Just a normal New Year's Eve! NOT

It all started with a really bad cold.  Kaitlin just didn't feel good.  It was New Year's Eve day.  So I went with her to the doctor.  She told the nurse all her symptoms, the last one being and 'my lower back hurts on the left side'.  The doctor wrote her a script for antibiotic because her right ear red, lymph nodes were swollen etc and then he said there is blood in your urine which is a sign for a kidney stone.  His recommendation was the ER.

Carl met us at the doctors office and we headed to the ER.

One of the hardest parts of being a mother is seeing your child in pain.  She couldn't keep still, the pain was so bad.

To keep her mind on other things we named things we were thankful for- that it wasn't snowing or icy, that Papa was home, that we had gas in the car, that we lived near an ER...

Shortly after we checked into a very full ER room and found our seats we were called to triage.  Kaitlin was wearing her new AUBURN hoodie.  The nurse in triage greeted us with a War Eagle.  He had graduated from AUBURN. What a cool gift that was!  I am sure he is nice to everyone but he treated Kaitlin with such kindness.

When it was Kaitlin's turn to be taken back to a bed the real 'fun' began.  Her bed was in the corner, in a tiny corner between to other beds that were separated by curtains.  Carl stood at the end of her bed and half of him was in next patients space!  I sat in the one chair.  When a nurse or doctor came in we all did our cirque de soli moves to accommodate each other.  We were thankful for the chair and that Kaitlin was in a bed.

When the nurse came in to put in the IV, poor ole Kaitlin was white as a sheet.  About half way through the procedure, she fainted.  When she woke up she knew she was going to throw up.  Get this picture in your mind- nurse is putting in the IV as Kaitlin melts back into the bed, Carl is helping keep her arm straight for the IV, I am trying to wake her up.  When she says she is going to throw up, I grab the trash can.  This all happens in maybe a minute.  After my success catch of the throw up and Carl's help with the IV, the nurse turns to me and says Thank you for catching that and for taking a shower today and to Carl she thanked for his help.  Let me just give a shout out to ER personnel - ours were wonderful!  Another gift!

Then we waited for the CT scan and listened to our neighbors- We couldn't help it. I felt sorry for them with all of Kaitlin's excitement.  One man kept pulling out his catheter and screaming.  Kaitlin said that that really helped take her mind off of her pain!!!!  Our other neighbor needed to get home to give his mother her nightly meds and when he realized that he might not make it home in time he called someone else.  Then he found out that that someone else had been 'drinking like a fish' all day long.    That also kept our mind off our situation as we heard about various family members and we were thankful for our boring family!.  We heard one family that was released to go home and had to find someone to come and get them- we were thankful for our car and that we could drive.  Times like these make me realize that not everyone is like me and has been able to make the choices like I have and I am very grateful!

The CT scan showed a 3 mm stone just about to passed.  The doctor said that at 5 mm they have to remove them surgically or break them up with lithotripsy.  We were thankful for the size of this one.

They sent us home with several scripts.  Our total visit was 4 hours.

We drove right to our pharmacy and got there 10 minutes before they closed for New Year's Eve!  What a gift!

Kaitlin passed the stone and captured it within a few hours of being home.  She was a able to get comfortable on the sofa in the den with a heated lap blanket.  She used it as a giant heating pad on her back and side- what a gift that we had this already here!

Ps 92 says It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by the night, 

We truly saw this in action.