Thursday, March 29, 2007

Weary. . .

Okay. I'm not sure what the deal is with me frequently having sick kids, but here we go again. I've heard of parents who conjure up their kids' sicknesses and of course hypochondriacs, but I assure you I'm not one of them. I would be THRILLED to go a whole month and not deal with some sort of infirmary around here. Before I begin the story of my drama for the day, I apologize that I informed almost nobody that this was even going on. Tra was out of town so I talked to him a lot of the day. And I'm sorry to all my friends/family who might read this and it will be the first you heard of it.

Last night Tra left to go out of town---actually out of country. He was on a short business trip to Mexico. So of course, I'm getting Jack ready for bed and realize he is HOT! Running 101. That's it though. Happy, smiling, typical Jack. Slept all night, still running fever this morning. Call dr. and they squeeze me in at 9:20 at my request to check his ears to rule out infection. Of course I have a hair cut at 10am b/c they are supposed to be at school. Cancel hair cut. Fight tears---it's WAY past due. Take Hayley to school, realize I don't have wallet when I contemplate driving through Starbucks, call doctor to tell them I don't have wallet and they say come anyway. Go to Dr. VERY hungry, craving coffee, needing gum that is in my purse at home. Try to find a way to look at the positive side of the morning so far. Struggle. Late to doctor. Nice receptionist---thanked God for her b/c I might have broken down if she was tacky. Contemplated asking her for money for coffee. Called my in-laws hoping I could go by after apptmt. and borrow money. No answer. See doctor. Ears clear. He feels around on his stomach---do you ever wonder what they're feeling for exactly? Today I found out one thing---an enlarged spleen. Are you kidding? I thought we had an ear infection. Doctor (who I'm a HUGE fan of by the way) says he wants to do bloodwork. I ask what it could be? He said most likely viral--like mono. And there are other things, but he'd talk to me about it after he got bloodwork results this afternoon and said, "Don't go home and look it up on the internet." Traumatize Jack w/ taking blood---although after all of Hayley's cathedars it was a piece of cake! He doesn't know how easy he actually had it today. Go home, feed Jack breakfast (late--thought I had money in car) put him down for nap. Go to computer (you didn't know I was so rebellious!) and look up "enlarged spleen." BAD IDEA. My heart sank. I saw the words leukemia and lymphoma. Needless to say you can imagine the state I was in the remainder of the day. I was supposed to hear back from Dr. by lunch(ish), he left message at home while we were picking up Hayley. I call back I felt like 500 times (only 2) and finally hear back a little after 5. Dr. says he was worried it could be leukemia but that it looks like it is not. (Deep breaths--thank you God, thank you God!) He has low white blood cell count but his platelet count looks good and he isn't anemic (sp?). If the latter 2 were off, we would have a problem. So he thinks it looks like mono. I didn't know 14 month olds got mono. He called a hematology oncologist to talk w/ him about the case and that guy agreed it sounded viral (mono). We're checking blood again Thursday. We're feeling pretty good about things and expect to see things looking better next week and not worse. Those few hours today were by far the scariest, most stressful of my life so far. And I've had some scary hours in my life. It was hard on both of us to have Tra gone during the time of waiting. So pray for Jack---his eyes look tired but he acts pretty normal. I'm thinking his throat hurts b/c he's not eating great or drinking as much as he usually does. We're going to do some smoothies tomorrow! Lots of vitamin C!

This is the day that the Lord has made! I will REJOICE and BE GLAD in it. It was hard to do at times throughout the day, but I will drift off to sleep with rejoicing in my heart tonight. And I will say an extra prayer of God's comfort and peace to all the moms and dads that heard the words today that their child DOES have leukemia. And for the ones in the midst of it---treatments, etc. Oh Father----COME QUICKLY!!!

11 comments:

Shelle H. said...

Shelly,
Wow sounds like you have had a day! I am praying for you and Jack!

Shelle Honeycutt

Courtney said...

Oh Shelma, I'm so sorry you had to go through yesterday by yourself! What a difficult time for Tra to be gone! If there's ever a next time, call me and I will bring you money and coffee and breakfast. I was just sitting at my house! You wouldn't even have to take time to explain it to me. I am SO relieved for you! What a great job on Doc's part to catch something like this so quickly. That definitely explains some of the feeling around! I love you!!!

Kendra said...

Oh my . . those kind of days just make me want to cry (and go to
Starbucks for some loaded creamy coffee that doesn't taste too much like coffee). I'm so sorry . .

I pray Jack's health returns to normal quickly! And I'm amening your prayer . ."Lord, please come quickly!!" I've been watching and living life slapping people around way too much lately.

I sure like reading your blog . .I like my little "blogworld" friendships!

Unknown said...

Sweet, precious Shelly...you are in my prayers tonight. I am praying that you get rest, that Jack will sleep through the night and that Hayley will stay well.
You will be in my thoughts and prayers constantly.
Hugs - Mindy

Shelly said...

What a precious gift the Lord has given us to PRAY for and with each other. I am so touched deep in my heart by your responses tonight. I think part of it is that I am thinking about each of your hurts (past or present or both!) and my heart is just flooded with the love of Christ FOR you sweet sisters and FROM you! Such a gift!

Brooks Inc. said...

Shelly-

Even though you had told me most of this story and I knew the ending...I cried reading it this morning. I am so sorry for the day you had, and yet so thankful that the Lord lead you through each step. I am also so thankful Tra is back. Everything always seems to calm for me when Tony walks in.

May He continue to give you strength. May He brig complete healing to precious Jack. I pray today is a wonderful day of rest for your entire family!

Love you and am praying for you!

Becky

***Next time you get stuck at Starbucks (or anywhere for that matter)with no wallet, add me to the list of people who can be called for money...or anything.I would be there in a heart beat.

Kelly Vaughn said...

Shelley,
My heart felt the weight of your day as I read your post and the lift of the weight as you heard good news.....I am praying for peace and relief from sickness for your family. How could we walk one minute of these heart pains with out hope in the Lord. His grace holds us together.

Looking forward to knowing you better (We're moving home in 2 months!)

Kelly Vaughn

Leilanni said...

Oh, Shelly! I am so sorry for the emotional roller coaster you have been on! You guys are in our prayers.

Unknown said...

Shelly,
I'm so sorry that your kids have been sick so much lately. I know it can be VERY stressful, but you are a strong woman thanks to the strength God gives you and the beautiful person you are.

Sorry I haven't been the best at keeping in touch lately. I've actually posted on my own blog lately...it's been a long, hard first year at work, but I'm doing all right. Talk to you soon.

Love you and miss you! Keep your chin up.
Kara

Sarah J. said...

Shelly,
Thank you so much for your encouraging comment on my blog. I'm just catching up on what's been going on with Hayley and Jack. I feel like I am right there with you. Although we haven't had anything quite so scary happen, my kids seem to stay sick... and every time they go to the doctor, she seems to find something else wrong. Anyway, I'll say a prayer for peace for your family and that He will bring healing quickly.

Sarah

Calista said...

Oh, Shelly I'm so sorry to hear about sweet Jack. I can't imagine how scared you are. Of course we will pray for all of you and please let us know if there's anything we can do. May God bring you angels of healing!!