It’s Hard When Your Child is Hurting

Usually, if I get behind on posting on here it is because I am busily trying to get about a thousand things done at once for the shop (which is what happened this last month).  But the added radio silence right now has been because since Weds of last week my oldest son, Josiah who is 5 (6 in November) has been in the PICU at a children’s hospital.   Here’s kind of a quick look at what’s been going on.

All three of the kids had a little bit of running noises, coughing etc. lately.  Last Monday night Josiah’s breathing got pretty bad and we started off Tuesday with a nebulizer treatment.  Ken took him to school and mentioned to his teacher he was having some trouble.  He came home from school early and we did a couple more nebulizer treatments through the day.  On Tuesday night he came into our room and said his chest was hurting.  Ken was able to get him into the doctor early for a 9 am appointment.  His doctor gave him three albuterol treatments and his breathing was not clearing up so she immediately put him on oxygen and said we need to get him to the ER at the children’s hospital.  Because he needed to stay on oxygen and the children’s hospital is about 40 minutes away (with no traffic) they rode in an ambulance.

From the ER we learned Josiah was pretty sick.  He was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit where he is now.  From the time we went to the doctor’s office on Wednesday morning till he was intubated on Thursday he had a mask on and had not been able to drink water or have any food.  All things considered, even at his worst, Josiah has been a champ.  He got pretty exacerbated with not being able to have water and his tolerance for the mask decreased as time went on.  He had had several pokes along the way which also increased his intolerance for needles as well.

It has been hard seeing him sedated with so many tubes attached to him but it has been a bit easier than seeing him scared and uncomfortable.  This will most likely continue to be a slow process as they tweak things and try to see what works.  Several things about his case have been a mystery to all involved.  They have been able to wean him off of a few medications the last couple days which is encouraging.  With it being Monday there are new attending doctors so with fresh eyes there may be new ideas of what to try.

Josiah does wake up a bit from time to time and can nod or shake his head no and likes it when we read star wars books to him.  He has also enjoyed hearing cards read to him from all of his friends.  Of course, he is still heavily medicated so he won’t remember any of it later on.

Thankfully, we have so many amazing friends and family that we have been overwhelmed with support and love.  The two little ones have been happily staying with a dear family who have 3 kids of their own.  With all the play they are doing it has helped distract them from being away from home and mom and dad.  William turned 1 at the end of September so I was working on weaning him but this has sped the process up a bit.  So, now I only drive to see him twice a day.  It’s a complication but necessary and it allows me to see my little ones.  I also decided to spend last night at home to get some better rest than at the hospital and take it easy today with my kids.  Then we’ll be energized and ready to continue on.

We have faith that the Lord will take care of our precious boy.  We are also so thankful that he is in the awesome care of the wonderful doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, etc at the hospital.

Yesterday, when a doctor was telling us the risks involved with a procedure they wanted to try (which thankfully went fine but was inconclusive) I turned around and looked out the window to collect myself and saw the lovely garden outside.  It instantly brought these verses of Jesus talking to my mind.  They aren’t specifically about healing but if God made and loves the flowers outside the hospital room window than how much more does He love my son and want him to be well.

 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?   Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?   And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?  And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,  yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!  Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’  For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Matthew 6:25-34

I will write again when there is something significant to say.

Any prayers would be appreciated!