The Boy of Many Scars

I am going to start calling Joshua the boy of many scars. He has three scars from stitches and two in spots where he probably could have used a stitch or two. These are all on his face. Now he has a new one to add to the group. It's on his lower abdomen - right where his appendix used to be. Two weeks ago we had friends over for dinner. The kids were playing outside and jumping on the trampoline - Joshua included. He was fine and having a great time. When he was getting ready for bed he started complaining about his stomach hurting. We didn't think a whole lot of it since he has a sensitive stomach and complains about his stomach hurting pretty frequently. We got concerned though when we were up with him most of the night. He had a hard time getting to sleep and then didn't sleep for long before he woke up again. We debated whether we should take him to the ER. In the morning he threw up and we thought maybe it was just a stomach bug. We waited a little while but the pain didn't go away. So, I took him to urgent care. To my surprise (and Joshua's) they said we needed to take him to St. Francis hospital because it might be his appendix. Joshua was very upset at urgent care because the doctor talked about the possibility of surgery. He threw up again on the way to the hospital. They took blood and a urine sample. They put an IV in and did a CAT scan. They decided from the tests that he did need to have his appendix taken out. So, at about 6:30 on Sunday he went into surgery. Thankfully his appendix had not ruptured. He got to go home by 5:00 on Monday and was back in school by Thursday. It was all really crazy! He was a real trooper. The most difficult part was when he was in the recovery room after surgery. That was not fun! He's doing well now. He's ready to be able to play outside again and jump on the trampoline but he has to wait one more week. He also can't participate in PE at school. He wasn't very happy about missing out on PE and recess. I'm just so thankful that he hasn't had any complications and he will be all better by summer break. I'm also very thankful that we have insurance!