A Birthday and a Colonoscopy, yay!

What do a Birthday and a colonoscopy have in common? Nothing, or atleast they shouldn't, specially when you are two. But for Atticus, he got a colonoscopy for his third birthday! Many of you know the story by now but for those friends and family who don't I will give you the update. For months, like 8 or 9 months, I noticed Gus had some bleeding. I mentioned it to our pediatrician who felt confident it was typical and something most kids do at some point. When I told her it wasn't going away she wanted me to try removing gluten from his diet. I was one hundred percent sure his problem was not a food allergy so I ignored her request and feeling a little frustrated with her, I went for a new route. Long story short, after a few doctors, a lot of headache and endless phone calls, I got him into a Pediatric Gastroenterologist Specialist at Primary Children's. After an exam and some talking, his initial response to me was similar to that of the pediatrician which was, the bleeding was most likely due to constipation, hemorrhoids or fissures and I could tell he was about ready to send me home. So I told him more and expressed my concern and he finally asked if I felt like Gus needed a colonoscopy? Now obviously, a colonoscopy on a two year old is not ideal and the doctor expressed he rarely, if ever, had done one on someone so little but I couldn't leave what was my best possible source of help with no answers so I said yes, and five days later we went for it. Atticus handled the process of cleansing before hand like a champ and it went better than I expected. Kids really are amazing. The things you think are going to be hard for them usually don't phase them, and then the insignificant, "cut their sandwich up wrong" type of situations are what make them come unglued! Ha. Anyhow, two days of laxatives, 30 hours of fasting and I was headed to the hospital with a tired, hungry confused little boy. It was a long day at the hospital before they finally put him under and I really couldn't believe the strength and courage I saw in him. Gus has been potty trained since June but I was worried with all the cleansing medication this might throw him off. He never had one accident. He would say his belly hurt and run to the potty over and over, but never had an accident. He was trying so hard to be pleasant and obedient still even though he had no clue why on earth I was doing this to him. When they tried to take his clothes off and put on scrubs he finally lost it and broke down saying he WAS NOT going to sleep there! They gave him a sedative which calmed him down and the anesthesiologist came out with bubbles and a flashlight to distract him and take him from my arms. (Can I just say, that hospital is amazing and the staff have the science of distraction down! What a blessing to have that facility.) An hour later, the doctor came out with pictures of the procedure and there it was. In the last 30 seconds of the ten minute colonoscopy, he found a polyp growing in his colon. It was a good size and had obviously been there for a fair amount of time. They were able to do a polypectomy right then and there to remove it and they sent us home telling us they would do a biopsy on the growth to make sure it wasn't malignant and let us know later that week. It was a long week. I didn't sleep. Even though I felt at peace and the doctor felt confident it wouldn't be cancerous, he followed that statement up with, "But you just really never know till a biopsy is done." Thankfully by Friday we got the call that it came back benign and he should be free and clear with no more problems! So it was time to party! Literally. Thursday was his birthday so we took him swimming but Friday, once we heard good news and could relax, his grandparents all came and his Aunt Jane and we had a great three year old pirate party! It felt very appropriate to celebrate his little three years of life on the day we got good news. I feel beyond blessed. I felt like the Lord opened the doors I needed to get him seen by the people he needed to. Two days before the colonoscopy I was feeling guilty and worried that I was about to put him through something pretty dramatic for nothing. I had a lot of people telling me their kids had similar type problems and it went away. But the Lord blessed me with the wisdom to move forward with it and I am so, so glad now we did. I have never felt that much love for both of my children as I did in those five days of waiting to hear back on the lab results. I couldn't hold them, kiss them or love them enough. My heart is different from this experience. I got a small taste of how it might feel to watch a child suffer from illness, and fear losing them. I am grateful it didn't turn into anything that serious. And I don't know how people go through such challenges but if you are or have, you are amazing and the Lord is surely mindful of you. Soooo....Happy Birthday Atticus! We love you, oh so much. You and your sister are the light of our lives and I already know your little soul is so much stronger and mightier than mine. But I am grateful you are ours to raise! xoxo