Our next medical crisis has entered our life.  A completely unexpected medical crisis.  Isn’t that how it is often?  Life is rocking along.  Things are beginning to be routine and then “bam”!  Then out of nowhere, you are hit with something that takes the wind out of your sails.  Well, that just happened!

Playing with Fire

Conner burnt his finger about two weeks ago.  Yes, he was doing something a teenage boy would do.   And Conner has always had a thing for playing with fire.  I honestly have thanked God on some days that my house has not been accidentally set on fire.  Lol!  Let’s just say he has loved to experiment with fire.  Will fire make a ping pong expand?  Will fire melt an end of a zip tie so that it won’t go through the locking mechanism?  He even discovered a cool science trick to setting these coffee filters on fire and watching them float upwards.  And I am all about my kids learning naturally so I have allowed such shenanigans!  This particular burn happened when he was trying to burn the end of a zip tie.  And very quickly melted plastic was on his finger.

I questioned his band-aids one day and he shook his head and said mom don’t even ask.  So I didn’t.  I left it alone!  Smart moms know when to question their kids and when it’s just not that important.  Right?  I’m questioning that philosophy at the moment!

He has taken very good care of his fingers.  One finger has healed nicely.  However, the other finger has not.  This past Thursday, Conner felt terrible and started running a fever.  I thought he had a viral something.  On Friday, he started complaining of his arm hurting.  There was nothing to see to worry about.  Then on Monday, he complained again.  Conner NEVER complains.  This is the kid that hides Tylenol and Motrin in his car so that if he needs to take some he just happens to need to go to his car for something.  He thought he was tricky and smooth like that, however, his parents figured that trick out awhile ago!

So I looked at his arm yet again.  This time I found a small red splotch on the upper inside arm.  It felt warm.  It bothered me but I just said, Conner, we need to watch this.  If it doesn’t get better we need to get it checked out.  In a few minutes, he came to me and said mom do you think my arm is related to my finger.  Well, one of those fingers didn’t heal properly and it was infected.  Not horrible but enough to know it wasn’t well.  Unfortunately, I did think the two were connected.  So instead of waiting, I went ahead and called our pediatrician only to find out that when Conner graduated they would no longer see him.  I truly thought they would see him until his birthday.  So to the walk-in clinic we went.

Hours of Complete Chaos

The next part is a long story that I won’t even go into but in short, we ended up going from walk-in clinic to ER.  They thought he had a blood clot in his arm.  Well, given our history with blood clots, you can only imagine the stress that put in our lives.  They eventually decided it was an infection and they gave him IV antibiotic and sent him home on two oral antibiotics.

What should have set him on the road to improving did not.  I have watched his arm go from having one red splotch to spreading and being a large red splotch.  It just kept getting worse.  This morning he woke up to prepare for his first day of college and it was much worse.  He had lots of pain and didn’t want to move his arm.  The red splotch had spread more and now had streaks going all the way around his arm and up his arm to his shoulder.

The Difficult Decision

How in the world can a mom keep their child home on their first day of college?  Conner says I will take Motrin and tough it out.  My insides are a mess.  I have no clue what to do.  I text a friend and my mother-in-law with pictures asking for their opinion.  My mother-in-law was much nicer than my friend.  She communicated her concern but my friend said I will meet you at the ER at 8:30.  I told my friend that I thought a trip to my house was needed because I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to keep Conner home and bring him to the ER.  My mama heart was broken for him!

One thing about Conner, when he is stressed he is angry.  Get out of his way.  Run and hide.  His entire life I have tried to work on this terrible trait to no avail.  This morning was no exception. Anger rushed into our home in the form of stress.  Overwhelming stress.  The kind that puts bricks in your chest and makes it hard to breathe.  Stress that makes it where you can’t think clearly.  Stress that makes your body shake.  The kind of stress that you feel like you are in a fog and this can’t be happening and you’re also filled with an overwhelming amount of fear, disappointment, and sadness.

ER and Admitted

Back to the ER we went.  This time, we didn’t even go through triage.  We were ushered from the front desk to a room.  Within 30 minutes of arriving, IV antibiotics were going and we knew he was going to be admitted.  Impressive was the word they used.  I told them I had a different definition of impressive.  Wow!  Sometimes when a medical crisis arrives, it arrives quickly and is life changing in a matter of minutes.

Soon we found ourselves on the journey to a room.  Once again, I found my body shaking.  The majority of our day here has been crazy busy.  The PA came in and let Conner know we made the right decision in coming.  He explained that his infection is moving very fast.  So it was VERY wise for us to be here.

We really like the doctor and the PA assigned to us.   The PA related very well to Conner.  I think for the first time since Monday, God used the PA to bring some peace in the midst of our medical crisis.

Our day has been filled with IV antibiotics.  Not one but two different ones.  It has been a regular occurrence for IVs to be hung and vitals to be taken.

As we prepare for what we hope is a little bit of sleep, I checked his arm out again.  I simply prayed that tonight improvements would come.  It’s hard to see in a picture but if you look closely you can see splotches and red lines.

Prayers Appreciated

They have not been able to identify the bacteria at this time.  If they could, then that would bring this crisis to an end because we would know exactly what antibiotic to use.  They tell us with these type infections you often never identify the bacteria.  We heard words like Infectious Disease doctor, blood tests, more IVs. These are the words ruling our lives right now.

Pray for stress levels to come down.  Pray for accurate antibiotics to treat and that this infection would begin to respond to the medication.  Pray for improvements to happen quickly.  Pray that this medical crisis would soon be over and life would resume.  Pray for Conner’s heart that God would bring comfort, that others would bring comfort, and he would be filled with an unexplainable peace.  Pray for his girlfriend Sarah.  She’s exceptionally worried about him.  I’m sad she has been so upset but I told her it only communicated how much she loved.  When we love big, we often hurt big for those we love.  Pray for Zine and the girls and for their anxiety to be quieted.  That Zine would have no falls or missed transfers.  That Chloe and Krisann and Zine would get along nicely!  Pray for my heart to be peaceful and for rest to happen.

Making the Best of Bad

There is nothing about this that has been good and pleasant.  But sometimes you make the most of bad.  I provided the pizza.  Movie on laptop.  Friends to visit.  We had the party room tonight.  Sometimes we just have to make the best of a bad situation.

I know His grace is sufficient. Knowing His sufficiency doesn’t erase the pain.  But it sure gives you a strength to keep on keeping on.

I have no clue what tomorrow brings.  But I know His grace is sufficient.  I know my heart may still hurt.  But I know the truth…we will keep on keeping on.  We will do the next thing whatever that is.

Thank you for your prayers during this difficult medical crisis.  They are much appreciated.