"As the jet was taxiing, I felt my abdomen continuously pulsing and I thought I had food poisoning. The cramps became unbearable and I had to go the bathroom and throw up," Sgt. Hernandez said Wednesday from his bed at Baltimore Washington Medical Center.

The Air Force staff sergeant and his son, Julian, were on their way from their home in Fresno, Calif., to Germany, where they will live for at least three years while he works on F-16 avionics.

"I tried to go back to my seat, but this time sharp pains came back in my stomach and I had to go back to the bathroom," he said. "I kept feeling really hot then really cold. The flight attendants tried to do everything they could for me. Eventually, they told the captain they would have to let me off."

Sgt. Hernandez was transported to BWMC, where doctors told him he would need surgery. Suddenly, a new problem arose - What would happen to Julian?

"I thought I only had food poisoning, so I thought he could stick around. When they told me I needed surgery, I told them to call my mother (in Fresno)," Sgt. Hernandez said.

Nurses at BWMC told him that Julian might have to be placed into the care of child services.

"I had to be there by midnight if I wanted to prevent him from going to child services, but I had to drive three hours to LAX before a five-hour flight. So there was no way I was going to get there in time," said Pauline Hershey-Gambino, the sergeant's mother.

The hospital then did the Hernandezes a favor by stepping in and admitting Julian to the pediatric wing for the night so he could be near his father.

Helen Goodall, the nursing supervisor at the hospital, was one of the officials who made the executive decision.

"The child would have been placed in foster care, but our census was low enough that we had room to admit him. We didn't want to separate them if it was at all possible," Ms. Goodall said.

At first the doctors thought Sgt. Hernandez needed an emergency appendectomy. But he'd already had that operation when he was born, he said.

After a few X-rays and CAT scans, it was concluded that he had a twisted small intestine that could have been caused by the appendectomy he received as an infant, Sgt. Hernandez said.

He underwent successful laparoscopic surgery to correct the problem. The technique is a minimally invasive surgery similar to arthroscopic surgery.

Sgt. Hernandez said he only has one complaint: Because of the nature of his condition, he was not allowed to eat.

"They've treated me really, really well other than them starving me," he said.

He has gone a week without solid food. He said the doctors told him it will take some time to reintroduce the food to his diet.

He still has a positive outlook on the situation.

"If anything, it helps me because all my furniture will be (in Germany) by the time I get there," he said.

He explained when moving to another country it usually takes months for all furniture to reach the destination. Now, Sgt. Hernandez will be taking some time to recuperate in California, allowing his furniture to get a head start.

He had to spend a year away from his son because he was previously stationed in Songtan, South Korea.

"This will be the first time we will be together one-on-one," he said.