Answered Prayers

Yesterday was quite a day. On Tuesday evening Rachel began feeling tightness in the chest and had heavy breathing. I was concerned; but did not want to overreact. By the time she went to bed (on the couch by our room) she was sounding much more congested and had a pretty nasty cough. She also had trouble coughing due to the pain in her throat. My concern was growing. I also kept trying to remember if Zak had any of these symptoms when he had his surgery a little over a year ago. I was coming up blank.

I have been getting up during the night and giving Rachel her pain meds to keep the pain cycle bearable. When I got up with her at midnight - I knew we had something more here. When she sat up to take the medication I could hear how bad the congestion was. Rob slept in the recliner by her. We prayed and decided to wait till morning to take her in.

The condition had worsened at 4:30 am. Rob and I both were quite concerned. I called the doctor promptly at 8 am and she said she would see her right away. I was thankful that her doctor is close and in town. By 8:45 after watching the doctor listen to her lungs - I grew very concerned at the look on the doctor's face. She was sure it was pneumonia - but needed to order a chest x ray for confirmation. A nebulizer treatment was given; but there was no change in the lung sounds following the treatment. She also was given an anti-biotic through a shot to try to get it into her system faster. The x ray showed what we had thought. The doctor assured me that she was going to treat this aggressively and try to keep her from having to be readmitted into the hospital.

We came home with a list of new instructions and breathing treatments to do every several hours. Rachel became quite lethargic throughout the day - and that was a concern to me. Finally last night, while Rob as at church, she started to sound better - not as congested. My concerns began to subside a little. (I also could not help but notice that while so many of our friends were at church prayer meetings - Rachel seemed to be getting better!)

Today, she is in a lot of pain with the throat. (The fourth day after surgery is supposed to be the most painful day she will have after surgery) However, she does seem to be breathing better - much better than yesterday! We will continue to breathing treatments until Monday.

We know God has heard our prayers - and the prayers of you are friends. God is healing and strengthening her today. Thank you so much for praying. We are looking forward to seeing all that God has for us throughout this trial of Rachel being sick. It has been so long. God has given real direction here in our hearts - even in the last 12 hours. Thanks for your prayers.

~Martie