Saturday, October 4, 2008

Last Week--Whew!

I really just have to get in the habit of posting a blog everyday. By the time a few days go by, my head is so clogged I don't know where to start! Plus, I don't want to write, like, four blogs in one day and look as if I have nothing else to do!
This has been a really hard week. Maddy and Casey were sick all last week, and part of this one. Casey's stuff was assumed to be mostly stress, because of a lot of pressure he's under with his practice, paying the mortgage and providing for his family--you know, that kind of menial stuff. We were in the middle of a fight (with both of us having experience with counseling--him doing it, me receiving it (o:, we both know how to "fight fair", so it's not like it could truly be categorized as a "fight") about how much stress he's allowing in and how it's affecting the family, how he's too busy, etc., etc., which had to be postponed because he fell asleep when I paused to get Maddy a snack. Realizing he didn't feel well, I encouraged him to go to the doctor. Actually, it was more like, "Get your hiney to the doctor!"
So he went and they discovered an irregularity in his heart beat that they wanted to run more tests on. Basically, the bottom half of his heart was beating away, and the top was just kind of quivering. When he left the doctor's office, he wanted me to pull over so we could "chat" (seriously that's the word he used, "chat") about whether or not he should obey the doctors orders to go to the hospital immediately for more tests, since we don't have insurance. He got as far as "They're worried about a blood clot forming and causing a stroke. And she said that's why my arms are tingly, they're not getting enough blood."
Oh, we were so done "chatting".
I drove him straight to South Georgia Medical Center.
I should add here that Cole had also started running a fever and throwing up, and Maddy was still puny as well.
The doctors at the hospital decided it best to keep him overnight, and threatened to keep him two. They tried to explain to my reluctant husband that his condition could be very serious and dangerous. To which he wittily replied that "We don't have health insurance but we do have life insurance."
After which I popped him upside his head.
They did admit him to the cardiac unit of the hospital. The next day I took the kids to visit him on my way to taking them to the pediatrician, as they had all developed new and exciting symptoms. I would've rathered to bring them after, but he missed them too bad. Maddy was a little nervous about all the hoses and wires attached to her daddy, and Cole was excited to see his artwork hanging beside his daddy's bed, just like I said it was. CJ was, as usual, concerned, sympathetic, worried, and sweet.
Hours later, the pediatrician's exact words were: "Congratulations, they all have strep!"
Casey got to come home that night, since they had returned his heart to normal ticking behavior, and since they found now underlying health concerns for his heart issues.
Our good friends brought us dinner. Everyone was so loving during our trial.
So Casey was home, the kids were on antibiotics, and everyone was on the mend.
Then my crazy husband thought it would be a good idea to go to work the next day...not only was I worried about his stress level and health (he still wasn't feeling good), but the kids hadn't seen him much since he spent a good part of two whole days in the hospital, and they were too little to understand why. Needless to say, I recommenced the argument that had been put on hold for his trip to the hospital.
It was a good one, too. No yelling or screaming, but, boy, was I mad. I have a wonderful husband, though, and he recognized the truth in most of what I said, and sympathetic to the emotion of the rest of it. (o:
The next day, we decided to go to the Hahira Honey Bee Festival for some family time. As we turned off our exit, our van went, "Ker-Clunk!" and absolutely refused to go anymore. We ended up walking to the festival (hey, it was a short walk on a pretty day!), and watched the parade. My sister was there with her family and some friends, so they let us take a car and they squished into another. A good friend of ours had the van towed to his shop so he could assess the issue.
All in all, by the end of the week, it was almost FUNNY how much junk happened in one week. In fact, as we walked to the festival, Casey and I were literally laughing about it all.
And we spent the whole day together as a family, no work calls, no paperwork, no talk about finances. We played Monopoly with CJ and Cole (well, Cole rolled the dice until he got bored and went off to play with action figures).
It was a good day.
That night during prayers, all the kids thanked God for a great day (well, I heard Maddy say "Thank you Jesus", but I couldn't make out the rest...). I am so grateful for my awesome kids who chose to be grateful to God for a good day, rather than the negative parts.

1 comment:

  1. Girl, you need to share more. I had no idea your week had been quite that bad. I knew you had sick kids.... but that really was an understatement! Well, at least I now have your blog. I will be checking in...
    Welcome to the wonderful world of online venting!

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