What an eventful week we have had here! When Rachel went into the wound clinic they felt that they were looking at a staph infection moving up her arm toward the lymph system. They told me if it did hit the lymph system it would be a matter of life or death. (Not the most pleasant thing to hear as a Mom!) From the moment we walked into the clinic to the time when they were putting the IV into her arm was a short 2 hours. I knew we were looking at something serious.
The attending doctor came and looked at her arm and told me that he was wondering if we were looking at a case of shingles. He said it did not look like shingles but it was following the nerve line of the arm like shingles would. He also said that both thoughts - the staph infection and the shingles - were both theories. He said that they would treat for both and watch it overnight to see what happened. So IV meds were started - antibiotics and antivirals. They also began morphine for her pain.
By the next afternoon the doctor felt confidant that we were looking at a case of shingles. He also felt that we could take Rachel home and continue the meds there. She is taking anti-viral meds. She is on a quite high dose of the anti-viral meds. It is interesting that everything that she has had has been viral and in the herpes family of illnesses. We followed up with the doctor on Friday and he said that he wants Rachel to see a specialist about her immune system. About every 10-14 days she is getting sick with something else.
Back in November, Rob and I began talking about and paying about taking Rachel out of school for the second semester. We feel very strongly that God would have us bring Rachel home and continue her school here at home. I would like to say that this was an easy decision; but it was not! For one thing, this is Rachel's senior year. Taking her out of school would mean that she would not be formally graduating. This fact became less and less of an issue in the past several weeks as she continued to have her health deteriorate. I think the hardest part of the decision was knowing that if Rachel came home - that all the kids would come home. Because we live almost an hour away we knew that it would not be possible to home school Rachel and have the others continue school in the academy. This was the toughest part of the decision. In the weeks before Christmas break God gave great peace that it was a decision that we needed to make and a decision that He would bless.
On Christmas day we broke the news to the kids that we would be homeschooling after the break was done. There were tears. Abbey was especially disappointed in the changes. It was hard to see her so sad. Today while Abbey was in for church she cleaned out her locker and Rachel's locker. We have closed a chapter in our lives and reopened a new one.
The time the kids were in the academy was a time of real growth in our family. We are so thankful that God opened the doors for that opportunity. This past semester has been the hardest and most draining weeks we have lived through in our entire lives. They also have built character and brought a clear picture of what is important in life. Even though we are not finishing the entire school year, we feel that as a family we finished strong at the academy and now God is moving us on to a different chapter in our lives. We are excited.
I have missed the homeschooling routine and schedule of our lives. I am looking forward to being back in the saddle again. We plan on taking a couple of weeks working on routines and housework that have been neglected because of our busy schedule this past semester. We also want to give Rachel some added time to rest and get stronger before she jumps into her last semester of high school.
So, a chapter closes and another one reopens. We know this is what God has for us at this time. We are praying for strength and healing in Rachel's body. We are looking forward to more time together as a family. For all of you who are praying and have prayed for us - thank you so much. Words can not express how much your prayers have and do mean to us at this time. Thank you!
Thanks so much for stopping by. I am so glad you did.
~Martie
2 comments:
I'll keep praying for your family. I'm sure you're doing the right thing and that it was a hard decision to make. I do feel bad for the other kids though- I assure they will adjust and they will still see their friends at church.
What are you going to do for curricula? I myself am feeling more and more led to do most of the kids classes myself and let them watch the videos for just some of them. I just wish that I wouldn't have sold my 2nd grade teacher's editions! I do have PDF files for them but I prefer to have a hard copy. Take care, love~Virginia
I am sorry to hear that Rachel is sick again. I will be praying for wisdom and healing from the Lord. I wanted to share a saying that the Lord gave me recently. It was a blessing to me and as I read through your blog, it came to mind. Hope it is a blessing to you. "Remember, when God's going to do something wonderful, He begins with a difficulty. When He's going to do something exceptionally wonderful, He begins with an impossibility!" I am encourage by your faith in Him!! Don't give up. Lynette
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