Wednesday, December 20, 2006

A bad week

Hello all,

I am betting that a few of you have noticed that I haven’t been on any blogs recently. We have had a very bad week in our house, and would love your prayers.

Let me start a while back. A few months ago, when our youngest was learning to walk, she had a hard fall, so we took her to the emergency room.

Though she seemed fine, they thought it would be a good idea to perform a CT-scan on her. They found that there was no damage from the fall, but that her ventricles were asymmetric (these are two regions in the brain where blood flows). Essentially, we had no idea what they were talking about, but they recommended that we follow up with our pediatrician. The pediatrician took a look at her and thought that it would be a good idea to have an MRI done on her.

I can tell you that to do an MRI on a 13-month old child, they need to knock her out. It was a low point to watch them put the oxygen mask on your little girl and cart her off. My heart was very low that day.

The MRI returned and we found out some news that caused our spirits to drop a little: our little girl had a stroke during the pregnancy. They didn’t show me the MRI, but the doctor said that she seemed to be fine, so there was no need to worry too much about it: after all, she was walking and was ahead of the normal timetable on most of her developmental elements.

Over the next couple of months, we noticed that she favored her right side significantly over her left, so at her 15-month checkup we pointed this out to our pediatrician. She told us that she wouldn’t have noticed if we hadn’t pointed it out, but now that we did, that it would be a good idea for us to see a neurologist to have a closer look at her.

Last Thursday, we went and the neurologist diagnosed our little angel with mild Cerebral Palsy. For the first time, I saw the MRI and the extent of the damage from the stroke. It was extensive. Fortunately for us, it was limited to the white matter of the brain, not the grey matter, so no cognitive facilities were affected. The neurologist was wonderful about explaining all of this to us, and assured us that occupational therapy should handle almost all of the issues she has. We were very fortunate that it wasn’t worse, but for safety we have to now schedule a visit with a Neural Surgeon to have her ventricles looked at; we had to bring her in for an EEG (which turned out great by the way). And we are having a MRE done in a couple of months.

Still to hear someone say that your little girl is not ‘perfect’ is so hard. God is so wonderful though: through this he has prepared my wife an I for this. We have had the support of family, friends and our church.

This past Sunday, I was at church for my older daughter’s musical, I was feeling a little sick, but felt well enough to get through the program. By the end of the night, my abdomen was hurting so much that I was buckled over in pain. We went home, and I tried to rest for a few hours, but the pain worsened. It was on to the Emergency room for me!

I have had kidney stones before so I thought maybe this was another stone-attack. I was so confident that this is what it was that I told my wife to stay at home I drove myself to the hospital. It turned out that it was my appendix and I had to have an appendectomy. I was made comfortable with pain killers and awaited surgery.

Again, our family, church, friends, and coworkers were wonderful, I felt bad for the guy in the room with me because of the steady stream of pastors, friends, and family that visited during this time. We are so blessed to have people like this around us.

Two days later, I am home now, I am week, sore and pretty much just lounging around. My forced vacation will pretty much keep me hanging around the house for the most part for next couple of weeks. If you think of it, lift up a prayer for our house. This is quite an additional load during the holidays.

In the new year I will be back in swing, but for now I am going to crawl back into bed and get some more rest.

God Bless
Doug

16 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You and yours have my prayers.

Thu Dec 21, 12:01:00 AM  
Blogger Rich said...

Gosh, Doug, I can't believe all that. I'll try to give you a call before Christmas.

I love you and that family of yours.

Rich

Thu Dec 21, 01:12:00 AM  
Blogger Kevin Knox said...

Wow, Doug.

I don't even want to think about the things you have listed here, and you have to live them. I'm sorry.

You have my prayers, too.

Kevin

Thu Dec 21, 07:34:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ouch, Doug.

You didn't happen to pray that God would do whatever He needed to to strengthen your faith and humility recently, did you?

Just kidding.

You will be in my prayers.

Thu Dec 21, 03:56:00 PM  
Blogger DougALug said...

Hello all,

Thank you all for the prayers.

My wife has joked that this is God's way of forcing me to rest.

