Roderick Unruh Roderick Unruh

First post: Aug 23, 2017 Latest post: Jul 20, 2018
Tuesday, August 22 was enrollment night at school for Roderick. He got all his school supplies arranged in his desk just so and it was adjusted to fit him. We went home and went to bed, SO excited for the next day. His first day of first grade! At 2:00 Wednesday morning, Rod came to our bed and said his tummy hurt and he felt like throwing up. I thought maybe it was just nerves or something at first because he had been totally fine when we went to bed. I sat up with him for a while but he seemed to be in more pain and it wasn't going away. We gave him Tylenol but that didn't help. All the while I was googling his symptoms and trying to figure out what could be the matter. His pain was so intense I finally thought it must be appendicitis. At any rate we felt like he should be seen by a doctor so Rod and I headed out to the ER at Valley Children's Hospital at 5:00. Thankfully there was not a wait in the ER. After telling the nurses his symptoms and talking to the Drs, they agreed that it sounded like appendicitis and started to prepare for surgery. So at that point we knew there was going to be no first day of school for Rod. I called Quenton who was at home with Donovan (2) and Joelle (1) . He found a place for the children and came down right away. By the time Q got there, Roderick had been to ultrasound and looking back, there was a time when the technician just kinda got quiet. I think she knew that it was not appendicitis. So back to the ER we went and waited for a CT scan. It was several more hours before we would get the results from the CT scan. So more waiting and Roderick was getting morphine for pain. A social worker came in to see us and several nurses dug into their lockers and brought some cool toys for Rod. We were still thinking appendicitis but when Dr. Razzaqi came in and introduced himself as the oncologist, I knew. He was very gentle but clear. The tests show a tumor on his right kidney. Your child has cancer. The tumor was 11 centimeters or 5 inches and had ruptured which was why Rod was in so much pain. Surgery was scheduled for 11:30 on Thursday.

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