A trip to the ER

RC had a tummy ache after breakfast. He wasn’t able to go to school. He was in bed the whole morning. He felt better after 12:00 noon and I made him have some lunch. Then he started to have a tummy ache again. He was crying from pain and I told him that I should probably bring him to the doctor. “No,” he said and he cried some more.

Towards the evening, he got up from bed and lay on the couch in my workstation. He said that his tummy hurt whenever he got up and moved. And he pointed to the left side of his stomach where it hurt. I was worried that it could be his appendix. I told him that we’d have to go to the hospital and have him checked. He cried and said that he didn’t want to go to the hospital. I asked him why. “Are they going to cut me?” he asked. My poor child! After the 2 health scares that we encountered lately, first, that of Ate Alice, and then that of Tito F, he must have thought that going to the hospital meant having surgery.

I assured him that the doctor was just going to listen to his tummy and check what’s going on in there. And yet in the back of my mind, if it were appendicitis, then he would need an operation. I would have lied to my child. I then persuaded him more by reminding him that Christmas that I had to bring RG to the emergency room. RG had a tummy ache as well and couldn’t eat. He was probably 12 then and I was worried. It turned out that it was just spasms and we were sent home.

RC and I went to the ER and were asked some questions. What did he have for lunch? Where exactly does it hurt? When did you have a bowel movement? What color was it? Did it hurt when you pee?

When the papers were all filled out, we were sent to a room. A nurse came and said that there was only one doctor on duty that night and there were five patients before us. It could be a bit of a wait. RC lay on the bed while I sat on the chair. After a little while, he experienced pain again. But then it subsided. After a few minutes, I saw him smiling. He was feeling better. We waited for the doctor anyway.

I was so tired. I fell asleep on the chair. After 2 ½ hours I was awoken when the lights were turned on and the doctor came in. He checked RC and asked more questions. He took a urine sample to make sure that it wasn’t a urine infection. It wasn’t and he gave RC a clean bill of health. He advised RC to drink lots of fluid.