Checking out of the hospital, as long as Mr. Leptospirosis does not send for reinforcements
Just when you think you’re going to win this race…POW…and now, here we are again with the hope of checking out and anything could happen. I have felt a lot of chemicals surging through the small tube inserted into my forearm lately. That cold sterile cocktail of antibiotics, electrolytes, and pain suppressors all silently entering my body with stealthy precision…but nothing, I repeat, nothing, is more potent to my health than prayer. The feeling of being enveloped in holy petition by an army of family and friends is by far the most life-changing, soul-soothing, spirit-satisfying reality, more than any medicine known to man. Don’t get me wrong…God used the meds, but now I know the difference between a chemical surge and a spiritual one.
We will always treasure the visit of our pastors just shortly after we learned the infection was systemic and affecting Joel’s organs. We were trying to process results we didn’t understand, scared, and together we all cried out to God, reading Psalms and praying for mercy.
Mr. Leptospirosis, as I now refer to the mean corkscrew-shaped microscopic bacteria that drilled his way through a cut on my foot, can survive in rivers. “That’s nice, Joel,” you may be thinking, but little did I know that when I took my girls to the river while on a school break a couple of weeks ago that he was working his way into my life. As we were splashing in the sweet water and sliding down the slippery rocks, Mr. L (for short…no disrespect) was opening the door for an army of pain and suffering to take over my lymph nodes and go systemic. My liver was soon attacked and all kinds of complications became our reality.
We pursued treatment faster than we might normally have done because we were hoping to finish Orientation for our new class at the language school.
The lab we first went to was closed so we ended up downtown at the private hospital when we had thought we’d just “run out of the house” for 10 minutes for blood work in our own neighborhood. That ended up getting me admitted within a couple hours.
Dear friends swooped in and spoiled the girls so they were having fun in the midst of all this.
We were not overtaken by this mean little bacteria and we were not overtaken by fear or discouragement… we were held up by an army of God-fearers who responded with precision prayers and soothing words of encouragement. We are humbled and grateful for each of you who took the time to pray, fast, write, call, share food, give hugs, and just be you, for us.
We are not out of the hospital yet, and my liver markers are still very high, but we hope to go home today and continue treatment from home.
Please pray for wisdom and much, much grace.
Joel
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