Never a dull day around here....

Something always has to happen. There's never a dull day around the Geraldo household...here's the latest.

Three days ago Maisie was complaining of a stomachache. This is coming from a four-year-old who once woke up during emergency surgery on her stomach/feeding tube and said her pain was a 2. Out of 10. She does not complain. Something was seriously wrong. For two days I listened to her cry, made her soup, hugged her, let her watch TV all day. I knew she was in some serious pain, but all four of us had been home and out of the hospital at the same time for almost four weeks. I didn't want to break the record. Then, yesterday around lunchtime, she spiked a fever. She was so hot I actually wanted a thermometer but discovered we don't actually own one. Jeff was an angel and went to the store to buy one while I held ice packs to the girl's forehead. It was quite an adventure, he says. It was 9 at night and CVS was closing but he chased the manager down and explained his situation, got the guy to open the door for five minutes. The thermometer announced 105.6 degrees. We called 911 and ten minutes later found ourselves back in the ER. 

Here's the lowdown: On top of gastroenterological dysfunction, a dead half a lung, kidney failure...my baby has a tumor in her belly. Well, shit.

Based on the location and the rapid development (it wasn't there in last month's CT scan) oncologist Dr. Nitari is fairly certain the tumor is cancerous (fuck). Even if it's not, she's eager to get that thing out as quickly as possible. Maisie's internals are so compromised already that any further damage could VERY quickly be fatal. Emergency surgery is scheduled for the 18th. Unfortunately it can't be any sooner than that because of the prep work she'll need. Right now, we're trying to keep Maisie comfortable and at a normal temperature. She's now at 101.8° and going down. The narcotics are keeping her pain mostly at bay, but it's three in the morning and she's woken up a dozen times crying from the pain. Poor baby. Hopefully this chapter will be closed after surgery and a few days in the hospital.

I shouldn't be surprised. This kind of thing happens a lot in kids like Maisie, kids with a compromised internal systems. Basically anytime something is not going exactly the way it should, you're way more at risk for something like cancer to weasel it's way in.