Owen's Ileus

The other day I typed an entry on Owen's battle with the flu bug. Right as I hit 'publish' and the post was displayed on this blog, I had a bad feeling that he really wasn't on the mend, and that I would indeed be posting about it again.

Turns out, I was right...

We just returned home from the hospital where Owen was admitted late Tuesday night. I rushed him to urgent care again after some troubling signs and it was decided he needed to stay for a few days. Here's the summed up story!

Two weeks ago, three out of the six of us got the flu bug. It was over with quickly, but for some reason it lingered in Owen. After about a week, we noticed he was getting dehydrated so we took him in and he was treated and sent home. This is the point where I think he really took a turn for the worse. He developed stomach cramps, then had diarrhea or vomiting, and then he would be fine---but the cycle kept repeating.On Monday evening we noticed his tummy was really full---but he had just had a huge sippy cup full of milk, so we decided to give it some time. Of course, he threw up and felt better, then went to bed. Tuesday came and the same thing happened, but his tummy was really hurting him more this time--it was sensitive to the touch even, he was screaming and not producing tears. Time to go back---and quickly.

Once we were at urgent care, they assessed him and determined he was dehydrated and an IV, blood labs, and x-rays were ordered for his stomach pain. After many hours and lots of misery later, we found out he had an Ileus--or an obstructed lower bowel, and we were finally admitted at 3am.

Not feeling good after the first sleepless night...

This is how the doctors explained it to us: the virus that was causing the flu in our family hit Owen a lot harder, but after so much diarrhea and vomiting, the smooth muscles in his stomach and digestive system were tired and pretty much gave up. It wasn't a complete blockage so he was still able to have liquid bowel movements but the food was just sitting in his stomach not going anywhere and not being digested. Sorry--I know this is gross!! Turns out that his colon was contracting causing major pain throughout his system.

The treatment plan was to stop all food and drink by mouth and keep him on the IV solution until it relaxed enough to rest and resolve itself. He had no special medications or anything, it was just as simple as that. So we hung out in the room and Owen continued to have the spasms and was in a lot of pain the first day. He kept saying "my booty hurts!" They didn't want to give him pain medication if they could avoid it, because it would slow digestion even further. The second day he felt much better and we were able to slowly reintroduce food and water and he started having normal bowel movements again.

First meal of mac-n-cheese was devoured for lunch today! Yum!

So we are home now! We had some wonderful nurses and doctors who were very kind and helpful. I learned a lot about the power of blowing bubbles!! When he was having a particularly bad moment, bubbles were brought in and the whole room calmed down.

Owen had some very special visitors stop by for some glove-balloon fun!I am so thankful for so many worried phone calls from family who live far away, messages from friends who live far away, and visits from local friends. Hotwheels, coloring books, dinosaurs, and magazines were brought in, dinner was delivered, my older kids were played with. Thank you, thank you for the support. We're so happy he's home and on the road to recovery.

Feeling better photos:

Let's go outside mom!Little Owen is now LITTLE, LITTLE Owen. He's lost some more weight and is pretty boney, but is still as cute and cuddly as ever. I loved having one on one time with just him, we snuggled the entire time.

Here he is chillin' on the wagon ride out the door--I love that he crossed his legs!