So. I took Froot Loop to the hospital last night. To the EMERGENCY ROOM. 

I'll tell y'all right now he's okay. Don't worry. Let me back up though to the beginning. 

*doolooloo doolooloo doolooloo doolooloo*

I guess it all begins a couple of years ago when Froot Loop had a string of ear infections. I won't get into much detail since I wrote about our  Visit with the ENT HERE, but the tl;dr is that he had frequent ear infections so our doctor recommended an ENT. 

Soon after, we were Scheduling Surgery HERE. Then, his Surgery was on still on Schedule. Surgery day came, and I wrote the Update on Froot Loop HERE. He was fine, and then we had our ENT Followup HERE a couple of weeks later. 

Basically, his adenoid removal and ear tube insertion surgeries were major successes and not only did they help him with his frequent ear infections and breathing issues, but they also helped him hear better (which improved his speech) and also helped with his behavior! 

So, that was back in November of 2016, a couple of weeks before he started Pre-K. We're almost a year and a half later now. He still has his ear tubes (or at least did), and when we all had ear/nose/throat infections a few weeks ago, our family doctor (who used to be an ENT assistant) said all looked well with his ear tubes. We took very good care of those ear tubes, having him wear silicone putty ear plugs whenver he went swimming (he stopped wearing them in the bathtub or shower about 6 months after his surgery). 

Yeah, ANYWAY... 

last night, Froot Loop and Cocoa Puff had a bath as usual and went right to bed. A little bit later, Froot Loop walked down to the living room. We started to tell him to go back to bed (He does this ALMOST every night), but he said I"M BLEEDING! Immediately, Honey Graham jumped up and took a look and I did too and there was blood ALL OVER the side of his neck and coming out of his ear. 

Time stopped and I nearly had a heart attack. 

I asked him what happened and he said he "put his finger in his ear and took it out and thought it was water but it was sticky so it was blood" so he came out. I asked him if his head hurt, if his tummy hurt, if his ear hurt... if he put anything in his ear... etc. etc. He said no no no no no no. After I got him cleaned up, I took his temp and it was normal. I started to clean out the inside of his ear (don't worry, I didn't go farther than the tip of the cotton swab) with the swabs and the blood just kept coming. I got out our otoscope and checked inside and I couldn't see anything past all the blood. I continued to clean it out and recheck with the otoscope while Honey Graham looked up what we should do. I called my mom and he called the nurse line to our health insurance but apparently there was some miscommunication and he IS NOT ON OUR PLAN RIGHT NOW! (heart drops). He called a nurse line to a local hospital and they said that since it's been bleeding for more than 10 minutes and since it was more than a couple drops of blood (yeah, it was MUCH more than a few drops of blood... MUCH MUCH more), to bring him to the ER. 

Soooo, Froot Loop packed up his favorite stuffed animal, his pillow, and his Kindle Fire and I grabbed a box of crackers and some drinks and my phone and charger and got in the car. My parents were going to meet us about halfway there and pick us up and drive us the rest of the way. Fine with me... I was tired and not thinking clearly. 

So it was an HOUR drive to the nearest pediatric hospital. Meanwhile, Honey Graham got us all checked in. 

We arrived and I signed papers and we sat in the pediatric waiting room. Dinosaur Train was on, so Froot Loop watched that and played on his Kindle Fire until it was our turn.

They took Froot Loop's vitals and showed us to our room where we waited some more. 

... and waited

...and waited some more

Finally, the doc came in and took a look at his ears and said she couldn't even see the ear tube in there due to all the blood but what she thought happened was that his ear tube was prematurely dislodged before it was ready to come out (think... like a loose tooth that is pulled out before it's ready). Usually, when ear tubes come out, there's no blood or a little bit of blood, and sometimes, there's more, but she said this was quite a bit, especially since I had already cleaned up so much. 

His other ear was VERY waxy and had "too much wax" according to her. She was VERY nice and said we did the right thing coming in because there's essentially an open wound in his ear and he needs antibiotics and he needs them now. She prescribed some antibiotics and gave instructions on how to put a cotton ball on the outside of his ear and said we need to follow up with our family doctor or an ENT in a day or two to get the ears irrigated and check on those tubes again. 

