Man! It has been one heck of a week! As I sit here enjoying my coffee and spending some time with the Lord reflecting over recent happenings, I am absolutely humbled and amazed by God's tender care and mercy upon us!
About a 1 1/2 weeks ago, I took C to see his ENT at the prompting of our pediatrician. C suffers from chronic ear infections and seasonal allergies. At that appointment the doctor recommended that C get a 2nd set of tubes, have his adenoids removed, and (while he was under general anesthesia) have an allergy skin test. Recovery from these procedures is typically quick and easy (9 out of 10 kids only have a minor sore throat for a few days). J and I agreed with this course of action. Since school is starting next week, we asked for it to be scheduled ASAP. It was scheduled for Wednesday.
As far as we knew all was going according to plan, until we received a letter in the mail informing us that we needed to stop C's oral allergy medicine 5 days prior to surgery in order for the allergy skin test to be accurate. There was only one problem...we received this letter the day BEFORE surgery :) Oops! At the time, we were pretty bummed. Allergy skin tests are pretty uncomfortable and we were really liking the idea of C being able to have that done while he was under anesthesia for his adenoidectomy (kind of a two birds one stone deal). At any rate, the allergy test was off the table, and that was that...can't go back and undo history.
On Wednesday morning C, J, and I get up at dark-thirty and head to the ENT Surgery Center. C gets checked in and J and I get to see the doctor one last time. Here is another HUGE blessing...C was super nervous about this whole thing. How does God comfort this little one? Well, he sends a former Sunday School teacher who C was very comfortable with (the ENT doctor), a nice, young (read: not intimidating) anesthesiologist, and some really funny nurses :)
Little bit sad/Little bit funny story: Right before our ENT doctor came in to see if we had any pre-op questions, C looked at me and asked me "Mommy, how are they going to put my head back together after surgery?" (YIKES! No wonder he was so nervous!) We quickly explained that this surgery does not require any head-splitting. :)
Later Wednesday afternoon, I asked C what happened after they took him into the operating room. He said "I don't really remember except that I thought it was going to be really scary and it wasn't scary at all!" :)
The surgery was quick and according to the doctor went really well. C's adenoids were not healthy and definitely needed to be removed. There is even hope that without them C's allergy situation might improve.
We were back home and eating popsicles by 10:30 that morning! That afternoon, C did great...too great, actually. I had to insist that he take it easy. He even got sent to his room at one point because he was being too wild :)
Wednesday night was a bit of a different story. He didn't sleep well because he was coughing and he developed a low-grade fever (both possible/expected during recovery).
Thursday morning, his fever continued (though it stayed under the target # given to us at discharge), he developed a stiff neck (also not totally uncommon during recovery), he threw up (not unusual), and his face and neck became really flushed - looked like he had a sunburn. I called the ENT to check on the "sunburn" since that was the only symptom not "normal." They didn't really know what to make of it, but said it was possible since the surgery was less than 24 hours ago that it had something to do with the anesthesia. Later in the day, the "sunburn" went away and C perked up so I didn't really give it much though.
Thursday night was uneventful.
Friday morning, his fever was going down, his disposition was improving, and he wasn't throwing up. Only problem was that he'd developed a rash from his neck down. It wasn't particularly itchy or bothersome...just weird looking. I thought for SURE it was some kind of allergy. So I called the ENT to see if I could give him some Benadryl (I'd already given him his normal allergy medicine that morning and didn't want to double-up without permission). At any rate, once they heard about the rash, they pretty much insisted that I call our pediatrician "in case C has more going on."
So I call our pediatrician's nurses line. She takes note of his symptoms (most of which I tell her are probably related to his surgery) and tells me I need to bring C in. Honestly, at this point I'm still thinking allergy. After all he was IMPROVING...yeah, he still had a few symptoms, but he just had surgery isn't that to be expected?!?
So off to the pediatrician we go...where he was promptly diagnosed with Scarlet Fever! Apparently that rash, the sore throat, stiff neck, and low-grade fever were a dead give away. We go home with antibiotics and instructions to call back ASAP if he isn't markedly better by the next morning (today).
So here is where the humble/grateful part comes in:
#1 - Praise God C wasn't able to have that allergy test! I am quite sure that if he had - diagnosis would have been infinitely more difficult had that been in the mix!
#2 - Praise God that the ENT nurse and Pediatric nurse insisted I take C in for evaluation. I really thought he was getting better! (What I failed to factor in is that C is TOUGH...not just kinda tough...really, really TOUGH! He was just powering through.)
#3 - Praise God for a doctor that didn't get distracted by all of the details. Most of C's symptoms were overlapping with surgery recovery. Scarlet Fever - left untreated can turn into something very bad!
#4 - Praise God for advancements made in medicine - just in the last 40 years! After we got home, I googled Scarlet Fever. Just a generation ago, this diagnosis was a HUGE deal...A quarantined, don't come out of your room, I'll slide your food under the door...kind of deal.
So, here I am, reminded once again of God's faithfulness, love, and protection..even when we don't realize we need it (which of course we always do :)
Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
Psalm 127: 1-2
Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved asleep.
