God's Help

 

Dear Prayer Warriors,

 

Thanks for praying and believing God's best for us.  

Medical Update

Things are going OK. Part of the problem with this hospital stay is that neurology is complicated and I wasn’t sure I had enough medical “chops” in my special needs dad brain to hang. By God’s grace and Lindsey’s carefully written list of questions we are underway.  Essentially, we are here because Anna has about 80 “spike-wave discharges” per minute that distract her brain from utilizing the time of sleep most useful for amassing memory and learning. Also, I want to holla at The Epilepsy conference of 2022 that posted their hour-long session on ESES to YouTube.

 

Last night’s EEG served as a baseline evaluation to confirm the ESES diagnosis from a year ago. A key difference maker is that Anna has been on anti-seizure meds since July. Should there be a reduction of spike wave discharges (to the tune of less than 40 per minute), then they may send us home without engaging in the Valium treatment at all!! Unfortunately, last night was a horrible baseline sample because she was up nearly all night. It's so hard sleeping in a strange room, a strange bed, with many probes on your head. Anna moved around so much they had to reset the probes 3 times which takes about 30 minutes each time. Add to that, Anna had a middle of the night vomit because I over fed her.

In spite of all that, the report this morning was still favorable, the doc’s liked what they saw but it was inconclusive because she never got to the deeper sleep cycles. So, we are going to try another baseline EEG tonight with a harder bonding agent for the probes.

 

A New Thing in Light of the Past

On the highway approaching the Aurora Children’s hospital, what came to mind was the last time Anna and I were going there. We rode in the back of an ambulance because she needed hospitalization at the same time as Simon. My thoughts started rapid firing, funneling into the dark memories of arriving at the hospital with Anna and being whisked away from her to have a talk behind closed doors where the Neurological team declared Simon as having the same brain damage as Anna, only he was still suffering brain swelling. As I was driving, I cried out for help knowing that Jesus already carried me through that therefore I wasn’t forced to relive it if I didn’t want to. God quickly reminded me that He is writing a new story, healing came into focus not death and destruction. God reeled in the memory, slowed my feelers, and I prayed to my heavenly Father in tears to have pity on us, mercy on Anna, and grace for a victory.

 

Once at the hospital, God rolled out His welcome mat for Anna by arranging the Build a Bear company to be on site giving away an irresistibly, cuddly stuffed cat. God further welcomed us with no insurance snags, we were expecting some! Then He gave me a calm nurse practitioner that helped clarify all my questions and assured us that she had never seen respiratory complications during the Valium treatment that Anna may undergo. All this while Lindsey was having a great day at the park with Renee and Victor.

 

The Lord knew that I was slowly becoming a shaken-up soda bottle with building pressure. The sights and sounds recalled the death of Simon. Before bubbling over, The Lord provided Chaplain Josh to stop by. He works in the mental illness wing full time. “It just so happened” that the Chaplain over the Epilepsy wing needed yesterday off and Josh who is a Bible believing Christian helped out. It was just what the Dr. of Heaven ordered for me. I debriefed with him a bit about the sentiments and memories. He offered encouragement by repeatedly insisting that God isn’t done writing the story. That Satan strikes destruction and death quickly, but life and healing are written on a longer timeline of incidents to the glory of its Author.  

 

Next came EEG Tech Valentina who overheard Anna’s Scripture Lullaby music and wondered about it. She shared her story of being a single mom and knowing her need for God’s help but not having a clue about how to receive it. A few years back she started going to a church that taught the Bible and invited people to receive God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus. Then the story turned into a praise report about how different her life had become with Christ as her King and hope she now has for the kids she treats at the hospital. I encouraged her onward and prayed for her. I let her know that many of the children she served including Anna would one day thank her in heaven. Praise God.

 

The providence of God’s nearness to me today came through Nang Sang. I first met Nang when I worked at the Super Target in south Denver close to 5 years ago. He was our sushi chef, dreaming of owning his own sushi company. I have a natural curiosity for people who stick out and come from other places so we quickly became work friends. Nang is from Myanmar. Through our work interactions we found out that we both loved Jesus and wanted to see Him glorified. One day, he told me he was leaving to go work at Children's hospital and I moved to the Springs. Well today. I was in the lobby waiting for the cafeteria to open, making the most of Anna’s EEG tech “hot gluing” on those probes. As I looked down at my phone minding my own business, a short little Nang bumps into me with a smile of a troublemaker to get my attention. He is now the owner of Seven Star Sushi; they make all the sushi for Children’s Hospital Aurora. My jaw dropped as I said, “praise the Lord.”

 

We didn’t waste any time with small talk. He wanted to testify. He told me what God has done with his little life. When I knew him, he had 17k in immigration related debt, and little English skills. But now he supports over a dozen indigenous missionaries in Myanmar with the excess his business makes. Wow, I told him he could have kept the money here and lived a comfortable life, but Jesus compelled him to bring hope to his unstable country. That got me excited! I told him about Simon and Anna but also that he made my day.

 

Please Pray for:

-          For Anna to get a deep and prolonged sleep tonight. So that the Doc’s would be clearly informed about the best and wisest recommendation for Anna moving forward.

-          Heaven’s truth to ring and cause wonder in Anna’s and my soul as we have been reading Randy Alcorn’s Heaven for kids book at great lengths here.

-          Hospital discharge tomorrow because the spike-wave discharges have become minimal or even absent in her sleep! To the credit of the Lord’s grace and victory.

-           Lindsey to be strengthened as Renee has had a resurgence of meltdowns daily.

   

Thanks for praying,

 

Nic for the Currat’s