The Two Weeks That Made My Hair Start Turning Grey – Part 1

It has been a while since my last blog and it is for a good reason. As you may recall on my last blog I mentioned that our son had reflux, that we were on expensive formula, and he cried all of the time because of it. Well, little did we know that Parks had a much more serious condition and we actually found out by accident. As the last few weeks have been very eventful I have decided to break up this blog post into several posts.

Part 1

At an early routine visit to our awesome Pediatrician (with Memphis Pediatrics) we found out that Parks had a “click” in his hip. As it didn’t go away we after a few weeks we scheduled a visit with a top pediatric orthopedic specialist at The Campbell Clinic. The specialist had us schedule an ultrasound for the next week at the local hospital to make sure it wasn’t moving out of socket.

In the meantime we were making weekly trips to our pediatrician to check Parks’ weight. Even with the new expensive formula he still was spitting up way too much and not gaining weight fast enough. Our pediatrician had mentioned to us about a rare condition called “Pyloric Stenosis” but said that as Parks’ was not vomiting forcefully he didn’t fit the mold for the condition. However, as she knew we already had an ultrasound scheduled for his hip she called and had the ultrasound team go ahead and take a look at his stomach too. This would ultimately probably save our son’s life.

I had a few meetings the morning of the ultrasound so I drove to the local hospital separate from my wife and son. Of course the ultrasound was delayed so I had to leave before they actually went back for the tests. I came back home and got on a conference call for an hour or so and when I got off I had voicemails from my wife and the doctor and several texts. When I finally got a hold of my wife she told me we needed to pack our bags and head down to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital right away because Parks’ did indeed have Pyloric Stenosis and he would need surgery right away!

I bet you are asking, “What is Pyloric Stenosis?” just as I was. As I am not a doctor I have listed the Mayo Clinic’s definition below:

“Pyloric stenosis is an uncommon condition affecting the opening (pylorus) between the stomach and small intestine in infants. The pylorus is a muscular valve that holds food in the stomach until it is ready for the next stage in the digestive process.

In pyloric stenosis, the pylorus muscles thicken, blocking food from entering the baby’s small intestine. Pyloric stenosis can lead to forceful vomiting, dehydration and weight loss. Babies with this condition may seem to always be hungry.”

Parks was able to keep some food down (not a lot though), he peed a lot so he wasn’t very dehydrated, and he only spit up and never vomited. So he wasn’t a textbook case for this condition. Only 3 in 1000 babies have it and first-born Caucasian males are 4 times more likely to have it than others. Even though he didn’t have the textbook symptoms of Pyloric Stenosis our pediatrician still called for us to test it for it. This is the sign of a great doctor and we owe her more than she will ever know. If you need a pediatrician in the Memphis area I highly recommend her and the doctors in her practice. I say this because within 12 hour he did have the textbook symptoms, our doctor just caught it very early.

Upon arriving at Le Bonheur we proceeded directly to the emergency department. Luckily, our pediatrician had called ahead for us so we did not have to stay in the waiting room very long. We got back to our ER room and they then put an IV in my little boys arm. However, it took 5 tries 3 nurses and over 30 minutes to do so due to his tiny veins and the fact that he was dehydrated due to his condition. They then began giving him fluids getting him hydrated enough for surgery.

Parks and I in the ER. The soft cast around his arm was to prevent him from knocking out the IVs they had in his hand.

**** The next paragraph is graphic

After several hours we finally were put in a room on the eighth floor, the infant floor. We arrived right at the time the nurses change shifts and if our poor nurse knew what that night would be like she probably would have run straight out of the hospital. Before we knew it Parks was throwing up very forcefully. Only he had not had anything to eat so all he could throw up was brown stomach fluid, acid, and dried blood from all the irritation from his esophagus. Throughout the night he threw up more and more to the point that it was happening about every ten minutes. Our poor nurse, Laura Beth, had to change his sheets and pads probably 30 times because he threw up so much. He would begin to choke and I’d have to rush over to hold him and turn him face down so he could get it out. We didn’t sleep one second that night and it was by far the worst night of my life.

The previous day when we found out he needed surgery my wife and I were very scared and worried about the surgery itself. After our first night in Le Bonheur watching Parks throw up so much and exhibit the true symptoms of Pyloric Stenosis we were ready for the surgery by daybreak. We were told throughout the night that Parks would have his surgery first thing in the morning. However, due to delays this did not happen. I should also mention that my mother, who lives in Atlanta, had her gall bladder out on the exact same morning and she and Parks now share the same scars.

Parks the morning of his surgery.

