A lot has happened since the last update. I wish I could say that it was all good, but it’s been one of the most difficult two weeks of my life. On August 14th, I became very ill and couldn’t stop violently throwing up and had a very high fever. Matt took me to the ER because it was that bad. They gave me some fluids, we heard our precious little baby’s heartbeat and they sent us on our way. The fever didn’t go away and the vomiting didn’t stop. In the next 24 hours, I battled a 104.3 fever, laying in bed and taking cool showers as my mom and Matt lovingly took care of me.
The fever went down a degree and I’d feel a little bit better but I was really sick. Then on the 15th, I started bleeding. I knew it wasn’t good. For the next 12 hours or so, my body went into pre-term labor and we lost our sweet little baby. It was so painful, devastating and traumatic. But God was with us in that too. Matt has a thing for night-lights. If you’ve been to our house, no doubt you’ve seen the nightlight in our kitchen that he gave to me for Christmas...it’s awful really but the sweetest act of love ever. It’s handmade based on a picture of us, but it looks nothing like us...Matt has a mustache and I have an chiseled man-jaw. It’s hideous but I love it because it makes me laugh every time I tell the story of when he gave it to me. In our bathroom, we also have a ceramic nightlight of Jesus holding a baby. I’ve always thought it was kind of cheesy until now. The Holy Spirit drew my attention to that nightlight in the middle of the miscarriage and so lovingly and gently reminded me that our sweet little baby was in God’s arms. It was beautiful. God was with me. And he still is.
By Monday, the 15th my fever still had not gone, I felt worse. We went to the perinatal clinic and they did an exam and an ultrasound to make sure everything had cleared my uterus and it seemed fine. They gave me an antibiotic and sent me home with the idea that the antibiotic would cause my fever to dissipate. It didn’t. My body was seriously freaking out, I was becoming a human sprinkler...you get the idea. Matt was amazing during all of this, getting up with me every time my body felt like exploding, constantly on the phone with the doctor. My mom kept finding herself at our house too, which was a great comfort to both of us. I praise God that my mom is so sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s prompting. Finally, on Tuesday the 16th we went to the hospital. I had a whole team of doctors caring for me and after another pelvic exam and another ultrasound, they determined that there was still matter in my uterus that was causing the fever. I had a D & C operation and by the time I was in recovery, my fever was down to 97! What a relief! For 4 days Matt and I stayed in the hospital, as I received a constant stream of intravenous fluids, antibiotics and finally a blood transfusion. My hematocrit count was down to 22 (normal for women my age is 36 & dangerous is 18) and I needed some help! It took awhile, but I started to feel more like myself again. My whole body ached, like I had run a marathon and then never used the muscles again and had to retrain them all over again. But on Friday the 19th, we got to go home. I am doing better physically, except that during the miscarriage, I may have developed a small blood clot in my right leg that has totally inflamed the muscle above my knee. I can barely walk and am in a lot of pain. Matt keeps joking, asking if I’d like some broken pot shards like the ones Job used in the Bible to scrape his sores...I’ve had an MRI on my leg and we go back to the doctor today to have him look again at my leg. It hurts really bad and I am severely limited as to what I can do. I pretty much have been sitting/laying on the couch for the past week, icing my leg and taking tylenol. It’s been rough.
Our friends from church have been bringing us dinner, flowers and praying like crazy for us and that has helped a lot. I have been reminded of the important things in life to be thankful for too. I am so thankful for God’s presence and the encouragement of his word in the Bible; I am so thankful for the amazing husband He has given me--pretty much blown away by how tirelessly he has been caring for me; I am so thankful for family and friends who at the drop of a hat are praying, helping, serving and loving us so well; and I am so thankful for little things like getting outside for a walk, enjoying the fresh air and a beautiful sunset. These things have made a difference. And these are the things we still know and cling to: God is good. He loves us. He is not surprised by the things that happen to us. He is with us. He is compassionate. He is our healer and will walk us through whatever is next.
*A brief additional update: Chelsa is back in the hospital. :( We went in to see our doctor again today and hear the results of the most recent MRI scan of Chelsa's leg. The leg has been swelling and hurting her greatly since we last left the hospital. Most recently she has nearly passed out a couple of times from the pain and drain of it. The last MRI scan was inconclusive, so today the doctor decided we needed to get her in for another MRI right away. The MRI scan is a pretty terrible process-- being locked in a small tube with LOUD noises surrounding you for a couple of hours. Chelsa has been handling it like a champ as usual though. This time the headphones helped quite a bit. The doctor called late tonight immediately after seeing the results and asked us to go straight in the hospital as the bump on her leg is an absess infection. She is receiving antibiotics and will have more scans and x-rays done to check whether the infection is spreading to any other parts of her body. The poor girl just can't catch a break lately. Please pray that the antibiotics clear the infection without any surgery, that there are no other infections in her body, and that she can have some rest and peace soon, and get back to her normal healthy self. (And please continue to pray that the Multiple Myeloma cancer is miraculously healed. ...back to the hospital... thanks everyone! ~Matt
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