Last June, we had just moved into our house that we are in now and we were going back to clean our townhouse. Diesel kept saying that he needed to pee but then we would take him and nothing came out. His belly was really, really big and he said it hurt. About the fourth time that he said he needed to go, and having not gone all day, it was really alarming when again, nothing came out. Months leading up to this, he had been completely potty trained with pee but not poop. He was really constipated all the time and sometimes would go weeks without going. I didn't worry about it too much because I had heard that it was difficult to potty train boys and I figured he was just constipated because he was holding it in. Eventually he would just go, right?
Well when the scary, no-pee thing happened, I knew something serious was wrong so I took him to the emergency room. The Dr there gave me a mega-strength laxative and assured me he'd be going as soon as he took it. But he said just in case, to take him to Primary Children's Hospital if nothing happened. Sure enough, NOTHING happened. So the next night I took him down. The Dr did a quick exam and knew right away that he needed to have surgery. She told me she had no idea how his bowels hadn't ruptured yet. And about 45 minutes later, he was in the operating room, I was in complete shock, I had Marley and a 5 month baby at home, my life was still in boxes from the move, but I felt peace knowing that Diesel was in the best care and that he wasn't going to be in pain any longer.
After surgery he stayed in the hospital for 3 nights and then they set us up with an appointment to see a gastroenterologist and set us on our way. At that point all I knew is that he had an abnormally enlarged colon and that's why he wouldn't go to the bathroom for so long, it was all being stored in there.
The next huge shock was when we went to his follow up with the G.I. Dr. We met with her, her nurse practitioner, a psychiatrist, and a nutritionist. At the end, the Dr came back in to tell me that Diesel needed to be on 8 different prescriptions- 2 in the morning and 6 at night. That he would need to come in every 3 months to see all of them for at least a year and a half but probably longer. They gave me a very strict diet that I had no idea how I was going to have a 4 year old stay on. And the worse news, they told me to expect to wait at least a year and a half as well for him to be potty trained. When I heard this, my heart sunk. If that were true, I would be sending him to kindergarten (this coming fall) in diapers. The thought of that killed me knowing the teasing that he would probably have to face. The weeks following were hard. He hated every single one of those medicines and I can't blame him. They stunk! He wanted to eat everything he was used to and it was a fight every single day to tell him no.
Around August, the LDS missionaries came over to meet us. I'm guessing someone sent them over because we hadn't been to church much yet. Normally, my sassy pants would come out and I'd be bugged that someone assumed that we needed the missionaries. But, I must have known that we needed them too. We had been going through a lot of really hard things leading up to this and I think my testimony was really fragile. The missionaries started coming over once a week. Our family fell in love with them and we looked forward to every Wednesday night when we knew that they were coming. They brought such a special spirit into our home.
One Sunday, I woke up really sick with strep throat. Chance called the missionaries and asked if they would come assist him in giving me a blessing. After they gave me a blessing, Diesel asked if they would give him a blessing. One of the elder's said he would and asked if there was something specific that he needed help with. I said he could bless him to overcome everything he was going through with his health. At this point, it had been about 6 weeks since Diesel's appointment and he was still in diapers, it was still a fight every single day about what he could and couldn't eat, and he was still (supposed to) be taking all 8 medicines. The elder gave him a really nice blessing and then they left.
Two days after getting his blessing, Diesel told us he wanted to go to the bathroom on the toilet. I didn't think much of it and honestly thought nothing was going to happen. He had done this plenty of times before and by the time we got to the bathroom, he wouldn't even take his diaper off. Or if he did, he was too constipated to do anything. Well, he went in there, he got up, and he went, people!!! 6 weeks after I was told he wouldn't be able to do that for a year and a half, he did it!!
I'm sure a lot of people will read this and say that the Dr's didn't know what they were talking about or that it was just a complete coincidence. But I know. I know with all my heart that it was that priesthood blessing and Diesel's faith that made this happen. When we had his follow up appointment, his medical team couldn't believe it. They too said it was a miracle. He got the OK to eat whatever he wanted and go off all those yucky medicines and he hasn't had to have another visit with them since.
This was a miraculous recovery for Diesel but it was also a miracle for me. I was going through some really hard things at the time and I know this is something I needed to go through to strengthen my testimony. Do I think Heavenly Father gave Diesel this trial so I could learn something, of course not. Sometimes we just have to go through trials. But I believe that when we go through them we are given tender mercies to help us along the way. I will be forever grateful for those sweet missionaries who made such a lasting impression on our family.
The Red Brick Blondie
