Andrew's Visit

Andrew and his parents came to visit on Thursday, January 5th and due to unforseen circumstances had to stay until Friday, January 13th....more on that at the bottom of the blog entry.

So there was plenty of time for snuggling!

 And feeding!

We also got in a few stroller rides!

 Close-up of Andrew on his first stroller ride.

 Then there was play time .....

and nap time!

    Photo of Jill in the ER at Presbyterian Hospital of Plano.
(see story below - caution gorry details...but no gorry photos)

When Jill arrived on Thursday, she said her bottom hurt.  She had Josh check it later that evening and found she had an external hemmorhoid due to straining to have a bowel movement. 

Friday, she was even in more pain and he said it was even larger and it was not able to be reduced. I gave her some PrepH suppositories aand Dulcolax stool softeners and she called her gynecologist in The Woodlands for further advice.

By Saturday, the pain was way worse and she allowed me to take a look.  It was the largest hemmorhoid I've personally seen. No way to reduce something that large. It was thrombosed, meaning filled with blood clot(s).  Her gynecologist called in a prescription for a Lidocaine/Hydrocortisone cream which did not provide relief for longer than 10 minutes.

Sunday was even more painful and it hurt for Jill to walk, sit, lay down and she began bleeding spontaneously. Her and Josh decided to stay for a while longer as she wouldn't be able to make the 4 hour car ride home. 

Monday I got her in to see my primary care physician, whom Jill had seen when she lived at home.  The doctor examined her around 4pm on Monday and referred her to the Emergency Room for a possible GI bleed.  We stopped by the house to inform Josh and proceeded to the ER.  Jill had labs taken to rule out anemia and then had an I&D (Incision & Drainage) of the thrombosed external hemmorhoid (it was the size of a Texas pecan). OUCH!  The ER doctor had to make 2 incisions to get 3 blood clots removed. A dressing was applied and she was instructed to follow up with a colon and rectal surgeon.  We were home by 9pm.

On Tuesday, I took her to the colon and rectal surgeon. He had 2 recommendation
1) Wait 10-14 days for the swelling to decrease and then remove the remaining skin tissue
2) Remove the hemmorhoid completely today, get some stitches and come back in a few days for a recheck.

Jill opted for the immediate relief and the hemmorhoid was removed, 7 stitches were done and a dressing was applied.  She felt better immediately, that is, until the numbing medication wore off.

Today, Friday, she went back to the surgeon for a re-check and he said she was ok to go home.
So they packed up their car and took Andrew home.  I'm very glad they were here when all this happened as Josh had extra people around to take care of Jill and Andrew.  I'm missing them already but hoping the next visit will be less eventful!