I have been working myself into a frenzy, and this has forced me to stay at home, sit and do nothing. Basically I have worked double-shifts for the last 6 months. And its toll is clear on my mind and body.

In recovering here at the house, I have got to watch my girls play around me and they are a delight to my eyes.

My wife and daughters are doing wonderfully, and in some ways are happy that they have had unfettered access to me. God is good.

I am feeling better today, but I can tell there is quite a way to go.

Again thanks for the prayers, and as corny as this sounds, Merry Christmas to all.

And DK, no such prayers were lifted here, though it is still greatly humbling to have to ask for things: like a glass of water, or a hand getting up. Yes, this truly is one of a husband's proudest moments. lol!

God Bless
Doug

Thu Dec 21, 05:26:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Doug,

My prayers are with you and your family as well. It is a blessing to be surrounded by family and friends who are very supportive. I will pray for your health, your daughter's health, and that God continues to show you the good that is being done.

Fri Dec 22, 09:30:00 AM  
Blogger pearlie said...

Oh Doug. My prayers will be with you. God is good. It is during such difficult times that we know it better.

Merry Christmas, be strong and courageous.

God bless,
maeghan

Fri Dec 22, 01:24:00 PM  
Blogger Laymond said...

May god bless you and yours with many brighter days ahesd

Fri Dec 22, 01:45:00 PM  
Blogger karen said...

Came over from Milly's to let you know we're praying for you and your family.
I agree with your wife. God will stop you in your tracks to rest if you won't do it yourself. Take the time to reflect upon what He wants you to look at.
Bless your family and your daughter, and we will pray for her health. Good things will come from this hard season. Merry Christmas!

Fri Dec 22, 03:29:00 PM  
Blogger Jewels said...

Hey Doug,

May God overwhelm you with His goodness in these days! So sorry to hear about your daughter - it sounds hopeful. Praying for you,

Julia

Fri Dec 22, 11:58:00 PM  
Blogger DougALug said...

Wow,

Thank you all for your kindness, it really is a great encouragement to know people are lifting you up in prayer.

God Bless
Doug

Sat Dec 23, 08:38:00 PM  
Blogger kc bob said...

Wow Doug! My heart breaks for you and your family. It refreshes my spirit to know that friends are supporting you during this season. I am reminded of the verse that speaks of joy coming in the morning. I guess that is my prayer for you. That joy would be the banner over your family and you personally ... and you would experience His presence in times of sadness and stuggle.

Blessings for a God-filled 2007!

Love, Bob

Wed Dec 27, 10:03:00 AM  
Blogger Patchouli said...

And here I come straggling in at the end to add to the prayers for you and your family.

Sat Dec 30, 09:13:00 AM  
Blogger Bob said...

I dropped by from Maeghan's blog and am so encouraged at your faith in God's goodness. I love to hear people praise Him in the midst of trials such as yours. It's so comforting to know that He is still there at times like those.

You will be in my prayers as you recover and adjust to this new information on your daughter.

Tue Jan 02, 10:11:00 PM  
Blogger Weekend Fisher said...

Argh, I've been away too long and look what I've missed. I am so sorry you had to go through all that.

You know, once I met some really cool people over at a blog ring of bloggers who are physically "imperfect" by the usual standards. As much as they really wouldn't mind being more physically standard, they aren't really all that convinced that our perfection is "perfect". How many times do we work around our own injuries and not notice them? (I've got a bum shoulder and a bum knee that I just work around; it's rare for anyone to notice. My son has asthma, and my daughter has incredibly poor vision without her glasses. My pastor's wife had a warped spine as a child ... you can't tell.) How many times has our own fragility landed us temporarily on crutches or bedridden or whatever the case may be.

The point with all that is to provide you some company. It sounds like your little angel there is ok, and in good company.

Still, I'm genuinely sorry you have to go through all that. I can only guess at how heart-wrenching it must be.

Fri Jan 05, 12:11:00 AM  
Anonymous Neil said...

Don't worry! God always be with you

Sat Oct 15, 07:36:00 AM  

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