The story of Chloe
On Wednesday, September 27th, 2023 at 2:30 in the morning, my five month old son was up and ready to party. As he was sitting in his bouncer babbling up a storm, he stopped and grunted. I knew that meant diaper change when he was done and as I pulled the diaper back, it was nothing but blood. My significant other and I rushed our son to the emergency room at the children’s OSF in Peoria, Illinois. They hooked him up to IV’s, took blood and tested for twenty-seven different viruses; all coming back negative. As more bloody diapers kept appearing, his hemoglobin levels dropped significantly and a blood transfusion was performed (two of them). A little while later, a doctor had come in and explained to us what Meckle’s Diverticulum was and wanted him tested for that up in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. When we arrived on that floor, he underwent anesthesia for a test (unsure of exact test) the next day on Thursday but the test showed no abnormalities. As the staff let him get back to normal after undergoing anesthesia, they set up another test for Friday morning which consisted of a laparoscopy (1-1.5cm incision made on bellybutton) to be able to put a camera in and look for any abnormalities once again (they were positive it was Meckle’s) and a weight was lifted off of our shoulders when they came back in from surgery and let us know that they removed the Meckle’s, a part of his small bowel and ileum. From September 27th at 3:00 in the morning to well into the evening on September 30th, we sat in the PICU filled with nothing but worry.
From the day we brought him home, despite my wanting a referral to the gastroenterologist and a diagnoses because I just KNEW something was wrong with his GI tract, he was labeled as “colic” for five months. Five months of non-stop screaming and crying. Five months of nothing but pure pain for our child. Five months of being misdiagnosed.
He is now almost seven months old and a happy, healthy baby thanks to the amazing staff at OSF Saint Francis children’s hospital. Thank you for listening to us. Thank you for helping our son. Thank you for being some of the best of the best. You all deserve the world and then some!