On Thursday Alexis was in so much pain so I kept her home from school. As soon as the doctor's office opened I called them because I realized this wasn't getting any better - only worse. Her infectious disease doctor, Dr S (who is the doctor who is treating her on the IV rocephin) said to call her pediatrician or take her to the ER if it was severe. I had a feeling there wasn't much that her pediatrician would be able to do so I took her to the ER. These are strong pains she was having in the upper right side of her stomach. For those who aren't familiar, there is an abnormally large amount of lyme disease patients who end up having to have their gallbladder removed. Not only was that in my mind, I know her being on such a strong dose of IV rocephin could damage other organs so I didn't want to risk this anymore. I needed to know that everything was okay. I couldn't stand knowing that something really bad could be happening to her and I was just putting it off. I had a feeling her pediatrician would have sent her for more tests at the hospital anyways.
We rushed over there - Alexis, my two little girls & myself. Luckily, my mom was able to leave work and meet us at the hospital. My mom plays a HUGE role is Alexis' life. They have a very strong bond between them and sometimes Alexis' just needs her "Grandma-Grandma" to comfort her. Getting Lex to the hospital was horrible. She was in more pain than she's ever been before. She couldn't walk to the car, cried the whole way to the hospital and could barely walk into the hospital once we got there. When we got into the waiting room Lex just laid there on a chair curled up in a ball. The pains in her stomach were consistent and worse than ever before.
It wasn't long before we were in a room and with the doctor. The ER doctor was very shocked to find out that Alexis is getting 2 grams of Rocephin through her IV a day. He said that is a lot for a little girl her size. A few people have said the same thing to me now. He wasn't surprised to see the side affects she was having from it though. He felt everything was related to the antibiotics and that all should be okay. He was going to do her blood work, take a urine same and do x-rays to check everything out.
When Alexis gets her blood taken every week they take it right from her PICC line. The ER doctor didn't want to do that though. He wanted to do it from the other arm and he decided he would put another IV in that arm also to give her some fluids. Alexis wasn't too thrilled about this. You would think she would be used to needles and IV's - she's not. She still hates it with a passion and puts up a fight every time. She fought this day worse than ever before. She was kicking and screaming; it was just awful. I thank God my mom was there, she stayed up by Alexis's head, leaning over her chest, holding her down but making Lex think she was just trying to hug her. I had to hold down her knees and lean over her legs. While 2 other nurses helped hold her down and the doctor put in the IV and took the blood. I'm so glad Alexis couldn't see me because I cried. I tried so hard to hold it in but I couldn't. She was so scared and worked up. I couldn't take seeing her like that. My heart was completely broken. This all lasted only a couple minutes but it seemed like an hour.
After the IV was in Alexis went to get her x-rays done. My mom went with her so I could take a minute to get myself together. I really didn't want Lex to see me upset. After the x-rays, the worst of it was done. Now we just had to wait for results. My mom had to get back to work but she took Kaelynn for me so it was one less person I had to entertain. While we were waiting Alexis got a very special visitor - her softball coach & good friend, Mike. She was soo happy he came to see her. She kept saying "I can't believe he left work to come see me!". It really helped lift her spirits, more than he knows. She needed that. She needed to smile. It had been a rough morning so to see her smile just melted my heart.
Soon after Mike left the doctor came back in with the results. He said all of her blood work came back okay. Her liver was fine. He was never worried about the gallbladder to begin with. And he knew at this point that it most likely had nothing to do with her organs. I felt a huge sigh of relief but I still really wanted to know what it was. After waiting a little longer the doctor came back and told us that Alexis is constipated, very constipated. I told him I didn't understand how that was even possible because she's been going to the bathroom every day - he said it's still possible. He said she is just not going enough and is very backed up. This is also very common from the medication she is on. On top of that, she was dehydrated. So he wanted her to relax and finish the bag of fluids before leaving the hospital. I was relieved. I was so glad we finally knew what was causing these severe pains and even more glad that it wasn't something more serious going on with her organs.
The doctor said to try anything other than laxatives first. So we went and bought big jugs of apple juice, prune juice, fiber bars, and fiber chewable pills. Let's just say this all happened on Thursday, it's now Sunday night and NOTHING is working. Alexis took a tiny sip of the prune juice and refuses to go near it again. She will drink apple juice and water but not enough. She doesn't understand that she needs to be drinking an uncomfortable amount right now for it to help her. When she drinks a lot she feels more bloated and it causes more stomach pains so she stops herself. Tomorrow Lex has an appointment with Dr S so I'm going to see if he has any other ideas. the
Alexis was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in September 2011, which was 9 months ago. On Thursday night Alexis said to me "Why did this happen to me Mommy?" for the very first time. I knew she had to be thinking it, but this was the first time she ever said it out loud. It broke my heart. It took everything in me to not break down right in front of her. I gave her the biggest hug ever (not wanting to let go because I didn't want her to see my eyes filling up) and I said to her that God knew how strong she is and that she could handle all of this. Modestly, she said to me "I don't think I'm that strong". So I sat there and gave her about 20 examples of how she is the strongest little girl I know and she finally agreed that she is one tough cookie! =)
Lex wasn't feeling any better on Friday so I kept her home from school again. I felt that since we knew what was making her feel so crumby that we could spend Friday and the weekend getting her better. She spent these days resting and drinking lots of water & apple juice.
Today was Mother's Day. It was a wonderful Mother's Day at that. In the morning Lex felt pretty awful. It was hard for her to even stand up and get herself dressed. We went over to my mom's house for breakfast with our whole family. Lex spent most of the time laying in my mom's bed. By the afternoon she was feeling much better. Scottie and I took Alexis and Kaelynn to see a show - Max and Ruby - while Makenzie spent the afternoon with Grandma at her Aunt Kacie's soccer game. Lex felt okay during most of the show. A few times I noticed she was uncomfortable so I just put my arm around her and held her a little closer, knowing there wasn't much else I could do for her. We ended the night by going out for dinner.
Alexis is my first daughter. I became a mother at the very young age of 14. The situation was a rough one for everyone close to me. 10 years later, I can honestly say that becoming a mother was by far THE best thing that's ever happened to me. Alexis gave me reason to become a better person and helped me understand what unconditional love really was. 10 years ago I was pregnant when my mom gave me my first Mother's Day card. I was young, scared and clueless. I had no idea I was about to receive the greatest gift God could have ever given me. Alexis changed my life - for a better.
This quote from the Disney movie Mulan reminds me so much of Alexis -
“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.”
Alexis is my beautiful flower. I love you, Princess <3
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| Alexis and her little sister, Kaelynn |
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