I don’t blame Darren for Sam having surgery #22, but look at this costume and I’ll tell you why I blame the costume.
Darren’s favorite time of year is Halloween. He loves dressing up in hilarious costumes and 2012 was inappropriate, adult Twister. Over the years I have endured him as a one night stand, free mammograms, a port a potty, Jared from Subway, the Chilean Miner with the wife and girlfriend and more.
Little did we know when I took this picture Sam’s insides were starting to play their own game of Twister. By Friday Sam was having a hard time peeing, no complaints just not her normal. I took her to urgent care and she was diagnosed with a urinary infection. This is where it’s important to know Sam’s pain tolerance is ridiculously high. For me, as her mom, her pain tolerance breaks my heart(makes me tear up as I type). She doesn’t complain. I truly believe it’s because her whole life has had so much pain and she really has no idea what a feel good day is. Started the antibiotics and the next day was a big, fun day. Sam seemed ok Saturday morning so we went to Challenger Day at Angel Stadium. This day is amazing. Sam’s Little League Baseball team played a game on the field, met players and had a blast.
Sunday I knew she wasn’t feeling any better. She was moving slower and I knew I had to take her to get checked again, but we had one more thing to do. It was our first JDRF walk for Ryan. Yep, the youngest has Type 1 diabetes. Another time I will write about that. Sam stayed home with a sitter and I shit you not, we got in a car accident on the way to the JDRF walk. Nothing horrible, just rear ended when we got off the freeway. Get to walk, walk, and head back home.
At home, I decided it was ER time. Going to the ER with a disabled kid that can’t tell you what is wrong sucks. Sam is asked by doctors she has never met where it hurts, how bad it hurts and these are questions she cannot answer. I try my best to give new doctors information about her ability to communicate and her inability to give you much information that will help with a diagnosis. Sucks. It was determined that it was still a urinary infection and that a change in antibiotic should help. As I was packing up to leave, another doctor came in and wanted to check one more thing. She pressed all over Sam’s abdomen and Sam actually started crying in pain. About 15 minutes later, Sam had a CT scan and all the doctor could see was something had ruptured but didn’t know what had. WHAT?!?
After Sam was admitted and thankfully given big doses of pain killers, it was decided that two of Sam’s past surgeons would both be there for the surgery of what they yet did not know. Her gynecologist surgeon (another time for that surgery story) and general surgeon that had removed a dermatofibroma(my mind can’t remember what # this one was) took our Sam for surgery #22. Some hours later, the gynecologist surgeon was the winner for this one. Ruptured Ovarian Torsion. GYN surgeon explained she had been walking around with the very painful torsion for 5 days and then it TWISTED so much it ruptured. Five days before was Halloween and the Twister costume. And this is how you still blame the fucking costume eight years later.
Cheers. Nancy
25 years of raising and caring for a perpetual 2 year old 