Teen Autism

After a scary trip to the emergency room, numerous tests and doctor appointments, and many prayers, we finally have an answer for what’s been going on with Aidan’s insides. Last week’s hour-long scan, the “it’s-probably-not-this-but-let’s-just-rule-it-out” actually turned out positive: a condition called Meckel’s diverticulosis. It occurs in about 2% of the population. Of that 2%, only 5% have symptoms requiring surgery. Of the 5% with symptoms, the vast majority show symptoms by age 2. It is extremely rare for symptoms to be apparent after age 10, which is why they didn’t think it was what Aidan had. In all cases, the diverticulum forms in utero, so Aidan’s has been affecting him for close to thirteen years.

So yes – that part about surgery. Aidan will need to have surgery to remove the diverticulum from his intestines. They also want to schedule a sigmoidoscopy before the surgery to check for polyps or any other problems since we have a family history of colon cancer. So my little guy will go through two invasive procedures in the space of two weeks. I am still trying to wrap my mind around all of this, and Aidan is scared. So scared that he actually told me that he’s scared. He was scared before we found out about the Meckel’s, wondering what was happening with him, and now he’s scared about the surgery. I tried to assuage his fear by mentioning several family members who’ve come through surgery just fine, but the fact is that I’m scared too. I don’t like this one bit. I just keep telling myself that at least it’s fixable. The “good” news is that once the diverticulum is removed and the intestines repaired properly, there are usually no long-term problems. There is some remote risk of post-op complications involving infection, but that’s not going to happen, I tell myself. He will be fine. He’ll be dragging logs at the beach again in no time.

Prayers, please.

This entry (Permalink) was posted on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 10:15 pm and is filed under Health & Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site.