8-28-14 To Him Be Glory

Where to start???

Well we really don’t know when it started, but by Saturday, Kate had three bug bites on the front of her left leg. One on her ankle, one mid-calf, and one by her knee. Something somewhere somehow thought she tasted fine.

The bite on her ankle itched, scabbed, done. The bite on her calf got red, hot, and swollen, but didn’t slow her down much. At the Rinkenberger Reunion and here afterwards (px coming at some point), she ran like normal: volleyball, trampoline, even a dip in the lake Saturday evening. I was prepared to take her to PromptCare if it worsened overnight Saturday, but it didn’t; it improved greatly. Swelling down, redness gone, case closed. The bite on her knee was insignificant at that point. So we thought anyway.

Sunday and Monday, it bothered her some, mostly (we thought) because it was on her knee and was irritated when she bent her knee which is quite often.  By Tuesday, we were glad Aunt Sarah was coming for supper so she could look at it. She did, and thought it was bad but not urgently needing medical treatment at that point (actually, she and Tim thought it should be seen then, but Kate and I were pretty sure it would improve on its own, just like the one on her calf did. It looked/felt so similar.). By Wednesday morning when ASK stopped by before work, there was unanimous opinion to get it checked out. Morton Pediatrics sent her right to OSF, where we sat in Admitting for two hours and then spent another three hours answering hundreds of questions and talking to dozens of people before she was finally started on an IV antibiotic by 5:00 PM. Meanwhile, all these long hours, that crazy leg got more and more red and swollen, and Kate felt worse and worse. Thankfully, she was on tylenol and ibuprofen from before we went to Morton Peds, or I’m quite sure she would’ve been more miserable than she was. At any rate, we finally made it through all that waiting and got that much-needed antibiotic in her.

With all the activity of those hours, I didn’t have much time for communication with others outside the hospital; a few people knew we were there and I knew they were praying, but it bothered me that there were many more that would pray if I just asked them. As the afternoon and evening wore on and she kept having fever, I kept thinking of asking for prayer but didn’t know how. Computer illiterate that I am, I couldn’t get my computer to connect; hence no email. I thought of a mass text, but then again did I really want to admit to everyone how dumb I was to not get this silly little bug bite checked out before it was so bad? And did people really want to be bothered by a silly little bug bite? I mean, it’s not like it was cancer or a tragic accident or anything; it was just a bug bite, for crying out loud. So as I was thinking all this, Tim was ready to head home for the night, and he read the Bible and prayed with us before he left. He opened and read in Luke 18, which is the parable of the widow and the unjust judge. If you recall, the judge feared neither God nor man, and the poor widow kept coming to him asking to be avenged of her adversary. Because the widow troubled him, he avenged her. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless when the son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? vs. 7-8 That was clear enough for me; Tim agreed that a mass text would be good.

He left for home, and I got a few texts from Aunt Sarah, concerned that Kate hadn’t eaten or drunk much all day. And her fever had climbed to 102 in spite of ibuprofen and tylenol. And I started sending texts, ten at a time (max my phone allows) requesting prayers. I didn’t hit nearly everyone on my contact list; my picking and choosing was quite random, trying to get to as many households as possible with as few texts as possible. Thank you to each one who forwarded my text to someone else; I know I missed many faithful pray-ers in my haste. Meanwhile I was trying to get Kate to eat/drink, I was texting with ASK, and hospital personnel kept coming in for various things. As soon as I sent out the first batch of ten texts, I started getting replies. Which was so encouraging. That feeling of alone that Satan likes so well to throw at us was gone in a flurry of texts and prayers. That helpless feeling, so familiar to every mother of a sick child, was gone, vanished like the dew before the morning sun. The discouragement I’d been battling all day disappeared.

And.

What happened next still brings tears. Thirty minutes after I sent the first texts, Kate’s fever broke and she was hungry. I kept busy running to the nutrition room, getting her snacks, crackers, then some soup, then some ice cream. She ate it all. And I kept sending texts. And friends kept praying. And responding. Grape juice, apple juice, water.  Drank it all. She sat up, headache gone, ready to watch dvds awhile, lethargy vanished.  And I kept texting. And friends kept praying. And responding. The saints stormed heaven for us. God avenged his own elect. I was awed to tears,and I still am.

Kate woke up this morning with her leg so much improved that all doctors/residents involved agreed that the antibiotic was working and that if she continued in this fashion, she would likely go home today. Which she did, and which she did.

Yesterday at Morton Peds, the nurse practitioner was confident that Kate would need an I&D (incision & drainage) to drain the infection because it was so deep. This morning’s sonogram of the knee revealed NO deep abscesses. Last night Dr. Fitch cautioned us that even if the antibiotic was working, we might not see evidence for 24 hours. This morning I could see improvement at 7:00 when we woke up; I could see it because last night nurse Dori had outlined the red with a pen. This morning the outline was outlining nothing. When the doctors came in later in the morning, they simply verified what I had seen: the antibiotic was working and working well. Orders were given to switch her to oral rather than IV antibiotic with plans to discharge after the first oral dose if she tolerated it okay. Which she did. Later this afternoon, when the culture came back positive for MRSA, doctors’ plans didn’t change; they already had her on the needed antibiotic to fight it, so she was released as planned. We were home by 4:30 which included a stop at Walmart to get the prescription filled.

How did this happen? Was this coincidence?  Was it just chance that I pleaded for prayer for Kate and saw almost immediate improvement? Had we not begged for prayer, would the fever have continued to climb, would the infection have gone systemic, would this 24-hour ordeal have turned into a 7-day ordeal? Or worse? We’ll never know, but in my heart I know that it can’t be coincidence; it was not chance; because I know God wants to prove Himself faithful to us whom He loves. God healed Kate when His children cried to Him. I believe we needed to be in the hospital, and I believe Kate needed the antibiotic; but more, I believe that hospitals and antibiotics are but tools in the hand of the Great Physician Who alone chooses when and how to heal. I know, too, that cellulitis and MRSA are not huge issues in life when compared to other challenges of cancer, heart disease, stroke, tragic accidents, etc.; and yet, God knows every sparrow that falls, and He cares about every little hair on every little head, and He wants us to look to Him for every little thing in life. Even when it’s a silly little bug bite gone crazy with infection, He wants to show Himself to us; and then, He wants us to glorify Him. He wants us to tell the doctors why Kate’s leg looked so good this morning. He wants the credit when the nurses marvel at her improvement. He wants us to tell unbelievers about His greatness and perfection. He wants us to point others to Him when He works miracles and answers prayers. He wants glory, honor, and praise; and He alone is worthy of glory, honor, and praise.

To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:18

To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 1:25