Sunday started with Zack waking me from a sound sleep "Mom, we have a problem!" I bolt straight up in bed and for the first time am thinking "it's the plumbing... the washer... " I think of everything, but him!! How nice to do that! Wrong!! As he stands in front of me, blood is running down his stomach, from his belly button. Since he is on blood thinner shots every morning, I'm not surprised at how fast he is bleeding, just the fact that he is at all. I have him lay down on the bed and cover the area with a towel, I immediately pick up the phone and call the Cancer Center. While waiting for her call, Zack starts to tear up, "Mom, they are going to make me go to the hospital, I DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE EFFIN HOSPITAL!!!" The phone rings and it is Dr. Bottom, she is surprised. She said at first she was trying to think of a baby "they would have this issue, but not a young man, not Zack!" All we can figure is he has some sort of infection that is bleeding easily due to the blood thinners. She tells me there is no need to come in, it is not related to the treatments and to simply clean the area and keep it bandaged. She is perplexed, but not worried. I tell her "Well... I haven't REALLY cut the umbilical cord yet, could it be that?" She laughs and says, "It''s entirely possible." We are advised to keep an eye on him for fever or any other symptoms that are not "normal". Zack is finally calm, realizing we don't have to rush out. I clean and dress the area and he returns to bed to rest.
Still a bit shook up, I settle on the couch in front of "24". It is a great distraction for me and slowly I am working through the fear. I know he is okay, but man, enough is enough already. This kid needs a rest from all of this! The emotions take over as soon as I see Frank, who had been fishing with Matt, I comes up to me and I start to cry. I explain what happened and that Zack is okay, it just freaked me and HIM out! He goes into the house to check on Zack and offers his support. By this time, Zack is calm and resting. He doesn't have the energy to do much and continually has a headache. This is unusual after a double transfusion but I think it's more the fear of what happened. Fear is debilitating and can drain you very quickly, this is something I have found from personal experience through this journey of ours.
Zack spends the rest of the day in his room, resting and watching television. I get a burst of energy and decide to mop and wax all of our floors. It's amazing how a relatively "small" 1500 square foot house, becomes 3000 sq. foot. It sure felt like it. The funny part is, I finished seven loads of laundry and the floors and THEN realized at 9:30 pm, that I forgot to wash our on suite bathroom floor. Naturally, I couldn't go to sleep without that one being done as well. There is something about having clean floors, what can I say, I'm barefoot all of the time!! Frank and I check in on Zack throughout the day. He is upset because some kid owes him a refund on a defunct car part, for 8 weeks now and keeps making excuses. He will learn, money first then return!! Life lesson! Again..... I finally settle in around 10 pm, watch "The Atlanta Housewives", yes I'm one of them. Frank is comfortable on the couch with the two animals, or maybe they are comfortable with him! "They love their Daddy".
We awake early Monday morning. Both Frank and I are ready for a full days work. We let Zack sleep in and rest. With the headaches and the bleeding (which was off and on all day yesterday), we know he needs the rest and possibly another transfusion tomorrow. (Headaches are usually a sign of that, although the pollen count in our small town is pretty high). Our days went quite nicely for both of us. Zack did get plenty of rest, which pleases me. Once finished at work, I head over to the Boy Scout meeting to see if we can borrow their grill for the fundraiser. It has served it's purpose many times when Scouts had their family cookouts and will be perfect for the expected crowd (75 tickets sold so far and many expected at the door). It was a lot more relaxing this time around to see everyone. They had arranged for six boys to help on Saturday as well, they will bring the American Flag and Troop 701 Flag as well. The leaders told me there were even boys that didn't care if they got service hours, or that they didn't know Zack, they wanted to be there to help!! These are some amazing young men..
Zack and Donald (yes, he's back in the picture again) met me at the church where the Boy Scouts meet. They were there to pick up the grill, so we could get it cleaned up and ready for the big event! Things are coming together so smoothly (or at least from where I am sitting). I arrive home to a wonderful meal, I started the stew last night and Frank finished up with the "fixings".
As I close the blog for the night, I would ask that everyone reading this send positive energy to Boston. We may not know for awhile what happened, but one thing is for sure, they need positive thoughts!! We have dear friends , Lee's daughter Benna, her husband Seth and their children and family there. I have heard word that they are all okay, but this must still be so frightening to them. Let's hope this mystery is solved quickly without more incidents.
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