Ryan Lott's Status Updates: Lotts of craziness

Ethan was my little buddy and got up bright and early and came to help clean the church with me one Saturday in November. He was a hard worker. The other adults were impressed. I told them not to be fooled. I can't usually get him to work that hard but I sure enjoyed it for that hour. Afterwards I decided to surprise him and take him to get a breakfast sandwich at Burger King. He was thrilled.

We went and spent the day with Grandpa Moon on his farm. We had fun visiting and helped him with some yard work. Grandpa took the boys on a little adventure in the tractor. Boy, I remember taking this same picture when Alex and Ryan were little. All my kids adore their Great-Grandpa Moon. I think it's wonderful they know and love him so much. I barely even knew my grandparents due to living so far from them.

And so it begins..... again

Wednesday night Ethan complained about a stomach ache right after dinner. I wasn't sure if it was just because he didn't want to finish dinner. I gave him a bowl and let him watch some tv. He seemed fine and didn't mention anything again and went to bed just fine. At about 11:00 that night he came in my room and said his stomach hurt. I figured he probably had the flu so I put him on my floor to sleep. I slept down there with him to. I usually don't do this but stayed by him all night and didn't get back into my bed. He kept bunching up in a ball every couple hours and never would throw up and would say his tummy hurt. It seemed a little different that how he normally acts with the flu. But I still wasn't sure what was going on so, I just kept watching him. But in the back of my mind I wondered if it was his appendix. Finally at six a.m. Mike and I decided we needed to have him throw up to see if that would make the pain go away and to see if it was the flu or not. So I stuck my finger down his throat to gag him and he threw up a tiny bit. He said he didn't need to throw up but his stomach still hurt. I still didn't know what was going on so I looked up on the Internet on my phone about appendicitis and he was saying it hurt in the areas that the article mentioned. What made it hard was that he was in pain, but not agony. He wasn't crying or moaning or anything to really alarm us. So I continued to watch him. I kept him home from school and didn't let him eat or drink anything, just in case. I asked for advice from a neighbor who's daughter had appendicitis recently. She thought he had it and said I should take him in, but supported my decision to wait a little longer to see if things changed. I finally had my mother-in-law come up from her apartment downstairs and look at Ethan as well. She said she would probably take him in as well. He really seemed fine but I finally decided to just take him to InstaCare just in case, and I prayed to know what to do. I was glad my mother-in-law came with us and drove us. I rode in the back with Ethan. It was hard to get him out of the car. Long story short the doctor at Instacare wasn't totally convinced it was appendicitis but said we had the option of doing a blood test if we wanted. It may or may not show anything. I was hesitate to put Ethan through the trauma of having a needle stuck in his arm. But I had just given blood the day before and it didn't even hurt me, so I decided to do it. Ethan was very brave when they took his blood. He was more scared before they took it and shed a few tears but when it actually happened he said it didn't even hurt. A few minutes later the doctor came in and said his white blood count was double the normal and that we needed to get him to the ER. Boy did this bring back memories. I was so shocked. I shed a few tears. It happened to be November 12th - 3 1/2 years since Ryan had died. So double hard. Now we would never forget this day for sure. I was so glad I had brought Jeri with me and she drove us to McKay Dee hospital. In the meantime we let Mike know and he left Salt Lake to come to the hospital. I also called my parents up in Hyde Park and they drove down. In the ER Ethan had an ultrasound done on his stomach to confirm it was appendicitis and the surgeon came in to speak with us. Once again this brought back so many memories. I was so grateful Mike and my dad were able to give Ethan a blessing. My heart became full with emotion when Mike started the blessing because I knew that Ryan would be there assisting in this blessing. And I knew that Ryan would be with Ethan through this whole process. Just like I'm sure Ryan was with Alex when he had his surgery.

Ethan was so brave, even when they put the IV in. And he really wasn't in a ton of pain. That's why it was confusing that he had this going on. It mostly just hurt when I pushed on his stomach. He's a tough little boy. Well, he was prepped for surgery and went in at about 8 o'clock at night. I was so grateful all the doctors and nurses were so tender and cute with him. It was sad to let them wheel my little Ethan away and I was grateful they gave him medicine before hand that would help him not to be nervous and would help him not remember anything about the operating room. He probably was asleep before he even got into the operating room. The surgery lasted about an hour. The doctor said it went well and that he had moderate appendicitis. It's crazy that it had progressed that far in less than 24 hours. He was in the recovery room waking up for about an hour and then they took him up to his room upstairs. It was so sad to go in and see him so sleepy. But he was his normal self within another hour. And he was starving and excited to be able to play video games in his hospital bed in his room. I stayed the night with him at the hospital. I need to start keeping an over night bag ready to go and take with me anytime I take someone to the doctors. JK

