The below is part of a journal I was keeping as we
sat by Traytons side in ICU. I decided to share so that you can also see how
beautifully the Lord provided and the blessings He brought during some
difficult times. Thank you to all of the friends and family, around the world, who were praying for Trayton. The body of Christ came together to pray for such a time as this. Please continue praying as we are still in Kenya. They will continue monitering Trays O2 as it is still low
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| Trayton in the ICU a few hours before they discharged us |
The beeping of the monitor is sounding behind me. Trayton is lying sound asleep with cords all over him, an oxygen mask, cuff. I can’t help but keep looking at the monitor to see if his heart rate and oxygen levels are improving. We are in Kenya at Gertrude Childrens Hospital. Trayton is in ICU. 13 days ago he began with a fever. We waited 5 days, because Christian had just recovered from a 10 day fever and cough. It seemed to be the same thing. We had our team nurse look at him. His lungs sounded clear and he had no other symptoms than the cough. We put him on an antibiotic after calling The Surgery (a doctor office in Kampala), thinking he may have strep as the doctor thought with our other children; who were also treated with an antibiotic. I wish we had come sooner.
We began talking about the need to leave and make the 7 hour
drive to Kampala on Wednesday. At home in Soroti, Trayton says “I don’t want to go to Kampala! Why would we
go to Kampala. It is God who is the one who will heal me. He can heal me in one
second. The doctors can’t.”
IHK in Kampala. Upon admittance, his oxygen levels checked
out to be very low, in the low 70’s. They immediately put him on oxygen and
brought him to ICU. They did a chest xray and put him on an antibiotic to treat
the pneumonia they saw. Here we are in a third world country. My baby is hooked
up to all kinds of things. An oxygen mask that was fit for an adult with a
stretched out elastic piece that we are constantly fixing. Each of the four
doctors we saw were saying different things. At one point Tray asked me if they
have to hit people when they have a heart attack. When I stepped out of the
room, he witnessed all the doctors running to a room because of a patient
having a heart attack. This young man died. His mother could be heard wailing
and calling Jesu, Jesu. The other patients seemed unaware and were certainly
not awoken by the commotion. It is possible they were on life support also. It
came down to a choice. One that we didn’t want to say we wish we would have. It
was an easy one. We wanted the best care possible for him. His levels of oxygen
when the mask came off were in the low 70’s. Too low. The medicine they were
talking about was not available in Uganda. Decision made. Chris and Trayton
would use the med jet to fly to Kenya for better medical care. Jennifer and
Steve were such a blessing. They drove all the way to Kampala to help us. Chris
left on a jet around 3 am, arrived at the hospital around 6:45am. Once again
Trayton needed to go through all the bloodwork. He was exhausted and sick of
it.
The kids and I along with Steve and Jennifer stayed at BMU Guesthouse for the night. Jennifer stayed with Chris until 1:30am at the hospital. I
wrestled in bed much of the night wondering if I should have went with them.
The morning came. We packed and were ready to head back to Soroti when Mandy
Shaarda called. They had their youngest in the ICU in Kenya just a year or two
before. She encouraged me to go and be with Chris and Trayton. That was all I
needed. I felt like it was a prompting from the Lord. Jennifer helped to book
the ticket and Steve helped to coordinate things. I took a taxi to Entebbe
airport and took the 3pm flight. It was only a 50 minute flight. I was blessed
to sit next to a very kind Christian woman. She asked if I was a business
woman. I kind of laughed to myself thinking I didn’t look all that professional
with my frizzy wild hair, wrinkled clothes, and tired makeup less face. Anyway,
I explained why I was going to Kenya. She said she would pray. Her name was
Rodu or something like that. She was an African woman born in Zambia and
working in Tanzania. She worked in the field of Health and Safety. She had 3
children. The flight landed. I said goodbye, as she was staying on till the
next stop. Just as I started to progress with the crowd to exit the plane, she
said my name. She handed me what appeared to be Kenyan Shillings. She said she
does a lot of traveling and I could maybe get a coke with it. I thanked her.
Wow. So kind and I am a complete stranger to her. As I was waiting for my taxi
driver to arrive, I looked at the money she had given me to see what Kenyan
money looks like. Tucked inside of the Kenyan shillings was a 100 US dollar
bill. Isn’t that just how the Lord works. He lets us see these little glimmers,
these little gifts, to let us know He is here with us.
ICU in Kenya. More beeping. Trayton says “When I grow up and play in the NBA, I am
first going to give my money to Chloe for her orphanage and then I am going to
give money to the hospitals in Uganda so they can care better for people and
have better equipment. “ Another
little gift.
Little 4 day old baby on the other side of the wall from
Trayton. Trayton says”I feel really
really bad for that baby mom.” She was born in a remote village of Kenya to
a young mother who is here all by herself. She walks in with a tattered yellow
blanket wrapped around her. “The baby
needs more care than I, doesn’t she mom” Her sickness is worse than mine”
Yes, she was born with her intestines on the outside of her body.
