Kadee Can't Jump

• About two weeks ago Kadee came home from school and described in some detail how the children had been required to learn Chinese Jump Rope. The steps, she felt were somewhat complicated and she really wanted us to understand each one. I had to start dinner but paused at the top of the stairs into the kitchen to listen to her downtrodden voice when she said, "And, it turns out that I can't jump!" We had a chuckle over it and she reluctantly joined in.
  
  That night Kadee complained of a stomach ache. She had been complaining off and on of a stomach ache for the last three days so this was nothing new. I gave her a children's Pepto Bismol and she went to sleep at the normal time. However, at 10:30 she woke up crying so hard that her teeth were chattering together like she had been outside in the ice and snow. I have never seen someones teeth chatter due to pain so I knew that this was more serious than the average growing pains. I called Kerry in to give her a blessing. Immediately after the blessing the EMT in him took over and he started a series of tests with her.
  
  - He had her stand up and stamp her right foot. She did okay - did not cry out or anything. This is to check if impact causes severe pain on the right side. Turns out she was doing it easy on herself.
  
  - Then he had her lay on the bed and he pressed on the left lower abdomen. Again, she did not cry out.
  
  -Then he pressed on the right side. She screamed at that one.
  
  Kerry and I looked at each other and as we often do, we spoke the same words at the same time: "Time to get dressed." While I was helping Kadee get on socks and shoes she questioned why we were all getting dressed and what was going to happen. Thinking that she would be reassured I explained that we were going to take her to the hospital and have the doctors run some tests for the appendix. She questioned what they would do after the tests. I told her the truth, that they might have to do an operation to take it out. (This was a critical mistake because only a month earlier she had witnessed the problems I had with a major back operation.) By the time we were putting on coats Kadee was greatly improved and said she did not think she needed to go to the hospital - the crying had completely stopped.
  
  We took her anyway just to be safe. She was a real trooper! When the doctor pressed on her stomach she calmly asked him to not push on it anymore - there were no tears. The ultrasound technician apologized for having to press so hard on her stomach and again Kadee calmly asked her not to press on it anymore. Kerry was talking to Kadee when the technician was on the phone with the ER doctor so he missed her disbelieving statement to the doctor that she had climbed up on the bed on her own and she was not even crying. Turns out that the appendix was as big around as a string cheese and extremely inflamed. There was no sign of perforation though so she did not have to have surgery until after 7 am - six hours away.
  
  Kadee spent the night in the ER and went into surgery at 7:20. When she was coming out of the anesthesia she became combative, bit down on the naso gastric tube, and promptly threw up. She had to stay an extra day in the hospital because she ended up with fluid in the upper lobes of both lungs. The pediatric nurses were wonderful! When we were checking out Kadee stated that she was not ready to leave. (This might have had something to do with the fact that the nurses brought her presents every few hours - books, activity books, stuffed animals, Popsicles, pop, and new slippers.)
  
  I am thankful that Kerry is a priesthood holder and he was able to administer a blessing right away. I am also thankful that he has the skills of an EMT as that took the guesswork out of the process and we knew right away to go to the hospital. I learned that sometimes it is better to not tell the whole truth when dealing with a child as that could affect the truth you get in return.