Adventures in Hospitals

Sorry if this is a bit scrambled. I’m operating on not too much sleep, and I was sick to begin with. Denisa started having a stomachache yesterday around 4pm. Bad enough that she just had to lie down and didn’t really want to do anything else. I dragged myself out of bed and took care of the kids as best I could (thank goodness for well behaved children), and hoped that she’d get feeling better soon.

She didn’t.

At first we thought it was some buckwheat sprouts that she’d eaten. I gave her a priesthood blessing (along with a friend who came over at the drop of a hat to assist), and that helped some for a bit, but she was up pretty much the whole night in pain. We were close to going to the ER a couple of times, but each time she thought she could pull through it.

So this morning we headed to our doctor’s. (After yet another friend stepped in to watch the kids.) The pain had subsided a bit by the time Denisa was in the office, but the doctor wanted a CT scan, just in case it was appendicitis. That’s when the lovely insurance system kicked in. Three separate phone numbers and multiple explanations later, and we finally had the scan approved. Mind you, Cigna still insisted on talking to Denisa and telling her that if she’d just travel 45 minutes farther away, she could have it done cheaper at a different hospital.

I was livid. You’ve got a person literally moaning in pain, and you’re holding things up because you want to jump through some red tape? Ridiculous.

But we got over to the hospital, and we got the CT scan done. By this time, Denisa was actually feeling a fair bit better. The pain had gone, and she was even able to keep down the pint of fluids they made her drink for the scan. We waited for the results, confident that this was just a case of bad buckwheat.

And then it turned out she had appendicitis after all.

It’s been a crazy day. Juggling kids, sitting in waiting rooms, making phone calls. (And the reception in the hospital leaves much to be desired.) She’s in surgery even as I type this, but they expect it to be fairly routine. I’ll keep you updated if anything changes on that.

In the meantime, if you could keep her in your thoughts and prayers, I’d be grateful.

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