By midnight I was super tired. Ethan was wide awake but I knew he needed his rest so I told him that the "rule" of the hospital was you had to quit playing video games at midnight. So finally he fell asleep and slept very good through the night. When the nurses came in to check his vital signs at four in the morning he woke up a little bit and asked to play PlayStation. I told him he needed to wait till morning. At 8 AM his IV machine started beeping and woke us both up. By that time he was rested and ready to eat and play video games. He spent the rest of the day in the hospital playing video games and watching TV. He was feeling much better. He did some coloring and was excited when Mike brought Jaime and Adam to visit him. He had his appetite back and enjoyed me feeding him in his bed so he could play video games. Boy, I did the same thing for Alex a few years ago. We left at around 4pm after the surgeon came by to see him. All went very well. Ethan actually had a really fun time and if you ask him he will tell you he wants to go back. NOT!! But I am glad it wasn't a scary experience for him. I know he was watched over from above.

So for the next few weeks I had the task of reminding him to take it easy- easier said than done. He was feeling wonderful. I kept him home from school until after Thanksgiving break. I just didn't want him to fall and hurt himself at recess. So he enjoyed many hours of vegging, watching tv and playing video games. We got to spend some good time together. And yes, I did take in an occasional nap watching a movie with him. He's doing great and at first when he would bend too much his tummy was a little sore but other than that you would never know. He slept in my bed and enjoyed all the extra attention. Poor little Adam was a little bit jealous of all the presents and attention he was getting. But little Ethan had been through a lot and deserved it. He's a brave little boy. It reminds me of what Alex went through, but can't even compare in severity. I love all my children very much and it's hard to see them go through hard things.

He's back at school and loving it. The kids in his class had missed him so much. It was precious to see their reactions when I took him back for the first time. One little girl came over and gave him a big hug. He loves to show off his scars. They actually are a little bigger than I had expected. He has three of them. One is on his underwear line and I have asked him not to show that one to everyone for obvious reasons. I wrote Alex and told him. He was sad his brother had to go through what he went through. He said they were scar buddies now.

All drugged up and waiting for surgery

one last trip to the bathroom before going under

After surgery the next morning. He was having a blast playing video games.

He couldn't wait for Adam and Jaime to come visit him.

Snuggling with mom

He pretty much stayed in the position for a week vegging. That's the life. JK

He was showered with gifts and loved it.

Check them out!!!!

We are so blessed Ethan was ok.

We remembered Ryan a few days later due to the craziness on the 12th. We love you Ryan. I can't believe you have been gone 3 1/2 years.

The night before Thanksgiving Adam joined in the fun by cutting his finger badly. He didn't need stitches but it was close. The poor guy was really scared and started shaking and going into shock. Luckily it has healed good but it will still probably scar. He was thrilled to get $5 from his Grandma. We joke that that's a horrible way to earn money.

My sister and her family came to visit from California and brought their new baby pet tortoise. It had wandered into their yard a few days before. It was so stinking cute. We all fell in love with it, especially Jaime. I was surprised at how friendly it was. It loved to be held and have it's head and neck scratched. It would fall asleep in your arms and would eat lettuce out of your hand. My sister is going to try and get us one. The only bad thing is that they can live for 80 years. I guess it could be considered an heirloom... Right??

Jaime sang in a mini choir concert for the West Haven City Lights Ceremony. Ethan really wanted to come. He enjoyed donuts and hot choc while the choirs sang. Afterwards we went to see Santa. Of course Ethan asked for his regular request of a motorcycle. Thank goodness Santa told him he doesn't know how to make them. Santa threw out the suggestion of a bubble gum machine instead. Ethan was good with that. Good idea. Thanks Santa.

Jaime did a great job at her piano recital on Dec 2, 2015. Her song was almost 6 minutes long and she had it practically memorized. We are so proud of her. It's wonderful she loves the piano. What's even better is that I never have to ask her to practice. She's doing it all the time on her own. We actually have to ask her to stop practicing. This is totally opposite from when her older brothers took. I finally caved and let them quit after two years because it became a waste of time and money for all of those involved. I am glad they did at least try, but they never had the love for it like she does. Way to go Girlie !!!!