It was an ordinary week. Maybe even just a little busier as one of my main concerns was how I was going to work my lesson schedule around choir practice at my church that week.
Week nights would be tight as I would have to add a few extra balls to my juggling act as I had to fit in dinner plans, house work and decide where my next recital would be. Yes an ordinary week....or so I thought.
It just seems like we are all just going non stop, burning the candles at both ends, too many irons in the fire etc. However, this week, through all of this,
there was something else going on. Something deeply troubling.
With the five girls I am blessed with, many of the focus has been on Madi, my
second oldest. She had quickly rose to stardom in our house as she had become
the volley star and before we realized, this had become a great focal point in
our worlds.
Though volleyball season had ended victoriously for her, there was a little
something we were unaware of. With this, soon, the hustle and bustle of life
would no longer matter.
I had been looking forward to singing in our church choir for an upcoming event
for quite some time. I had successfully rearranged my evening work schedule and
barely made it to rehearsal on time. I was ok....for the moment...until I felt
compelled to step away to check the messages on my phone. It was about Madi.
I went from the freedon of enjoying life to complete breakdown when
I had learned that she had been admitted into the ER. I knew she had been
uncomfortable for most of the week due to a facial injury the week before at
practice that she did not tell us about right away. The discomfort led to
intense pain, swelling and flu-like symptoms. Antibiotics were'nt working,
urgent care could not help. She needed surgery.
Once the initial shock wore off, I packed my bags, tucked in her sisters at home and
left for the hospital where I would camp out for a couple nights.
I arrived at the Scottish Rite Childrens Hospital about 1:30am and she was
surprisingly and happily still awake and in good spirits. We talked, laughed and
watched tv for a while. I didn't get much sleep.
The next morning before surgery began with numerous phone calls and text
messages. My once cram packed week had become fully cleared at this point. After
numerous consultations with doctors and a dentist (who showed up while I was in the
shower), it was determined that the source of the problem was an abcessed tooth
exhaserbated by the facial injury. The oral surgery procedure was explained and
medicine was offered to calm her nerves. I made an attempt to find out if the
same was offered to parents. My attempt failed.
She looked friegtened and we tried to comfort her as much as possible but I was
not as worried as I thought I would be. I remembered the prayers of my friends
at rehearsal. I felt overcome with peace as I knew she would be fine.
It had been several hours for us inside the hospital room. After surgery, she
slept for most of the evening. I don't watch a whole lot of TV but I discovered
the the Gameshow Network is quite entertaining. Sometimes the quiet of the
hospital room with the occaisional tapping of the IV was inviting. The never so
dull moments of my life were all of the sudden, well, dull. It was quite nice.
As she continued to sleep, I took a walk though the halls of the beautiful
hospital where we were staying. I walked through a garden outside with fountains
and koi fish that looked very real and I thought they were all dead when I
realized they were not swimming. I had a good laugh when I realized they were
fake.
I enjoyed a hospital dining experince of chewy pot roast and the extra time it
took to eat because of this. I chose to eat outside and enjoyed the view
overlooking a pond with REAL koi fish as the busy Atlanta traffic passed.
And finally, being grateful as I walk through the halls remembering that I am at a children's hospital and hearing the murmurs and echos as I pass each of the rooms where children will not be going home anytime soon.
The next day, Madeline was no longer in pain and her swelling was almost completely gone. We received word that she could be discharged. Once we signed
our papers, it was time to pack up our comfy in-patient slippers and say goodbye to nurses in cartoon character scrubs, the tank with swimming turtles in the hallway and the sanitary smell of being in a hospital.
The car was still where I parked it in the garage waiting to welcome us. A few
days before Madi became ill, I noticed a fowl odor in this car. At first I
figured it was probably a Happy Meal rotting somewhere but then I remembered
that those don't rot very quickly based on my experience so I knew that couldn't
be it. With all the commotion through the week, the problem was forgotten about.
The car was a sight for sore eyes when we arrived though we had not yet opened
the trunk. A sight for sore eyes became a stench for an unprepared nose. Thats
when I saw the grocery bag which contained a bag of once frozen cod filets that
never made it into the kitchen freezer after a recent grocery trip. It was the
perfect grand finale after the perfect surgery and the perfect hospital stay.
Just like Madi's tooth, I guess it always helps to find the source of the
problem.
God has a sense of humor.
Romans 5:3
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