Thursday, August 6, 2009

What's wrong with Rhett?

OK, since so many people don't know what is going on with my little Rhett, and I am not going to go into all the details on face book, I decided that I would put it all down on my blog.
We started potty training Rhett almost a year ago. He is 4 1/2 now. He got peeing down immediately and has never had a problem day or night. Poop on the other hand has been a whole different story. We'd gotten pretty upset, feeling like he was just being too lazy to go sit on the toilet and was instead opting to go in his pants. We had started giving him cold showers to clean him, making him clean out his underwear, and of course trying all different kinds of bribes and incentives, but all to no avail.
At his Dr. apt two weeks ago for his school physical, I mentioned our little problem to see if she had any great words of wisdom for us. Upon feeling his abdomen, she discovered what she called the, "largest, hardest mass she has ever felt on someone so small"! We got sent over to X-ray where they confirmed that he had a huge blockage in his intestines. Going back a little farther into his history, we are concerned that he has what is called Hirshprung's disease. We were able to get an appointment with a Pediatric GI specialist for the 28th of this month. If they confirm that that is what he has, the poor guy is looking at some very serious surgery. I won't go into everything about it. If you are curious you can look it up online. That is what I had to do that night to fully understand what we were up against.
I spent so much time being sick as a child, I was really hoping that my kids could be spared from that agony and discomfort. It kills you as a parent to see your kids hurting or having to go through such things, especially when they can't understand why. We feel so bad for punishing him every time he had an accident. The Dr. said that he really has no idea that it is coming and can't feel it at all. The guilt has been killing me. I wish that I had asked the Dr. about it sooner, but you just keep thinking that he'll eventually get it.
Right now it is just a waiting game until we can get into the specialist, but I promise to keep everyone up to date when we learn anything new. Thanks for all your concern!

7 comments:

Amanda said...

Poor little guy :(
My friends little girl has/had this. She ended up getting surgery when she was a toddler and is now a healthy 8 year old. She has had no problems at all. Hopefully this will be the case for Rhett (is he needs surgery).

I will keep the little guy in my prayers.

Cindy said...

I'm so sorry! I hope you are able to find out what he has and how to fix it very soon. Keep us updated on any good news.

Stacey said...

Poor kid! I think my little niece (on Drew's side) also went through a similar surgery and had a very happy ending. I hope the doctors are able to help him out!

PJ Evers said...

Perhaps your clues will help other parents ask questions first, instead of assuming it's the child's fault. (My friend's little daughter had excruciating pain on her left side. She went for days with the pain, finally having a very thorough doctor discover that her appendix was opposite side of normal. My friend also felt horrible.)
Rhett is in my prayers, Paige.
Patti Evers

Unknown said...

Poor guy! I hate parental guilt...but try not to be too hard on yourself. We all just do the best we can. He is such a cutie! I'll be hoping they can figure it all out and he'll barely remember it in a few years:).

Rebecca said...

I am sorry for you both. At least it will be taken care of, if necessary. Love to all.

laura kate said...

Wow, Paige, seems like you have had your own medical traumas to deal with. Try not to be down on yourself, be grateful you brought up the questions when you did. Thanks for your concerns on my behalf as well, keep us updated on little Rhett.