On Christmas Eve I worked until noon, when I got home Aubrey told me that her throat hurt worse (than it had in the days previous) and it hurt to swallow. I assumed it was strep throat and wanted to get her to a doctor as soon as possible since I didn't want her to be in pain on Christmas. The clinic closed at noon, so off to the ER we went. Once we saw the doctor he pointed out to me that it was not strep but actually an abscess in the back of Aubrey's throat. Many times an abscess of that size can require surgery, but because of Christmas and that she was not in too much pain (or telling us) he put her on a very strong antibiotic and gave her a shot of steroids to try to shrink the growth. We were given strict orders to return if the pain got worse or the abscess got bigger.
On Christmas Day she did great, and it was difficult to remember that she didn't feel well.
On the 26th we were asked to come back to check on the progress of the antibiotic and see how the abscess looked. The doctor immediately didn't like what he saw, when he looked in her throat. Our next stop was to get a CT scan of the growth to measure how large the pocket (inside the abscess) was. Depending on the measurement we would either continue to hope the meds would shrink it, or we would go see a specialist.
By far the most difficult part of the day for Aubrey was the IV required for the CT scan. She really was tough and did everything that she was told. The abscess was too large to wait, so we were sent to Omaha to see an ENT before the end of the day. Our little girl got REALLY nervous at this point. Being told she needed to go to a bigger hospital, see another doctor, and that we had to hurry just made her anxious and so worried.
Aubrey and I made a quick trip home to grab the essentials and headed to Omaha - by this point it was probably 3:00 and Aubrey had not eaten since breakfast. They told us not to allow her to eat in case surgery was required. We saw the ENT and after seeing Aubrey he recommended surgery to immediately remove her tonsils and adenoids.
Our next stop was Boys Town Pediatric hospital - it was about 5:30 by the time we got there, we were quickly admitted and prepped for surgery. Aubrey was a champ, doing everything they asked of her. It had been a long day filled with lots of unexpected twists and turns.
Our day ended with Aubrey's first overnight stay in a hospital. Her surgery went well - they were able to remove her tonsils, adenoids, and the abscess that started this whole story.
In the end we learned that our girl is one brave lady. And when she has to be, she can be tough as nails. It was so hard to see her panic, and see her weak. But in the end I realize just how lucky we are to have healthy kids. One night in a pediatric hospital is so small compared to what others endure.
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