Surgery Update

I saw my surgeon, Dr. Lopoo yesterday. Yep, that is right. 4 doctor appointments and a trip to the ER all in 13 days. With a $40 copay, you can see how my bills add up quickly. Oops! I forgot to tell you about my latest trip to the ER on my last post. My mommy caught a stomach virus on Christmas day and I caught it 2 days later. I threw up 19 times in 6 1/2 hours. I saw my pediatrician that day and she gave me a prescription for Zofran to help me stop vomiting. Mommy had lots of laundry to wash. 2 days later I broke out in a horrible rash and the pediatrician had a full schedule so I had to go to the ER. The rash was all over my body and it was so bad, the doctors thought I had chicken pox. They said not to give me the Zofran anymore incase it was covering up something else going wrong. Without the medicine to keep me from vomiting, I started right back. 4 days later I went to a new pediatrician's office. I want a doctor that will give me an appointment when I need one. Her name is Dr. Guidroz and she is so nice. She spent 30 minutes with me going over my complete history. She even called a pediatric GI, Dr. Alberty, on his cell phone because his office was closed for the holiday. They agreed I had gastroparesis. Which is temporary paralysis of your stomach. It sometimes happens when you have a stomach virus. Dr. Guidroz wrote me a prescription for a stomach "muscle relaxer" that will help my food move down through my stomach. My rash turned out to be an allergic reaction to the Zofran not chicken pox. What bad luck I have! I will always be an easy vomiter and I am allergic to the medication to help me.
I will check into Our Lady Of The Lake Hospital on January 18th for an Upper GI series at 8 AM. My surgery will be the next day. Dr. Lopoo will make the incision in the scar I already have across my belly. If he can reach my appendix, he will go ahead and remove it. Only 5% of people get appendicitis but just to be safe he will be preventing a future surgery. I will be in the hospital for 4-6 days. This may be a surgery I have to get every couple of years as I grow to be a big girl. I just had an Upper GI on November 18th, but the doctor wants another one to check for changes.  So my parents are paying for the same test just two months later. It took 5 hours for me to see the doctor and preregister for my hospital stay. I had to meet with a nurse and an anesthiesiologist to go over my history. The anesthiesiologist called my cardiologist to get my records to make sure it is safe to put me to sleep. What a small world, he is from Gulfport, MS.
Mommy and daddy say they cannot explain what they are feeling. Not just helplessness and worry to see me go through all of this. You really can't understand it until you walk a mile in their shoes. They are embarrassed to ask for finanical help but feel they have no choice. Mommy even had to cancel her health insurance to pay for my monthly medications. Isn't that weird how our country works? Two people that work and pay taxes cannot get help with their sick child but other people who have healthy babies can get free insurance and never receive a bill. I am not judging people but it just seems unfair for my hard working mommy and daddy to be declined assistance. Thank goodness my mommy's nice employer allows her to work from home so she was able to keep her job and stay home with me. If she had any other job there is no way she would be able to work.
Thank you everyone as always for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for my mommy and daddy's strength, guidance for my doctors, and for me a quick recovery.