Parks’ surgeon came by and told us he needed the radiology team to do another ultrasound to get better measurements around 6 am. After a few hours we rolled Parks down for the ultrasound and I could tell my 4-week-old little boy was worn out. We went back to the room and a few hours later finally got called down to surgery.

My wife with Parks in his hospital room before his surgery.

As we stood next to Parks’ crib with him in the pre-op area I had never been so nervous in my life. The anesthesiologist and the nurses could not have been nicer but looking at someone that small knowing that someone is about to cut into them changes you. The worst feeling in my entire life up until that point was watching them come and roll my little boy away. My wife and I stood there just looking at each other and to be honest I almost lost it. I don’t get emotional often but if a nurse hadn’t walked up to us at that point I would have been a mess, I admit it.

However, Le Bonheur has a plan for this exact thing. That nurse walked up and then took us down a hallway, a hallway filled with toys for all ages and told us to pick out something for Parks to give him after his surgery. Now, our son was only 4 weeks old so he’s not going to be playing with any toys anytime soon. My wife and I looked for a while and eventually settled on a wooden forklift with stackable blocks. Looking back I really don’t know why we picked the forklift. Maybe it’s because Parks’ grandfather owns a company with a warehouse that has forklifts but I really have no idea.

Sitting in the waiting room just didn’t seem like a good idea at the time so my wife and I went to the cafeteria (the surgery team had our cell phone numbers to keep us updated). We ordered food but ate very little and luckily my father-in-law met us down there so we didn’t have to sit alone. After spending some time in the cafeteria we went back up to the surgery waiting room and before too long I got a call saying Parks was done and we were supposed to go to a small room to speak with his surgeon. He told us the surgery was a success and around thirty minutes later we got to go see Parks in recovery.

He was covered in blankets and sleeping peacefully when we first saw him. Due to him being an infant they got him back up to our room on the eighth floor. Its important to note here that while he was in surgery they switched out his monitor that monitors heart rate, respiration, etc.… to a much a monitor with much more sensitive settings.

Parks in recovery after his surgery.

“Hashbrown the Tiger” with the same scars Parks has. Luckily the gift shop also had permanent markers.

Due to the new monitor and the fact that our son also liked to kick and pull his sensors off, the nurse that night had her work cut out for her. Luckily for us we got another great nurse, probably one of the best at Le Bonheur. Nurse Jodie came in with a smile on her face every time that monitor went off that night. Whether it was 1:08 am, 3:17 am, 3:28 am, etc. she came in happy every time. My wife and I had experienced a few very rough days by this point and I think Jodie may have helped us more than she helped Parks. Her attitude made us smile, laugh, and feel energized even though we were both dead tired. If nurse Jodie ever reads this…. thank you!

Holding Parks while he was connected to all the wires and tubes was tricky but we found a way to make it work.

The next day we began really trying to make Parks keep his bottles down. They weren’t going to let us go home until he could keep 2 ounces down 3 three times in a row. As we fed him every 3 hours this didn’t give us much room for error. Unfortunately, Parks did not keep his first few bottles down and even though we so desperately wanted to go home we realized we wouldn’t get to late that afternoon. Our child life specialist, Mary Holland, gave us some advice that afternoon I’ve started using in my everyday life. She said, “ Well, lets plan on you not going home today and then be pleasantly surprised if you do!”. I’ve started using that in sales lately, “Well they probably won’t buy from me but I’ll be pleasantly surprised if they do!”.

Parks the day after his surgery. “Just chillin”.

Parks started holding down his bottles that evening and I’d love to be able to tell you the nurse’s name we had that night but I was so tired I slept through most of the time between Parks’ feedings and during the feedings I was in a zombie like state. I’m sure that nurse was just as great as Laura Beth and Jodie but the past few days caught up with me, and well, I just don’t remember her name.

The next morning we found out early that we were going home. They removed Parks from the monitor and for the first time in 3 days I held my son with no wires or tubes attached to him as we waited for our discharge papers. That was an awesome moment and luckily my wife took a picture of his little hand on mine (with the hospital band) as we waited.

I finally got the go ahead to get the car and when we finally put him in I checked the car seat 50 times. I chugged some coffee to make sure I was awake enough to drive and then, just like that, we drove off.

I remember thinking, “I’m sure glad Le Bonheur exists but I hope we don’t to come back again. Little did I know that we would be back within 10 days. However, in the meantime our other family member, Maddox, was glad to have his little brother home. Maddox was a trooper that week as he had never spent a night alone at house in the two years we’d had him up until that point. He never had an accident and didn’t tear anything up. We we were impressed and glad to see the furry guy.