Do you know the story of The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen? It's a fairy tale about a young girl having to prove that she is a princess. The proof is delivered by a pea. To be a bit more specific: the girl sleeps on a bed with many many mattresses layered on top of each other, and at the very bottom of the pile is a pea. After spending the night on that contraption, she is exhausted; the pea made the bed so uncomfortable, that she could not find any rest. For the king, it's proof enough: the girl is a real princess.
Fast forward 180 years, to Southern British Columbia, the Auer household.
We have some people in this household, who are extremely sensitive and would probably pass the royalty test in a heartbeat. Even with a cooked pea. So I admit, that over the years, I may have become a bit numb to certain complaints. And the words: "Suck it up, buttercup!" may have been uttered more than once.
So when my son started complaining about a tummy ache on Tuesday afternoon, I was not too worried. When he started throwing up shortly after that, I was even less worried, because some nasty stomach flu has been making its rounds all over town. When it wasn't gone two days later, I got a little concerned, because a stomach flu usually doesn't stick around that long - and I decided that I was taking him to the doctor on Friday, if it wasn't gone.
Friday morning, he looked a bit like death warmed over and ran a pretty high fever. Appendicitis crossed my mind, but his symptoms were not really that typical. That should have been my first clue - because nothing about his ailments has ever been typical.
Long story short - Merritt Hospital, exam and blood test, appendicitis diagnosis, Kamloops Hospital, appendix ruptured, surgery.
Between "appendicitis diagnosis" and "Kamloops Hospital", my husband and I traded places. He took him, he stayed with him overnight, came home to shower and get Marius' iPad, went back to the hospital, came home with him in tow that afternoon.
I told a few very close friends online what was happening and one of them said that I probably wished I could be there with him.
And I have to admit: no. No, I did not wish that I was there with him. I know I could have handled it and probably stayed calm the whole time. But I think it was perfectly fine that his father was with him instead of me. I am no more his parent than he is. I don't think there are things
that typically should be done by a mother as opposed to a father. Roland kept me updated the whole time and after talking to the doctor, we knew he was going to be fine.
While I definitely felt a bit guilty for not taking him to the hospital earlier, I know that I did what I could. I can't look inside his tummy, and for all we know that appendix could have already ruptured when his tummy ache first started - at least that's what the surgeon said.
It's pretty much back to normal in the Auer household, and we put a few very exhausting days behind us.
Marius downloaded a "Servant Bell" app and started using it within a few hours of coming home. Let's just say we put that app behind us as well now...