"The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, 'God! How could you do this to me?'
Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I was here?' asked the weary man of his rescuers. 'We saw your smoke signal,' they replied.
The Moral of This Story: It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering.
Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God."
When I sit and think about our hospital stay the last couple of days and then getting this I wonder if it was exactly that. God sending the doctors smoke signals to let them know that Eli is not only suffering physically with a heart condition, but emotionally more than they understood. They believe he is suffering from PTSD. This time we will be getting help. They sent us home with a hippo with chest tubes since I am pretty sure that is what bothers Eli the most. Chest tubes hurt. There is NO medication that takes the pain away. They hurt coming out even more. In the CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit) they have more control over what they give to take out the chest tubes. They actually have the option of giving them medication to knock them completely out. Unfortunately for Eli his body seems to put a lot out through the chest tubes and because of that they don't usually come out while he's in the CICU. Usually he is on the floor. Because he is on the floor they are limited and cannot give them the medication they should be. They don't move them and they don't have the equipment to intubate if needed. So Eli remembers the chest tubes last time and is terrified. We knew he remembered the chest tubes we just didn't realize how horrified he was. While we were in the hospital the last couple of days we had all our pre-op appointments. So instead of pre-op appointments on Wednesday we will be going to see Child Life Specialists instead. They will start working with Eli to help in preparation and work with him throughout his stay. When we leave we will find someone to work with at home to help him cope. The hippo was sent home to help us start working with him. He does really well with medical play and that is really how we have gotten him to the point of allowing some tests to be done. God is working. I know He is. I just need to remember the next time my "hut" seems to be "on fire" God may be sending smoke signals.
Hebrews 4:16
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
Eli and Dakota using play therapy. Unfortunately the masks are because Dakota has a cough and I am trying to keep Eli healthy.
Hippo
Hippo's Chest Tubes
Hippo's IV
This is such a cool story! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDelete