Where have we been???

What a week it has been!!!! The Lord has been teaching me to trust in his sovereignty over the last 7 days! During Sunday School last week, our teacher challenged us... when life throws you a curve ball, how do you handle it? Do you complain and ask "why me?" or do you trust that the Lord has a plan for that curve ball? Do you trust that you are not in control and God IS? Do you trust that the Lord has a plan for you and that it is a perfect plan? Little did I know just how often these questions would come to mind in the days that followed...

That's Nathan, laying in a bed at the second ER of Friday night, hooked up to an IV looking pitiful. This pic was taken around 2am (okay so really it was early Saturday morning). So why in the world was little NayNay at the ER? Well, as I mentioned in my last post, we went to visit my mom Tues-Thurs and Tues night, Nathan spiked a high fever. We stayed for a few days, thankful for company as Chad was out of town in FL for the week. I guess I should mention that Thursday of the week before Nathan was diagnosed with strep and sent home on antibiotics). The fever was unrelenting and Nathan grew more and more weak, so Thursday morning, we headed back home to take a visit to the pediatrician. When we arrived at 330, Nathan was pitiful. His fever was 103.9 and he had no desire to eat or drink, but was still compliant to drink when asked. The doc said he most likely had the flu and prescribed tamiflu, and sent us home quarantined and she told me to keep him hydrated and let him rest. Thursday night was awful and Nathan was up (like the nights prior) every 60-90 minutes fighting off this really high fever. He began to show signs of congestion and was really lethargic. By Friday afternoon, he was too weak to walk and I had to force him to drink pedialyte by holding him down and shooting it in his mouth via syringe. This obviously upset him and I happened to notice he had no tears when he cried. He was also burning up and had a fever of 104.8 (we'd been doing motrin and tylenol alternated every 3 hours for days so why did he still have a fever???). I called the pediatrician and they sent us straight to the ER. Now, it's Friday late afternoon and the biggest snowstorm in forever had begun to descend upon our southeastern state. Chad is still in FL on business and it's snowing so hard I could hardly see across the street. I called my neighbor Kim and she was happy to come with us to the ER. Nathan was too lethargic to care where we were and he just hung on me, listless and burning up. He'd lost 2.5 pounds in 24 hours (likely all fluid). His fever was 104.8 and he was well past dehydrated. Thankfully, they were able to start an IV and load him up with fluids. Within a half hour, he was charming the nurses with his funny demeanor and asking for yellow Popsicles. An hour later he was barely able to talk and moaning. They made the call to send us to the local children's hospital for admission. At this point, Chad's flight back to NC had been cancelled and he and three other guys had rented a car to make the 12 hour drive through the snow back home. The doc told me they wanted to transfer Nathan via ambulance to the hospital and I declined and begged them to let me drive him. I thought the ride in the back of an ambulance without mommy would be too traumatic for him. The doc agreed and then came a need for a new plan. It was after midnight and there was a good 4 inches of snow on the ground. Bethany, my best buddy, didn't need to risk exposure to whatever Nathan had, but her sweet hubby happily agreed to drive nathan and I through the snow to the children's hospital and stay with us for a while. When we arrived at the ER, the ran a battery of tests and ruled out many of the scary things, but the tests themselves were pretty scary for Nathan. A chest x-ray, neck x-ray, catheter to get urine sample, blood work, rectal temps every 2 hours, nasal swab for respiratory viruses... and it just continued. Tim stayed until after 3am helping support us and keeping Nathan calm.

Around 530am we were finally admitted into a private room and about 15 minutes later, Chad made it to the hospital. Nathan had been up all night and was combative (understandably) and distraught. Poor kiddo. He was so happy to see his daddy and before long, he and daddy were both snoring, curled up together in the crib in Nathan's room. So sweet!

We were discharged around noon on Saturday, and thankful to be headed home where Nathan could rest and recharge. We've been home since Saturday, but the fever has remained. It's the worst at night, and last night was higher than it'd ever been. He's congested and has a hard time breathing through all the snot and so night time is tough on him. He still wakes about every 1.5-2 hours and needs help settling down. Last night was a bit scary as his respirations were super high as well as his heart rate, but the Lord was faithful and helped settle Nathan to sleep which he desperately needed. This morning we went to the pediatrician and they ran a few more tests and ruled out a few more things. At this point, here's what we know...

This little boy is tired of feeling poopy! He's had a high fever for 7 days and is not able to kick it!

He doesn't have pneumonia, spinal meningitis, the flu, h1n1, rsv, or an abscess, and the strep is gone. He has a slight cough, congestion, his belly and head hurt and often he has body aches. His throat is red and swollen. So this leaves us waiting on test results to see if he has mono or something else I can't remember. Please keep this little guy in your prayers...

Back to God's sovereignty... it's been so amazing to go through this for the last week and KNOW that God is in control and that I have nothing to fear. I have been able to fully trust that the Lord knows what is going on and that he has a perfect plan for us. It's been so comforting to face this battle knowing that the Lord is right by our sides. I was never alone, and the Lord's peace and comforting arms were constantly there. I'm so thankful for this insight and way of thinking. Why complain that N is in the hospital when I can use this opportunity to proclaim God's goodness and his love for us. He doesn't want Nathan to be sick, but this is not a perfect world. What He does want is for me to trust Him and believe that He knows what is going on... and that is exactly what we are doing... every step of the way. This curve ball is one that hasn't knocked me off course. PRAISE JESUS!!!