Monday morning came quickly as we woke at 4:40 to make our way to the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. It was dark and rainy but there was no rush hour traffic at 5 am :). As we approached our exit, Felicia make a terrible discovery. She had left Makayla's Donald Duck toy in the bed at the cabin. This was no ordinary Donald Duck, you see this was the Donald Duck that Makayla slept with every night. It would be sad if she woke up from surgery without her favorite toy in her hand. So, I did the most logical thing, I pulled to the front entrance of the children's hospital, helped Felicia load Makayla into the stroller and then headed back to Smyrna to retrieve Donald!
Thankfully, Donald was easy to find. He was all tucked in the covers where Makayla had slept. I must admit I was a bit envious of the extra sleep he got. Lol :). I scooped up Donald and headed back to the hospital. Much to my dismay I had hit rush hour traffic going into Nashville. The 30 minute trip it took me to get there the first time had turned into a little over an hour commute complete with traffic jams, wrecks and mass confusion. Luckily, I was easily entertained by the Doug & Jackie valesques morning show on the radio.
When I arrived at the hospital Makayla had just been taken back for her procedure. Felicia was a bit concerned because she did not know they were going to intabate Makayla until that morning. I silently prayed for peace and comfort for Felicia and wisdom for the doctors and nurses.
It wasn't long until the Doctor came out to speak with Felicia and shortly after that we headed back to recovery to give Makayla her Donald Duck. As, she roused from her anesthesia, she had some nausea. Her sweet, young nurse, Robin Black was quick to give her meds for nausea and continued to make her as comfortable as possible.
During the time Makayla was in recovery, Robin cared for her and one other patient at all times. The "room" next to us, which was only divided by curtains held three different children recovering from various surgeries. Each time a new child came, I watched as Robin diligently cared for them. She even rocked one distressed girl back to sleep. I thought of how she cared for each one differently but with the same love and diligence. It reminded me of how our heavenly Father holds us, cares for us and comforts us during our times of distress giving us the strength to carry on.
"Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak. "(Isaiah 40:28, 29 NIV)
Makayla was released to a hospital room at Vanderbilt where she will continue to gain strength and stretch the back with the use of the Halo the doctor put on her today. She is currently scheduled for spinal fusion surgery on Nov. 12th. Please keep her and her mom Felicia in your prayers. That is a long time to live in a hospital room.
Anyone wanting to send an e card to Makayla or Felicia can follow these steps. Www.childrenshospital.vanderbilt.org then search for ecard and it'll pop up
No comments:
Post a Comment