I speak with the mother. She seems ok. I let her know we are
praying for her and her baby.
Sunday morning I walk into the waiting room. The young
mother is sitting in the lounge watching the TV showing a local worship service
and singing along. “I SURRENDER ALL” I walk out with a peace in my heart. Another gift. Isn’t that what life is all
about; Surrendering. Trusting His good
and perfect plan. He is good. He died for all our sins and sicknesses when he
died on the cross. It was finished. God does promise to work all things for
good. In all the hard we have been through in life; losing our first child
Trayton David, Cancer..etc.; The Lord turned it into blessing.
I am reading in the ICU, One Thousand Gifts by Ana Voskamp.
One womans struggle with the goodness of God. How can God be good when there is
so much pain, suffering, and loss. Euricharisteo was her answer. Thankfulness. Taking
time to see the Many blessings that surround us. Why do we focus on the bad. He
blesses us each and every day with so much. She is challenged in the book to
write 1000 blessings. To be thankful for 1000 things.
The baby is doing ok. The doctor is in the waiting room and
the mother is crying.
Trayton successfully completed another round of steroid,
nebulizer, and antibiotics. Its becoming
less of a deal to put out the arm and get the poke.
I think about how we have the ability or access to fly all
the way to Kenya to get ‘better’ treatment for Trayton. We were in a place that
didn’t have the treatment Tratyon would possibly be needing. We had the ability
to fly somewhere that did. What about all the children in places around the
world who don’t have this option. I wonder if they are able to experience more
miracles of healing than we are. As much as we trust that Jesus is the healer,
we still have the best options as far as doctors and treatments. Their parents only option in times of life or
death is to cry out to the Healer. To believe completely that their child is in
the hands of our Father.
Before coming to live in Uganda, the one thing that gave me
fear was the possibility of my children having something happen that was life
threatening and being in a place with healthcare that you can not even be sure
if a malaria test is accurate or not due to the dirty slides that are used to
test the blood.
Soroti Hospitol. One large room. 20 women with child. Most of them sick. Their
caretakers lying on mats on the dirty cement ground. One doctor who they
hopefully will get to see that day. I was there a few weeks ago in Soroti,
visiting our friends sister. She was sick and 35 weeks pregnant. They were
saying the mother needed to have a c section or she and the baby would not
survive. These women have no option.
They have a trust in their Father to carry them through.
Does having so much make us trust less? Do we say the words
‘give us this day our daily bread’ with
much thought? For us it involves going to the grocery store. For so many around
the world it depends on the rain God sends. Will the harvest be enough to feed
the family? Have I ever really been hungry? Do I know what it feels like to not
have the ability to provide for my children the food, clothes, or shelter they
need for survival.
Read Philippians 4 in the message Bible.
As he lies there with the oxygen tubing in his nose, hooked
up to all kinds of wires;
“Mom, we should take
pictures of how God brought us through it”
“What do you mean
honey?”
“You know, like, when
you had cancer. I’ll take some now, the battery only has 10 percent life”
“That’s a great idea”
The Father transforms our trials into a testimony of His
goodness. The way he meets us in our deepest need. The way He brings comfort
through all the friends around the world praying and supernatural peace and
strength for all the shots. Are we as much aware of His closeness when life is
easy, fun, simple?
Monday morning arrives. 6 days in ICU now. Trayton is tired
of it. His IV fell out and he needs another poke. They are taking off the
oxygen to see where his levels are at without it. Trayton looks around at the
different patients and their families with heads covered. “This is a good place to share the gospel” he says. “I feel sorry for that boy. What if he dies?”
Later that day, I remember his words as I sit in a small
room to catch up on emails and our muslim friend and nurse walks in and
proceeds to do her prayer ritual. She asks me if I know how Muslims pray. I
tell her about our friends in Soroti who are Muslims. We spend a little time
talking.
Monday afternoon, One more poke! This will make 22. Trayton
adds up the money he is making from his Dad’s deal to pay him per poke. It
still doesn’t make him happy. He lays there listening to the loud alarms from
the baby next to him as the nurses run to her side. Angelina is her name. He listens to the screaming cries of the
little boy across the room and looks at me with a sad face.
His levels at 89/90 still. They need to be about 92. He may
be getting the MethBlue drug which will counter any reations he had from the
anti-malaria med primiquine. We are hoping to leave the ICU tonite and stay in
the ward. They are talking about watching him for 2 days after that to make
sure he continues to improve and then we take the plane!
Monday night...Trayton is now out of the ICU! Praise the Lord! Chris just got done telling him a bedtime story of David and Goliath. When he finished, he asked Trayton, "do you know why I told you that story?" He went on to tell him that he is like the little boy, David. Goliath is like this sickness that he was fighting against. Traytons faith was strong. May this this time in ICU bring glory to our Father in Heaven, our Healer, and Deliverer.
13 The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; 14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, 15 he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds. 16 The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. 17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, 19 that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. 22 Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
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