The Valley

What a day! We spent the whole day at the ER with my oldest daughter. She woke up this morning unable to use her arms or legs. Not a good start. I originally was going to try to work a half day until I realized she had some form of paralysis! So I fed her and gave her a bath. Of course I called work to say I wasn't coming in. My husband and I prayed together. I prayed over my baby of course. I called my buddy RP to get a message out to the prayer chain at work. Then we headed to the ER.

After answering the same questions what seemed like 4 million times, they ordered bloodwork, a chest x-ray, CT scan and a spinal tap/lumbar puncture. Did I mention this child is afraid of needles?? I kept praying during each procedure. RP called for updates. Mom called for updates. And we waited. The spinal tap did not go well. They didn't get in the right spot at first. Or the second time. Then they realized she didn't have enough lidocaine. Oi vey!! All I could think was "could y'all make this any harder for her??" Anyway, the more senior doc came in, gave her some more lidocaine, got the needle in the right spot and got the needed fluid. Praise the Lord 'cause I was tired of it all.

As we waited for the results of everything, I prayed some more. RP called to let me know the whole prayer chain was praying and a few non-Christian co-workers. Can I praise Him one more time??!! The nurse came in and needed a tinkle sample. My daughter could not go in the pan but said she thought her legs would work now. I was thinking, "Are you kidding me? You said that this morning and I would up carrying you to the bathroom." Did I mention she's as big as I am? But I digress. My child, who had been unable to use her legs all day, got out of that bed and walked with a small amount of assistance to the bathroom. Let me just say I was speechless!

All her tests came back normal. They asked me if I thought it could be psychological and I vehemently said I did not believe it was. There wasn't anything I could think of that would make her undergo a spinal tap if she wasn't really physically sick. I mean really, no one volunteers to get jabbed in the spine with a needle. Besides, I had already talked to her and told her that if she had something she needed to tell me or them to please do so or she'd be stuck there. She did not want to be stuck there, she wanted out. And frankly so did I.

They were going to admit her but after the bathroom incident and clean test results, they released her. My mom was mortified. She thought they should keep her until they knew what was wrong. I was grateful. I am choosing to believe that the prayers of the righteous were answered. I won't be back at work tomorrow because they want one more day of observation while we wait for the culture of her spinal fluid to be completed. She has a follow-up with her pediatrician as well. However, when I do return to work I plan on offering the biggest thank you and Praise God to the prayer chain. Our God is good and I love Him!