Jaxon's Surgery

Thursday was a horrible day. Jax hadn't been feeling good for a few days. He thought he had food poisoning from school lunch. LOL. He wasn't getting any better so I decided to take him to our Pediatrician in Vernal hoping they could help. We thought it was a hernia because Jax's stomach hurt and we could feel something moving around. The PA that examined Jax thought he could feel the hernia and scheduled us an appointment to see the surgeon the following day at 11:30am for an ultra sound. We never made it to that appointment. Jax continued getting worse throughout the day with pain and he was running a fever. When Ryan got home from work, we decided to take Jax to the after hours clinic knowing that something was not right. After several test and examinations from Shelby NP, we decided to consult with the ER doctor, Dr. Ting. She was convinced it was appendicitis, but Jax's pain was center in his stomach right under his belly button and not off to the right where the appendix is located. Jax had his blood drawn and a CT scan done. The blood test showed his white blood count was 17,000 (normal is around 6,000) and the scan showed an inflamed appendix with fluid leaking out around it. Dr. Ting was convinced his appendix had ruptured and we were running out of time. I asked Ry to get a hold of the missionaries and Bishop Brown to come give Jax a blessing. The missionaries told us if we'd have called 5 minutes later they wouldn't have been able to answer the phone because it was too late at night. And we were in a hurry to get Jax on the ambulance. It was one of the most amazing blessings I've witnessed. Jax was promised a full, speedy recovery and was told how much his Heavenly Father loves him. He was also told that this blessing will be something that he'll always remember and look back on in faith. After the blessing, everything seemed so much more peaceful. Then, Jax and I took the ambulance to Grand Juntion to St. Mary's Medical Center while Ry followed behind in the van. We were sent to the ER at St. Mary's Medical Center where the pediatric surgeon Dr. Breaux (Bro) examined Jax and confirmed appendicitis. Jax was prepped for surgery and off he went. I am so grateful for the doctors steady hands and his amazing knowledge. He saved Jaxon's life. The doctors and nurses were amazed that Jax's appendix had not burst. Jax went 3 days in pain and that's a long time for something like an appendix. Dr. Breaux let us know that surgery went very well and that Jax's appendix was largely inflamed and leaking fluid but had not ruptured. What a blessing! Jaxon is amazing. The entire time going through everything, when anything would come up about how lucky he was or how amazing he was doing, he'd reply "That was just another blessing". While Jax was in the hospital, Aunt Nicole sent him a package. It was a huge stuffed animal dog with a few snacks. We were on the 7th Floor Pediatric Unit of the hospital. On one end there were brand new babies on the other sick babies. When Jax was out walking in the hall he passed a little sick baby boy. Jax immediately walked back to his room, grabbed the stuffed animal, looked at me and said, "I'm going to go give this to that little boy". I started crying because my heart was so full. Jaxon was in pain recovering from his surgery and he was worried about the little boy in the room next door. What an amazing example! Jax is home recovering nicely and we are so thankful for Heavenly Father's love and protection. I know without a doubt that we were watched over. We have amazing friends in our community that have offered to help in so many ways. Our family has been so amazing. I know so many prayers were heard and answered. I could not have made it through without my family. I'm so thankful that our Jax is still with us and that we are never alone on our trek, this thing called life.

We asked Jax right after surgery how he was feeling and he replied "Like a hundred dollar bill!"