Lexi remained hospitalized for several days before coming home. She needed supplemental oxygen while in the hospital and came home while still on it. Matt asked the doctor, "Just how long is Lexi going to be on oxygen?"
"As long as she needs it," replied the doctor. Matt thought, What kind of answer was that? Of course she's going to be on it as long as she needs it.
While Lexi had been hospitalized, the doctors noticed that her weight was beginning to plateau. Matt and Julie had decided to go ahead and give Lexi a feeding tube before she fell too far off the growth chart. They had also gotten a second CPAP machine and nebulizer and had started chest therapy for Lexi as well as Landon.
When Lexi was finally discharged, life changed dramatically. Matt and Julie were no longer fighting, but dealing with everything with a sense of humor. Chest therapy sessions became a game.
"Who do you think can get the kids to cough faster?" asked Matt. "Let's have a contest."
"Perfect," said Julie. "Because I have Lexi today and she is a cough machine." Lexi did a fake cough, as if to prove her mother's point.
"Well," said Matt, "we want it more. Right, Landon? Show Daddy your game face." Landon would try to make an intimidating face, which just made everyone laugh.
Matt ended up missing a month of the season due to his sprained ankle. Although he returned to the lineup, his team had lost without him and those four losses had killed their playoff chances.
The offseason soon came. After Lily, Landon and Lexi turned seven, four, and two, respectively, things got crazy at the Saracen house. Lexi was constantly chattering nonstop, though most of it wasn't discernible as speech yet. Landon would point to everything and say, "What's this?" or "Why?" or "What does that do?" He mainly asked these questions about all the medical equipment in the house. Now that he was four, he was beginning to understand a bit more about his condition.
Lily, being a hockey fan, was not happy about the labor dispute in the NHL. She was constantly watching SportsCenter, hoping to get a positive update. Each day, however, brought only bad news.
"Daddy, I don't think there'll be a season this year," Lily told Matt one day.
"Why not?" asked Matt.
"Well," said Lily, "they still are fighting about the whatever-it-is..."
"Collective bargaining agreement," said Matt. As wise beyond her years Lily was, she was still a seven-year-old kid, and it showed occasionally.
"And it doesn't look like they'll stop fighting anytime soon," finished Lily.
Julie said, "Lily, they'll figure something out. They really don't have a choice."
"I hope so, " said Lily.
***
In July, Landon had begun wheezing again. Matt and Julie knew this meant another respiratory infection. They immediately took him to the doctor, who diagnosed him with bronchitis. Luckily, Landon weathered the bronchitis much better than when he'd had pneumonia almost two years earlier.
Matt asked the doctor "Why is Landon not as sick with the bronchitis now than when he had pneumonia two years ago?"
The doctor said, "Well, there are a lot of explanations. One is that he's older, so he can fight infections better as a four-year-old than he could as a two-year-old. Also, he's not nearly as skinny and underweight as he was when he was a toddler, thanks to the tube feedings. So he's stronger and can withstand it better."
Julie said, "That is really great news. So he won't need the respirator this time?"
"So far, he seems to be taking the bronchitis relatively well," said the doctor. "If that keeps up, he won't need the respirator."
"Did you hear that, Landon?" asked Matt. "You probably won't need a machine to help you breathe this time."
"Yay!" said Landon.
"And no PICU, either," added Matt.
"As long as he's doing this well, I see no reason to put him in the PICU," said the doctor.
"Yay!" said Landon, even though he had no idea what the PICU was.
"Do you want to read a story, Landon?" asked Julie.
"Yeah," said Landon. "Let's read Arthur." Landon was very much into Arthur now, and had almost all of the books.
"Okay," said Julie. "We'll read Arthur."
***
Landon recovered from his bronchitis pretty quickly and came home no worse for the wear. The rest of the offseason was uneventful for Matt, and the new season soon began.
All through September, Matt was playing great and got a lot of money for Touchdowns for a Cure.
Before the fourth game of the season, however, Matt felt some pain in his stomach while he was asleep. As it wasn't too severe and didn't last very long, he thought nothing of it. Besides, he was a football player, and aches and pains everywhere on your body was part of the trade.
The pain steadily increased during the hours before kickoff, and during warm-ups, it suddenly began to localize in one spot. Matt came out and played, even though he was starting to sweat profusely and the game hadn't even started yet.
During the first quarter, Matt threw for a touchdown, but it became very clear that something was not right. Matt had never had pain this bad before in his entire life, and it was getting worse by the minute.
As the second quarter began, even Matt's teammates noticed that something was off. In the huddle, one of his offensive linemen said, "Saracen, are you all right?"
Matt gasped, "Yes, I'm fine," but he knew the lineman didn't believe him. Matt didn't even believe himself.
As halftime was approaching, Matt could barely stand fully upright, and the pain was so intense that he couldn't see straight. On the final play of the half, Matt called for a kneel down, took the snap and immediately doubled over in pain. The spectators didn't think anything was unusual, as it just looked like a routine kneel-down.
At halftime, Matt went into the locker room and described his symptoms to the team doctor, who immediately said, "You need to go to the hospital to see what's going on."
Matt immediately called Julie, told her where he was going and why, and went to the hospital.
The doctor at the hospital examined Matt and said, "I think it's very clear what's wrong. This looks like you have appendicitis."
"Appendicitis," repeated Matt. "So I need an appendectomy?"
"Yes," said the doctor. "You need an appendectomy. The sooner, the better. Otherwise, you would be at risk of the appendix rupturing, and that would cause a massive infection that could be fatal."
"Okay," said Matt. "As soon as I tell Julie and my kids what's going on, let's get this done."
Matt soon went into the operating room for an emergency appendectomy. Soon, he woke up and saw Julie, Lily, Landon and Lexi.
"Knock knock," said Julie. "Remember us?"
"Yes," said Matt.
"Hi, Daddy!" said Lexi.
"Does your tummy hurt anymore?" asked Landon.
"Not nearly as much as it did," said Matt.
Lily said, "That's good."
The doctor walked in and said, "Let me tell you something. I am very glad that you immediately went in for surgery. Your appendix had already ruptured. So we put you on antibiotics to stop the infection from turning into peritonitis. "
"When do you think my appendix actually ruptured?" asked Matt.
"Probably no less than five hours ago," said the doctor.
"Whoa!" said Matt. "That means I played an entire half with a ruptured appendix."
"Yes, you did," said the doctor. "You got very lucky. Untreated, a ruptured appendix often leads to peritonitis, which can be fatal. That surgery likely saved your life."
Lily had turned on the TV and said, "Look, Daddy, you're on SportsCenter."
"Cool," said Matt. Then he looked at Julie and said, "Have you noticed that all my ailments and injuries have occurred in October? Concussion, October. Sprained ankle, October."
"Technically, your sprained ankle was in September," said Julie.
"Right," said Matt. "But it was right at the end of September and it caused me to miss all the October games. And now, appendectomy, October. Why is October such a bad month for me?"
"I don't know," said Julie, "but October is the spookiest month of the year."
"'Cause Halloween is in October," piped up Landon.
Matt was glad that his family could all keep their senses of humor. But he was frustrated at another season being cut short by something out of his control.
