgery. Through the entire ordeal Grace was so brave and so stoic. The only time she really cried was when I explained that she was going to have surgery. She cried and cried and told me she was frightened. What a brave little girl she was!

The surgeon at the Children's hospital was just wonderful. She explained everything to us and made sure Grace was included! The major concern was wether Grace's appendix had burst.

Thank goodness it had not! However the appendix was gangerous so we had to really watch for infection. We spent Monday and Tuesday night in the hospital and received the BEST care possible! Grace really bounced back and we were able to leave the room to play in the game room, go to "summer camp" and meet the Atlanta Braves!

I so love Scottish RIte Hospital!!! They are so awesome and so child focused! Our surgeon was great and so were the nurses! Speaking of nurses, I finally got to meet a cyber-friend and someone who attends our First Fridays group! We missed her everytime we went for Analiese but this time we were able to spend some time together. It was wonderful to talk with her!

I cannot tell you how frightened I was for Grace. It is so frustrating to know that something is wrong with your child and not be able to do a darn thing about it! Grace came through the surgery with flying colors. Once she saw me, in recovery, she started to cry. Needless to say I quickly got into the bed with her and held her and did not let go for days. We slept together so she would know that I was within an arms reach.

Grace is doing well, being doted on by ALL of us and hopefully is on a non-stop road to recovery! The worst part is that she cannot do gymnastics or swimming for two weeks. Can I keep her busy enough where she doesn't miss those things????? I sure hope so. Please keep my angel in your prayers.