i failed to get a picture of madelyn today but it was pretty tame - her "more rainbows, less rain" long sleeved t-shirt and regular jeans. i didn't get a picture for a few reasons. one madelyn and maddux slept in our bed last night and i was trying to get madelyn an appointment at the doctor's office.
yesterday, i got a call from madelyn's school while i was picking up mason. i was having trouble listening to the message so i just started heading towards the school since we were already in the car while i tried calling back. madelyn had been complaining off and on about her stomach hurting most of the week and mentioned feeling nauseous that morning and the day before so i figured she had finally thrown up and needed to be picked up. i got a hold of the school secretary who explained that madelyn seemed okay but it was up to me about getting her because there was so much going around again. she did have a low fever (99.6F) too. i asked if she would ask madelyn what she wanted to do and then the secretary suggested that i speak with madelyn myself.
madelyn and i spoke for a bit and she decided that she didn't want to come home. i told her that if she felt worse later, she could change her mind and i would be happy to come and get her. not only did she finish the day, but she got "pink" and came running off the bus with a huge smile!
she was still complaining about her stomach (around her belly button) so i had her lay down and put some pressure on each of the four quadrants of her abdomen and she hurt more above her bellybutton and on her right side. matt checked her out too and got to googling. she basically had every symptom of appendicitis. these are common symptoms though which is why it can be difficult to diagnose. so i started looking myself and found that in children it can be more serious so i wanted to go ahead and call the doctor's office to see what they thought. the doctor on call said that if she can jump up and down then she is probably fine and could be seen in the office in the morning but if the pain gets more intense overnight, then we should take her to the hospital.
madelyn was feeling worse and did not want to go to sleep so she slept in our bed (and i wanted to be able to keep an eye on her) and then maddux joined us... ugh. needless to say that matt and i did not get much sleep.
today she decided that she didn't feel well, but wanted to go to school. i can't call the doctor's office for an appointment until 8:30 which is when we leave to drive to the schools so it makes for a very hectic morning. i am trying to hustle everyone into the car while redialing the doctor's office until i don't get a busy signal and then wait on hold (everyone tries to call at 8:30). we were able to get in with a nurse practitioner at 9 if we could get there in time. we had to hurry to drop off mason first, but we made it just in time.
the nurse practitioner said that she didn't think it was appendicitis because someone with it wouldn't even try to jump or would cry in pain. she did test madelyn for strep and that came back negative. her best guess is that the drainage down madelyn's throat was running into her stomach and making it upset. so she was just fine to go to school.
funny enough, when we dropped madelyn at school the secretary said that she was the second student who had gone to the doctor this morning to be checked for appendicitis. so maybe that is a common google-and-freak-out self-diagnosis? i was trying not to overreact the whole time. the nurse practitioner actually made me feel better about coming in because she said that she is objective with all kids except her own. matt had offered to call one of his docs or pas (of course, this was after i had already called our pediatrician). it wasn't until later that i remembered he wasn't talking about cardiology because he is now over general sugery too! one of his docs would have done the surgery should she have needed it.
at least now i know about the 'jump test' in case we have to deal with this again.
and madelyn had a great day at school. her stomach was still hurting her, but she got "pink" again! two days in a row was pretty special.
mommy is beat. love.
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