Back to the usual, blogging because of a hospital visit. This one wasn't the usual visit though.

Last night, Miles and I were downstairs watching Ben play his new video game (the new Uncharted game is really cool). Conan was already up in bed since it was probably close to 9:00pm. Ben started complaining that a couple of sunflower seeds he had eaten were giving him really bad heart burn. I thought it was really funny because he had literally only eaten maybe five seeds. Apparently, they give him heart burn though. He went upstairs to get some antacids, and Miles and I waited and waited for him to come back down. A few minutes later, from the basement, we could hear Ben vomiting violently in the bathroom upstairs. That lasted for a good ten minutes. Ben's always had a pretty weak stomach, so i didn't think too much of it, although it did last a lot longer than normally. A few minutes later, I heard some screaming, then Ben yelled for me. I ran upstairs and found him writhing on the floor in the entryway. I asked if he wanted to go to the hospital, and he told me to give him a half hour. He only lasted about 5 minutes though.

We all threw some clothes on since we'd already gotten ready for bed. I called Alex to see if I could drop the kids off, and he quickly answered that he was at the Gateway, but he was on the way home. He said that he would call as soon as he got home. I was so grateful that they were willing to take them even though they weren't at home....and especially because I didn't think about it at the time, but it was Jenn's birthday. Man, I'm a jerk. Anyway, I loaded the kids in the car, and Ben hobbled out. He was definitely in pain when we left, but he seemed okay enough to just take him to Urgent Care. As we drove down Main Street it just got worse and worse though. Every minute or so, he'd clench his chest and scream for about 30 seconds. It got to the point where he was instructing me to run red lights, and obviously, we went straight to the ER.

In all the chaos, I had set my phone down by my purse after talking to Alex and left it at the house. I was a little concerned because how was I supposed to arrange babies without being able to get a hold of him? Whoops! Luckily, I have great in-laws that didn't even go home before coming to the ER. Not long after taking the kids into the waiting area, I saw their van pull up in front of the doors. I don't even know how they got there so fast. Thank you so much Alex and Jenn! You guys are the best!

Not too much happened at the hospital. They gave him morphine, and that really seemed to calm Ben down (and make him a little silly). They did an EKG, x-ray, and a ct, along with blood work. Nothing showed anything terribly telling. I guess one of his kidneys is a little small, but that wouldn't have caused these problems. They narrowed it down to gall bladder problems and/or ulcers, but they ultimately sent us home and told us to come back if it came back. Not super helpful. Although, I'm very glad that it wasn't a heart issue, it would have been so nice to have some sort of answer.

Ben hasn't had any more of those "episodes" since we got back from the hospital, but he did say that he felt like his chest had been run over by a dump truck. Today, he followed up with his regular doctor. I stayed home with the kids, so I honestly don't know what happened. I was asleep when he got home, and he was asleep, and still is, when I woke up. I did gather that he was referred to a gi specialist, and he was given nexium. I'm pretty anxious for Ben to go to a specialist because I've thought that he has ulcers for a long time. I'd definitely like to get it all under control. Our family has enough medical issues as is.