THEN, out of the blue one early October morning, Silas woke up vomiting. We managed it the best we could for a few days at home with the phone advise of his doctor (trying to avoid a hospitalization), but after nearly a week of little improvement and a very clear decline, an ER visit was imminent. He was admitted for 4 days to rehydrate him via IVs, allow "intestinal rest" (no food or drink), rectal irrigations 3x per day to wash out the infected intestine, and strong antibiotics to eradicate the infection named enterocolitis that had ransacked his little body for the first time in 2.5 years. Why was this happening? The best theory that was given to us was that he needed another botox injection, which made sense to us so we arranged to have one the very next day after he was released from the hospital.
HOWEVER, as soon as he ended his antibiotics that week, the enterocolitis returned. We were able to catch it before the vomiting set in and got him back on antibiotics for another two weeks. Once those two weeks ended, the infection returned for a third time! Again, we caught it early. This time, doc put him on a very high dose of antibiotics for 30 days to make sure it was GONE. And, we followed that course with the SIBO Specific Diet in order to better control the bacteria growth that were establishing itself in his gut, along with an inundation of probiotics.
This was really tough for Silas. The SIBO Specific Diet is very rigid at it's first phase, and then gradually allows more variety as he graduates to each subsequent phase. Here is the diet if you are interested to know. On Halloween, he could have no candy. No cake at Gram's 100th birthday party, no candy canes or other treats at Christmas. Silas LOVES sweets, however he very maturely accepted it because he knew it was worth it to avoid getting enterocolitis again. By the end of December we had finally weaned him off the rectal irrigations (praise the Lord), and he entered the 3rd and final phase of the SIBO Specific Diet which allowed him to have avocados, apples, figs, and dates. He could even eat a Larabar during his snack break at school!! Life was getting better and he could see the glimmer of light that soon he'd be off the diet.
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| Gram's 100th Birthday! At least he could have a tangerine. |
THEN, out of the blue one late January morning, Silas started vomiting at school. This continued through the afternoon and he quickly became dehydrated. Jay was out of town and I needed someone to stay with the younger two boys overnight, so the Lord blessed us with an amazing last-minute babysitter as I whisked Silas away to the ER as fast as I safely could on a fresh highway of snow. His weak little voice from the backseat squeaked, "Mommy, will I have to get an IV? If I do can can we ask the nurse to use the magic spray again so it doesn't hurt so much? Will we have to sleep at the hospital tonight?"
I told him, "Honey I love you and I don't want to to have to get an IV, but you will probably have to get one to help you get better. And if you do, I will ask our nurse to look for the magic spray, and yes we will probably sleep there tonight. But I will be with you the whole time and God will be with both of us the whole time. He will protect you and heal you." I continued sharing with him as the Lord led me, and we prayed about all the things he was worried about as we drove along.
AFTER 2 hours of driving (including a handful of throw-up stops), we made it to the hospital only to be met with a line out the door to get in. Everyone was sick, coughing, vomiting... oye!! I threw a mask on each of us and huddled in a corner near a door where some fresh air could come in. If it weren't 35* outside I would have just taken him out there! After waiting for 2 hours, Silas was finally taken to a treatment room where he was assessed, IV'd and blood tested - with magic spray...YAY! (like a champ might I add!), x-rayed (he actually enjoys x-rays because "they don't hurt at all and I always get lots of stickers!"), and later irrigated. Silas and the x-ray tech, John, were particularly fond of each other: "Thanks for taking my x-ray Mr. John, and thank you for all of the cool stickers! You are a very nice doctor!" John: "You're welcome Silas! You're a pretty special young man yourself!" When we returned from x-ray, the ER doc said would be admitted for dehydration (his bicarb was 11) and no food/drinks until a surgeon could evaluate him since his x-ray looked concerning for an intestinal blockage. The surgeon would be in the next morning, so we would be spending the night in the ER. By about 2am we finally concluded all the tests, assessments, exc..., so I pulled up a chair, curled up with my sweatshirt, and fell asleep for about an hour until his IV pump started beeping. After the nurse attended to his IV, I shifted around a bit and fell back to sleep. Around 4am the nurse brought me an extra gurney from the hallway to sleep in... praise the Lord.
We made friends with our ER nurses who came and went as the shifts changed. One named Linda in her early 50's is a traveling nurse from Texas who is temporarily stationed here. She rides a Harley across the country and takes jobs wherever she wants! She was a hoot and made us both laugh.
By 8am the surgeon came and discussed the plan with me, which was all typical for the treatment plan Silas usually needs: continued IV fluids and antibiotics, intestinal rest for 1 day, then allow clear fluids only for the next day, and if he tolerates all that he can go home in a couple days meanwhile continuing the rectal irrigations 3x per day. Once the doc finished going over the plan, our nurse started making arrangements for Silas' admission to the hospital, room assignment, exc... and I went on a mission to devour the entire cafeteria...okay I'm exaggerating. But really... I was starving after missing dinner and not wanting to eat in front of him all morning while we waited for the surgeon. Linda checked on him while I was gone so I felt I could escape for a few minutes.
Upon entering his new room, Cecelia - one of our favorite nurses from October - entered and gave us each a big hug! She remembered Silas because he always prayed when we did the rectal irrigation on our last visit, and she was excited to hold his hand and pray along with us again this time.
After the check-in process and assessments were completed, I took Silas to the children's playroom by his request. The fact that he felt like playing was a great sign to me that he was improving already. He even looked better from all those fluids. His vomiting had stopped and his skin looked full instead of sunken and also had good coloring. In the playroom, he started a pretend IV on me (there are all kinds of medical supplies for kids to play with), and colored a paper elf with scented markers while we visited with Julie - she runs the place and had done some play therapy with Silas a few years ago when all this traumatic stuff was really tough for him. After about an hour Silas felt tired so we went back to our room to nap (well, he napped and I escaped again to the cafeteria for a late lunch). Silas kept asking for food/drinks and it was so hard for me to tell him he's not allowed to have them bc it could cause him to throw up again. That helped him understand but he was still "so hungry!" Another good sign of improvement!
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| He was wondering why everyone always wants to listen to his belly. Cecelia let him find out! |
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| Silas giving me a pretend IV in the playroom. |
Day 3 at the hospital brought new excitement: clear fluids! Juice, broth, jello, gaterade, water! I'm always surprised at the foods the hospital provides to sick patients - sugar, dyes, aspartame, artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup. Normally I bring our own "clears" for him that are healthier, but his time I ran out in a hurry. Oh well, I figure once in a while is okay and he was particularly fond of the green jello anyway, lol. The winter XGames were on TV and he loved watching snowboarding and skiing after a couple more visits to the playroom. The surgeon evaluated him and deemed him ready to go home! PTL!! Our nurse, Lacey, got all his medical supplies and paperwork prepared quickly so we could make it all the way home before dark. After she took out his IV he burst into song, "I'm free!!!" She smiled and said he's her favorite.
Holding hands, we practically skipped out to the parking lot. Silas said, "Goodbye hospital! I don't need you anymore!" And off we went, driving home, talking about all God had done for him. And then he fell asleep the whole way home.
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| Sunrise over the Central Valley from his hospital room. How refreshing to see the Lord's handiwork after a few days indoors. |