Fiiiiiiiiine.... Then she left and said they'd be back with our discharge papers. 

Finally, another person came in and I finished filling out paperwork. I asked her a few questions and she couldn't answer them since she was just there to arrange insurance and payment. At least she let me fill out the insurance and the non insurance forms so we can call the stupid health insurance company again and find out what the #*$&* is going on. Then, she left. 

The doc poked her head in and apologized for the wait because they were dealing with a dislocation on a toddler (ouch). So we waited even more... 

I was starting to think they forgot about us and I was getting REALLY tired and starting to get a little crabby. I was texting my mom asking if I should open the door and ask what was going on. 

Finally, the nurse came back in and gave Froot Loop his first dose of antibiotics and our discharge papers and his prescription. We went back to my parents and made the hour drive home. 

Froot Loop was fine today... he was goofy and his ear looked like the fresh bleeding had stopped. He said his ear only hurt a little (which doesn't mean much because the kid has like, superhuman pain tolerance). He was crabby all day though. 

I took him to Walmart to get his prescription filled since that was the closest pharmacy open on a Sunday morning (35 minutes away). I let him pick out another Shopkins Cutie Car while we were there and some snacks as well. 

After dinner, he just hit the wall. He was soooooo tired that he couldn't do anything except yell at us and cry. I finally just tried to get him to go to bed (at about 5:30!) and he just would not go to bed. I think he was kind of worried about bleeding again even though I put the cotton ball in his ear and put a couple bandaids over it. Finally, I just told him that his brother and he would switch beds tonight and that way, he could sleep in my room. That helped, but he still was too tired to sleep. I told him to grab a blanket and curl up on the couch next to me and as long as he was quiet and had his eyes closed, he could stay there. He fell asleep not soon after and slept for about an hour or so. Then, he woke up and I got him into his brother's bed. He's come out several times since then, but I'm going to bed soon so hopefully he'll go to sleep and actually sleep tonight. I'm SOOOOO tired as well. 

All in all, he was a champ though. He wasn't scared and he thought it was a pretty big adventure. He was so brave, just like at our previous ER visit HERE. Big, brave boy. 

So, I've got to get him into our doctor tomorrow and hope they'll do the irrigation for us since I do not want to drive an hour to an ENT... 

and I really hope our stupid insurance company figures out this issue with the kids not being on our insurance plan and backdates it to the beginning of the year otherwise we're in pretty deep trouble financially here. 

In other news, my grandma is not doing well. I went up to visit her a couple weeks ago (see post HERE and her kidneys are doing a little better, but she caught the flu and that combined with her congestive heart failure is not a good mix. She's malnourished and dehydrated and they can't do much for her because whenever they try to give her fluids, they just accumulate around her lungs so she can't breathe. She went to the hospital a week ago for her flu and just got back to her rehab center on Monday... and they took her back again today. HER LIPS WERE BLUE! She slept all day (which she never does), she won't eat or drink, and she's just not well. Her heart has been literally falling apart for several months now, which is why she had to move to rehab in the first place and there's nothing more they can do for her since she's too weak for any more surgeries. I'm not sure she'll be alive by this time tomorrow, but in all honesty, maybe that would be a blessing. She's old and weak and she's had such a hard life since my grandpa died a decade ago. She's ready to be with him in Heaven and I just don't want her to suffer anymore. 

Soooooo, I'm going to take this week off of blogging any new posts. I have a few posts I want to work on, as well as some new stuff for the Etsy store. I have an old series of posts I want to breathe some new life into, so I'll still be around a bit on social media. 

If you're the praying type, please pray for my family right now, and especially for my grandma. Also please pray that Froot Loop's ear is okay and we don't have to have any more surgeries and that the insurance issues get figured out. If you're not the praying type, then please send whatever positive thoughts you can spare. 

Normal posts should resume next week hopefully. I have a post about essential oils coming up, as well as a couple more reviews and an update on Froot Loop's special education. I also have a few toddler crafts and pre-k activities I want to write up too. 

So take care, y'all and I'll see you soon.