Don't question a mama's intuition

My nephew, Mackenzie had to have surgery yesterday. Emergency surgery to repair a bowel obstruction. Not the way most fourteen-year-olds like to spend a Saturday night.

It started in the wee hours of the morning Saturday. He awakened his mom, my sister Erica, crying out in pain. She went to him and comforted him and asked all the questions a mama asks. She determined the whole bag of blueberries he had consumed was not agreeing with his stomach, but she kept him in her bed the rest of the night so she could keep a close watch- just in case it was something more serious. 

He was not feeling much better by morning and wasn't looking so good. He said he hurt too bad to get up and take a shower, causing my sister to get quite concerned. She questioned him some more about the exact location and quality of his pain. Was is sharp, did it feel like cramps, was is nausea??? It felt as though he was being stabbed, he said. Her concern turned to panic when she lifted his shirt to see what she described as aliens trying to get out. He had bumps all across his thin little abdomen. She immediately called 911 and attempted to describe what she was seeing. By this time Mac was not really even talking. He was awake, but writhing in pain. The paramedics arrived and began to ask questions. Erica said it was as if a switch had been turned off. They went from quick! lets help this kid, to oh, he has gas. They've called 911 for gas pains. They went through the motions of doing an assessment, but had made their diagnosis. They tried to persuade my sister to take Mac to the hospital herself. Surely he could make the 30 minute drive, after all, it is likely just gas. She was adamant though that an ambulance come. We live in a rural area and the first responders are EMTs from the local fire department. Once the ambulance arrived the EMT who was certain Mac had a bad case of gas gave them his expert opinion and threw in for good measure, that they should not worry about driving with the lights or sirens, following normal traffic rules would be sufficient.  That was around noon. By five Mac was on an operating table.

Lucky for my sister and for Mac, the nurses and doctors were not so quick to diagnose his excruciating pain as gas. Luckily, one look at the dilated loops of bowel that were visible on his abdomen prompted them to put a tube down his nose into his stomach and drain the large amount of fluid that had no place to go. His bowel had twisted around scar tissue from a previous surgery and wrapped around itself, causing a blockage. 

By the grace of God and a mama's intuition, there was no damage to the bowel and Mac is recovering in a hospital room. The scenario could have been much less positive had they waited. 

In the defense of the EMTs, I'm sure they see more than their share of "emergencies" that are really just folks wanting to skip to the head of the line in the ED. Even I thought she may have been over reacting a bit. She does have some dramatic tendencies, but God gave mamas a sixth sense and her's was screaming out that her baby needed attention right away.  Don't ever question a mama's intuition.

Comments

[cindy]

Wow! Glad she trusted that voice we mamas have...and so glad your nephew is safe and recovering.

[Shann]

Amen!! :) I have actually taught my kids and nephew that a mama should always go with her gut. The gut is always right. SO thankful that your nephew is doing ok. That was scary!!

[Cindy]

What a great blessing to her son that she had the intuition or "prompting" to call the EMTs. It could have been so much worse.

[Sandra]

oh wow....so glad that everything is okay! that is scary!

[Ali]

Yes, Mamas do just know. Glad he's okay.

[cybergirly]

Hey, I nominated you for a Kreativ Blogger award here. I love your clever ideas!

[Ms B. Thrift]

Oh wow it's true Mother's just know! It's a shame so many of us get fobbed off as paranoid Mum's when really we just know somethings wrong, I've had it twice now once with my miscarriage (which my GP insisted was constipation!) and when my son stopped walking and was in pain which turned out to be septic arthritis but they thought he was just playing up (at 18 months!!) thankfully both times i became a royal pain the ass and got 2nd opinions and was proved very right, all Mums you must persist and get things checked out, don't be bullied in to burying your keen intuition!

[Lynne in NC]

Oh my! how frightening! I hope he's completely healed soon and that his family is doing well. Good call Mama!!!
Peace.

[Mitzi Cardona]

My 6 week old son was going into hypovolemic shock by the time I finally got him diagnosed with pyloric stenosis. The only words I let his Pediatrician say before I kicked him out of the hospital room were "sometimes we need to stop and listen to the mom."

[Jane Weston]

I mother's intuition is never far off. Well done to your sister to pursue matters. Hope Mackenzie makes a quick recovery!

[Elaine]

Oh my gracious! That poor child! Think what could have happen if Mama had not demanded he be taken to hospital! I had a friend whose daughter had that happen...was told a couple more hours and she would have died. Nothing to mess with for sure!!!Hope and praying for Mac's quick and full recovery!

[Gayla Swingrover]

Amen. God gave us our intuition, gut instinct, whatever you want call it, for us to use. I echo your statement: Never question a Mama's intuition.

[TracyKM]

Yes, moms somehow know something when they need to know it.
Reminds me of my friend, who's 13 year old son recently went 3 days w/o eating, nausea, stomach pain, fever before she took him to the ER. He was there for almost 5 more days before they figured out it was his appendix, which then ruptured. He had ultrasounds and CT scans, etc, and they couldn't figure it out? Sometimes I wonder how doctors get degrees. Glad to know your nephew will be okay!

[laura]

I'm one of those wimps who let people push me around! I'm glad your sister was so insistant! We had a local family who called for the ambulance on a weekly basis for the stupidest things you can imagine. Why? Because they didn't have cable TV and the hospital did. So when something good was on that they wanted to watch, they'd all ride to the hospital and sit around the waiting room watching their 'free' TV. I'm not sure how they got home though!! I kid you not this really happened.

[Fiona]

Good for her, not letting them fob her off. We are dealing with similar issues here and it is very frustrating to be dismissed when we know something is not right.
Hope he recovers quickly and always has Mom in his corner!

[Pellet Stove Insert]

Mothers always know best. It's just a pity many of today's young don't see this and instead of loving their moms back, they turn away and break these precious women's hearts.