Thanksgiving Week Brought Trials and Triumphs

The weekend before Thanksgiving, this rascal who rules this place and does so much damage sneaked outside and went MIA.

During that time, he still seemed to cause as much trouble away as he did at home. He turned our home into a house of mourning and paranoia. Whenever we would go outside or walk by a window, we were constantly looking for a white fluff ball hiding out somewhere.  We searched the neighborhood, looked in every hiding place, notified the neighbors, and then posted an ad with a pic on a community website to the nearest 1200 homes.  My husband's phone rang "off the hook"  (I guess technology outdated that phrase) whenever anyone saw a cat. It was so nerve racking.  Then late Sunday night, my husband heard that critter purring on the front porch - shortly before the temperature dipped below freezing.

Look who just showed up at our front door after a 27 hour Rumspringa that left his family worried sick.

Then on Tuesday after Orwell returned, I was rushing to get read to lead our first STEM field trip when our son tripped on a rug and locked his neck into a downward position.  It was completed jammed.  His whiplash looked like he had been in a major car accident.  So I rushed him to the doctor while rushing through my phone list to call all the parents about the field trip and to find a parent to lead in my place.  The doctor could not adjust him until he knew no bones were fractured, but it took over an hour of various treatments to get his muscles to relax enough to get a decent x-ray.

His back was all messed up, and I knew we had a long road ahead of us to get him feeling better again, having traveled down the road of severe spine problems for a decade myself.  Praise God there were no broken bones, so my doctor was able to get him the home run adjustment he needed to lift his head again.  He needed the neck brace for protection, but my boy would not wear it to school.

We dropped by my alma mater to see a former student competing in the Freshman Engineering Design Day and to catch the last half hour of the field trip, but he was not feeling well at all.  It took his mind off things at least.  He returned to the doctor the following day for another consultation, but it was a slow mend.

The next day, however, our son got sick. His cornucopia of whiplash, fever, sore throat, cough, headaches, and vomiting all sounded like a concussion and/or a virus.  He still felt sick on Thanksgiving, but the family insisted he come for Thanksgiving.  He tried to smile for Nana's annual Christmas card, but he felt miserable.  For the first time in two days, he was able to eat a full meal without getting sick, so we felt like he was finally getting better. Maybe being with loved ones helped.

My aunt and uncle's property along a quarry lake was my favorite place to visit during my childhood. My uncle is a brilliant outdoorsman, builder, lineman, hunter, and historian with the skills to live independently off the grid on a small parcel of land his entire life while having an absolute blast in the process. Boating, fishing, swimming, riding the zip line he built, running from the balcony to the dock along the swinging bridge he built, relaxing in their gorgeous Swiss chalet style home he designed and built himself, feeding the ducks, feasting on Aunt Gloria's delicious baked goods, admiring all his funny and unique projects (like the jalopy car), touring historic buildings he and my aunt have restored on the property, conducting research for science projects in a canoe surrounded by wildlife, hosting numerous parties for family and friends, and riding in Uncle Dennis' deer stand swing are a few fond memories there.

So I was thrilled to see him put up a deer stand swing today for our children to enjoy. It's been over 15 years since I last rode in his previous swing.

Love Birds and Family of Four on Thanksgiving Day

Grandchildren on Thanksgiving Day

After Thanksgiving, I took our to a closer doctor to see if I could get his follow-up treatments there where the hours are more flexible so that he could come after school instead of during that school.  I had another relapse myself, so in level 10 pain, I was hoping for some relief myself.  But a different doctor was working that day, and he completely ignored me.  He insisted that the doctor we had seen was incompetent and never should have adjusted him.  He tried to convince me our son had a concussion and sent me to the only pediatric radiology center in the county.   So, still in level 10 pain, I drove him 40 minutes to the clinic where we waited several hours to be seen.  The receptionist initially refused to see us claiming we had no doctor order (even though we heard the DC call it in over the phone). Then my insurance card went missing, and she had no idea how to code anything. They refused to bring me ice while I lay in the floor of the waiting room in sheer agony with back pain.  It was a disaster, but by the end of the day, this X-ray technician said the same thing the first DC had said - no fracture and likely no concussion, but they wanted him to come back for more X-rays the next business day.  Ha!  No way would I ever go back there, and my boy had been X-rayed three times by then.  Not only was I still in pain, but I had been made to feel like a lousy mom. I had just wasted a day and crazy medical bills for nothing, and my boy and I were both tired and hungry and miserable.  What a way to spend Black Friday.  He seems to doing much better now, thank the Lord, but I worried over his head and kept him on restriction from recess all week just in case.

I few bike rides around the lake (albeit while covered in KT tape and taking NSAIDs to dull the back pain) helped ease the stress of the week and remind me that our sovereign Lord holds all things together and works them together for His beautiful and perfect purposes and for His glory.

November 28, 2015

December 12, 2015

December 13, 2015

Psalm 113:3-4 (ESV)

³ From the rising of the sun to its setting,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised!

⁴ The Lord is high above all nations,
    and his glory above the heavens!