Another Painful Night

We brought Josh in to the hospital around noon Monday to get his blood transfusions. They had him scheduled for 2 units of platelets and 4 units of red blood.

As they started giving him his units of blood, his temperature started to spike and his blood pressure dropped and heart rate went up. Then his blood oxygen levels started to drop. As we got later in the evening he started throwing up and having a sever head ache. It ended up being a really tough night.

By midnight they were having problems with his PICC line clogging up so they were having trouble getting fluids in him. He threw up some more which added to his discomfort. They ran more blood tests and found his potassium was critically low and his kidneys were not functioning properly because of his low blood pressure.

By 2:30 AM he was a little more stable, so I went home for a nap. As I lay down I felt fear grip me just thinking about how fragile Josh's health is. I didn't get much sleep as I lay there praying for Josh's healing and for the faith to walk through another difficult and painful experience. Each time his health deteriorates, we again face the challenge of how quickly he can get sick. I lay there praying for strength as we continue to walk this journey.

Ilene got up around 6:00 am and came back to the hospital at around 7 am and I came up around 8:00. He was still dehydrated, running a fever, and had a head ache. They are trying to determine if he has an infection or if he is reacting to dehydration or even a reaction to the blood transfusion.  At one point this morning his temperature went up to 104.5 so we had to put ice bags all around him.

When you run a fever, you feel cold anyway, I can't imagine having to cool down my body temperature with ice bags when I was already feeling cold. Josh didn't complain much although I could tell how miserable he was.

Throughout the day we had numerous visitors and each one lifted his spirits. The highlight of the morning was when we stood around Josh's bed holding hands with Pastor Rodney and Debra and our nurse Logan and prayed for God's healing of Josh and His grace in all of our lives.

Even later as Logan worked on Josh's PICC line to clear the blood clots, we saw God's faithfulness. At first Logan said he didn't think he could clear the line because nothing would move through it. As he worked on it, I prayed a simple "God please let him clear the line", and with in a minute, Logan said with surprise, "it just cleared up". We both knew that it was an answer to prayer.

As I write this I am tired and emotionally drained. I feel the tears behind my eyes and even thinking of the pain my son is going through rips at my heart. I have told him on many occasions that if there was anyway for me to take his place, to bear the pain for him I would.

I begin to understand the sacrifice that God made for me when He allowed His son to bear the pain of my sin. He gave His son to stand in my place.

I would sacrifice for my family, but I don't know if I could give my sons life for someone else.

It is a great blessing to see my son smile at friends when they come to visit him. I know how poorly he feels, yet he graciously welcomes them with a smile and even cares enough to ask how they are doing. I know he is thankful for your prayers and he is encouraged by your notes and cards and visits. Thank you all for what you are doing.