Ryan had to be rushed to the hospital in Anchorage on Monday. We didn’t know it for sure at the time, but her appendix had burst and needed surgery. I’m very thankful that the weather was good and we were able to get her to Anchorage quickly. She’d been feeling ill since Thursday when she spent the day in Brandy’s classroom getting some rest. Then Brandy stayed home with her on Friday, but we didn’t think too much of it, as she seemed to have recovered by Saturday. Sunday, though, she complained of pain in her right side and we started to really get worried. That’s when we started to suspect that it might be appendicitis.
We were able to take her to the village clinic Sunday evening here in Kotlik, but there was really nothing they could do there. We were able to get her and Brandy a flight out, though, that left Kotlik at eleven am on Monday morning, and would go through St. Mary’s, and get her to Anchorage by four in the afternoon. From there, Brandy took a cab to get her to the hospital. The airplane staff helped a lot. They got her a wheelchair in Anchorage and wheeled her right to the line for cabs. Then the cab driver did the same thing at the hospital, getting Ryan a wheelchair and helping her get into the hospital.
Brandy tells me that everybody has been really friendly and helpful at the hospital. They got Ryan right in and after some tests determined that it was indeed appendicitis, but the doctors decided not to operate right away. Instead, they put her on antibiotics and got her re-hydrated through an IV. They told Brandy that it was better in the long term to have her hydrated and filled with antibiotics before the surgery. They initially told Brandy that they would do the surgery on Tuesday afternoon, but because Ryan was responding well to the antibiotics they ended up doing the surgery instead at 9 am. She came through the surgery just fine, but it looks like she and Brandy might be in the hospital for a few days, possibly even as long as two weeks. The appendix had already burst before she goto to the hospital. In fact, the doctor thought that it might have been burst as long as a week already before the operation. The doctor also said that there was a lot of scar tissue on the appendix and it was possible that this was not the first time that she had had appendicitis. Its possible that she had had it before and that it had just healed naturally. I did not realize that that was even possible.
I was able to talk to Ryan last night, but she wasn’t able to talk back very well. She has a tube going down her throat right now and is very uncomfortable. She hasn’t been able to eat or drink in several days, and defiantly told the nurse and her mom that she wanted water later last night. Even in all of this, she still has spirit. She can’t have any food or water, though, until at least tomorrow, and Brandy and the nurse had to explain that to her. She’s getting all her fluids and nourishment now through her IV.
This will be a lonely Thanksgiving, just Dakotah and me here in Kotlik, but we have much to be thankful for. I know that this is hard, but things could have been much worse. We are thankful that the weather cooperated — imagine if this would have coincided with the storm two weeks ago! — and Brandy was able to get Ryan to the hospital in time. We are thankful that Ryan is in the best hospital in Alaska and well taken care of. We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and though we can’t be together for the holiday, we’re happy that our family is healthy and all will be well.
