October 24, 2020

Briar here.

I had a very long day yesterday.  The doctors called Dad and asked his permission to place a PICC line in me.  This will help the doctors to be able to give me medicine and take my blood without sticking me in the foot.  Dad said that it was okay, and then he visited me.  He gave me a pep talk.  

The nice doctors tried to get the PICC line in for the first time in the morning.  They couldn’t get it done.  Then, later last night, they tried again.  They said that they got it and they called Mom and Dad to report the good news.  

Mom had to stay in bed most of the day because she is still sick.  Her blood pressure was high again.  Her doctors decided to change her medicine up.  This meant that she didn’t get a chance to come and visit me like normal.  She was ready to come and see me.  

When Dad called around dinner time to tell the doctors that they were finally coming over, they got some bad news.  My nurse had tried to give me medicine through my new PICC line and it had coiled.  This meant that all the medicine I needed didn’t make it to my body correctly.  The doctors asked Mom and Dad to wait until they could get things fixed to visit me.  

Mom was a nervous wreck.  She decided to get out her art supplies and paint a picture. Dad spent his evening on pins and needles watching some show they call Big Brother.  

Around midnight, the doctor finally called Dad.  She said that everything was fine with me but had to explain what had happened with my PICC line.  They had to remove it.  They said that they will try again tomorrow.  Mom and Dad were so happy to know that I was ok.  But, Mom said that she would be coming over first thing in the morning to give me my pep talk.  Apparently, Dad’s wasn’t good enough.  

Dad and Mom has a special visitor yesterday.  Their friends Chris and Chelley dropped off a huge gift basket from people back home.  They say that home is a place called Tulsa and a place called Hooker.  The gift basket had a little bit of everything in it.  It was from a lot of my Mom’s best friends.  She calls them my aunts and uncles.  She says she can’t wait for me to meet them.  I’m not sure why, but a big basket of snacks and cards made her cry and cry.  She says she is a little homesick.  She says she is gonna be okay though.  We are so thankful for friends who are like family who help pick us up when we have fallen.  Just another small reminder that our God is good.  

Yesterday, it suddenly turned from Fall to Winter in Springfield.  Dad has been sleeping on a hospital sofa next to the window in Mom’s room.  The window was very drafty.  Mom told Dad to come and lay next to her in her bed.  He fell asleep very quickly.  Mom thinks it might be because this was the first bed he had laid in in a week.  

Mom’s doctors were finally able to get her blood pressure stabilized yesterday.  She is finally starting to feel better.  She says she has ankles again!  For some reason, this makes her very happy.  The doctors think that she may be released by tomorrow.  

I am super happy about that.  This means that Mom and Dad will get to start spending more time with me in my room.  They will be staying at a place called the Ronald McDonald house when they aren’t with me. 

Mom’s new bible verse to focus on today is found in Psalm 61:2.  It says “From the ends of the Earth I call to you.  When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”  

Please pray that Mom is able to come give me my pep talk in the morning.  Pray that the doctors are able to let her leave the hospital.  But, most of all, pray that today my doctors are able to get a good PICC line in me.  It will help me take the next steps I need to grow and mature.  

We love you all!  Today, look for a small reason to be thankful...kinda like that big basket of snacks Mom got from home.