Caden has been fever free for about 48 hours now. He is still feeling pretty rough with a cough and lots of congestion. He has been to the pediatrician three times and the the hospital twice in the past three days. The official diagnosis that was delivered was pneumonia. Nothing grew in the blood cultures and he tested negative for flu and RSV. There was a focused wet sound that became noticeable in Caden’s lower left lung that was heard by two different doctors. Caden ended up getting two of the rocephin shots (very strong antibiotic). He is now on an oral (g-tube) antibiotic and a decongestant. He is getting breathing treatments four times per day. The breathing treatments are for a little wheezing and to help break up the congestion so get can get it out with the suction machine.
Our big boy Riley has been hanging in there with these numerous doctor visits even after getting three different immunization shots during his 4 year-old well visit on Monday. He was a little cautious at the prdiatrician’s office on Tuesday making for certain that he was not there to get any more shots. Riley has been such a loving and comforting brother to Caden.
Sherry and I have been standing firm. I shared the following scripture referecne with a friend today in response to the question of how we are doing.
“Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you. Be careful–watch out for attacks from Satan…Stand firm when he attacks. Trust the Lord…To Him be all power over all things, forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:7-11 (TLB)
There is no doubt that during our time on this earth we will never come to a full understanding of how our simple little human circumstances fit into God’s master plan for his kingdom. I realized today that it is very easy to get caught up in what seems to be very big problems. I have found myself caught up in the “oh what a big deal this is” feeling about our situation. As I went back to read and meditate on this passage from First Peter this evening, I realized that in my paraphrasing of this already paraphrased translation, I left out a part of this that really turned it into a much more self-centered reference than I realized. I left a very important part of verse nine out. The whole verse reads like this:
“Stand firm when he attacks. Trust the Lord; and remember that other Christians all around the world are going through these sufferings too.”
I realize the context of this passage is not talking about parents with sick kids, but I still believe it fits in our situation as well as some others.
I don’t have to look very far to see others suffering and you probably don’t either. I have friends and/or family members who are suffering in their own way: one who has been called to the bedside of a sister because the sister is not expected to live much longer, another who is going through a divorce with five young children at home, another with an unidentified lung disease, another with a Mom who is battling cancer, another whose father is up against a possible Parkinson’s diagnosis, two others who are suffering from flu and pneumonia, another who is battling hepatitis C, and another who has been laid off from a job.
These people I know very well and I have seen and/or spoke to most of them in the past week. All of these people have a common theme with me. The have all been worried about me and my family even though each has been going through as much if not worse than us. Their lives have shown to me this week that they have been standing firm, trusting the Lord, and letting him have all their worries and cares. What awesome testimonies I have been living in the middle of this week. What a wonderful lesson I have learned tonight.
“…Trust the Lord; and remember that other Christians all around the world are going through these sufferings too.”