This morning when I tried to call Josh he sounded drowsy and all he said was that he couldn’t talk because he didn’t feel well and had to go. So I got on the phone with the nurse and asked her for an update. She said Josh had a rough night and had to be put on oxygen and had a fever they were trying to reduce, but was doing well. Frightened by the thought of my husband on oxygen, I asked her if his symptoms were “normal” side effects of the chemo; to my relief, she said yes. Noah was concerned about daddy so we prayed for him. Nathan wanted to set the table for daddy when we ate and I kept telling him daddy would not be eating with us today. Not taking no for an answer, Nathan said it would be for when daddy came home from the hospital… so I obliged. I decided to go about my normal routine with the boys in the morning and visit with Josh once Nathan went down for a nap.
I couldn’t wait to see Josh and find out how he was holding up. It was like I could not get to the hospital fast enough. I rushed to the 14th floor to find him sitting up and having his vitals taken. His fever had come down and his blood pressure which apparently had gotten low was just starting to go up but needed to continue to be monitored. I was so glad to see Josh was ok. I wanted to cheer him up so I got out a gift and card from a dear saint our church named Marcy (thank you Marcy!) and began to read her card aloud to him. However, before I finished reading the card Josh had gone fast asleep! This continued for all afternoon. The blood pressure machine would go on automatically to check Josh’s blood pressure and he would not even awake! Josh is such a light sleeper so it was such a surprise to see him sleep like this. He hasn’t had much sleep so I’m thankful to see the goodness of God to let him sleep that well! Apparently, they gave him pain medication and Benadryl and that helped him feel drowsy, plus he hadn’t slept much for days. Praise God! The nurse would come in and talk to me and Josh was still asleep! As his nurse and I talked we found out later that she is a friend of our youth pastor’s wife Sara and had already heard that Josh would be hospitalized there for a transplant!
Eventually, the nurse had to wake Josh up for a nasal sample to make sure he is not sick. It tuned out negative for influenza but they are still checking for the common cold. They ordered Josh a smoothie since for lunch/dinner the night before he couldn’t keep food down and had tolerated a smoothie in the morning pretty well. During the time Josh was awake for “dinner” his good friend Jason got to come in briefly to visit and Josh said that was therapeutic to him. Thank you, Jason! Toward the end, Josh’s eyes were getting heavy yet he had been in bed all day so we all decided to go do a couple laps around the unit. I’m so proud of Josh–he worked himself to doing a mile! While moving around is good for him it also takes a lot out of him. We find that it’s all a balancing act and a game of playing the odds of the lesser of two evils. It reminds us of how much we all really need God and how ultimately the cure for all disease and sickness and pain is found only through eating of the tree of life granted only by faith in Christ who made a way for us to be reconciled to the Father. So glad that one day all who believe in him will be granted access to the tree of life once more, to live eternally and never die again!!!
God truly did a miracle in sustaining and recovering Josh today. Thank you Lord! The doctors decided to administer the chemo trough Josh’s IV slower and they are hoping that he will have a better night tonight. It seems like Josh’s symptoms get worst at night. So we need all the night owls praying throughout the night!
This Thorny Rose 