Health

Some people keep a "blessings" list. At the end of every day they write down one thing that happened that day that they see as a blessing in their life. I've decided that this blog will serve as my "blessings" list.

I don't expect that everything I share on here will be happy but I know that no matter what happens God is still in control and therefore we are blessed.

Two weeks ago today my 18 year old son, Drew, came home from work with a bad stomachache. Throughout the afternoon it only got worse. By that evening, he was on the couch in pretty severe pain.

Almost eighteen years earlier Drew had undergone 2 major abdominal surgeries before he was even 12 months old. The doctors told us then that we would always have to watch for issues that might arise from the formation of scar tissue, or adhesions, which is very common with abdominal surgery. These adhesions can cause intestinal obstructions at any point in your life with little or no advance warning. Yea!

So, off to the ER Drew went. He got there about 10 pm that night and after several tests and a lot of waiting he was admitted to the hospital with the diagnosis of an intestinal obstruction. It wasn't my worst fear but not good news by any stretch.

The surgeon came in very early the next morning and explained to us that sometimes these things will work themselves out if the body is just given a chance to rest and any inflammation that is in there is reduced making the adhesions less of a factor. That would be the best case scenario.

If that didn't work within a couple of days, Drew was facing another surgery. The problem with that is that the body heals itself by forming scar tissue. Can you say "snowball effect"? Yuck! Not a good plan but maybe his only option.

I don't have many pictures of Drew from his time in the hospital as an infant. It was a difficult and scary time for me and I really didn't want to remember what he looked like then. I did take a picture of him before his first surgery so that he would know that he wasn't actually born with the scar that now makes him look like he was cut in half at some point.

You can tell in the picture how bloated his little tummy was. He spent most of the month that he was in the hospital with an NG tube running from his nose down to his tummy and with various IV tubes through which he was fed and medicated. He also spent a lot of that time on morphine so it really would not have made for pleasant pictures.

With hindsight being what it is, I do wish I had one or two pictures from that month because they really would be a testimony to God's healing hand. This picture was taken the day before he was released to go home. He was sitting on a couch in the playroom at the hospital watching Daddy and Jeremy (his big brother) play Nintendo. He looks small and pale to me but it was a huge improvement over the previous few weeks.

I've learned over the years, thanks to my husband, to take pictures of everything. (There is another long story that goes along with that. :) ) Even things that are unpleasant at the time can serve as reminders to us of all the things that God has brought us through. So this time I took a few pictures.

Keith said that when he walked into the hospital the morning after Drew was admitted and saw him laying there with yet another NG tube, it nearly brought him to his knees. Drew is much bigger than he was 18 years ago but it is amazing how quickly those years fall away when you are looking at your child laying in a hospital bed.

I write all of this today because as Drew left for work this morning I was overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for seeing him through another illness and without any more surgery. While I pray that Drew will not have to go through this again, the possibility remains. I do know that our God is the Great Physician and I am so grateful for the peace that that knowledge brings during these times.

The weekend that Drew was hospitalized, 3 other children from our church also spent time at the hospital for various maladies. I'm happy to report that all of them, plus one more hospitalized since then, are at home and well on their way to full recoveries. As parents, it's always hard to watch your children suffer in whatever form that may take. But God loves them even more than we do and because of that...we are all blessed!