The Day Everything Changed
I have been trying to write this post for the last 3 days. Here you go....
As I sit here I reflect on the day that everything changed - February 6, 2012. It was a day full of many different things with many kinds emotions.. My Grandpa's 90th birthday! WOW! 90 years. Such joy and celebration. It was the day of Jon's Aunt Delores funeral - such sadness over the loss of a God honoring woman who fought a courageous fight with cancer. And the day of Thomas' first MRI - emotions of anxiety, worry, fear, nervousness. Our emotions were all over that day. I remember Jon and I picking up TJ at the school - that image of him walking out of the building is still so vivid in my head. The MRI didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped and prayed for and left feeling a little uneasy and anxious for the results - which we figured we wouldn't get until the next day. We ran a few errands - TJ was to have 4H that night so we decided to grab a bite to eat before leaving town and that's when it all started to go downhill. He threw up in Subway - which really concerned me. So we decided to skip 4H, pick up the other boys and head for home. We had barely left Don & Glenda's when my phone rang - it was TJ's doctor. I remember her asking if I was with Jon and then from there it was kind of a blur. I heard abnormalities on the brain, get to Iowa City ER tonight! We were in shock, confused, scared and everything else in between. We quickly called family members - Jon's parents were going to meet us there, my parents decided to ride with us and Jon's brother and sister in law picked up the other boys. It was the longest drive in history (and not the most fun - TJ got sick another time - which required stopping at Wal-Mart for new clothes). In fact we didn't pack anything - I had no clue what we were in store for. I guess any other time I had gone to the ER - we had never been admitted - so I didn't think they would this time. Honestly, I wasn't thinking - my mind was all over the place that night. We were told to get to Iowa City as soon as possible and that's what we did. We got there and waited, waited and did more waiting. They finally called us back to tell us they had no clue what exactly it was and then they showed us the images from the MRI taken earlier. I think had I not been sitting down - I would have fallen over. I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing - how could we have not seen the signs earlier? How were they going to fix and help my precious TJ? I remember being admitted around 1:00 am into the PICU scared to death. They started asking questions and telling me what medicines they were going to put him on - but to me it sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown. What? HUH? I don't know? We tried our hardest to get some sleep that night - but it was useless - how could any parent sleep after receiving that kind of news? All we could do was be brave for TJ, hold on to each other and pray like we've never prayed before. We had no idea what the road ahead of us looked like - how long we would be there, when we would find out what these abnormalities were or how soon our life would be back to normal. What I never expected that night - was that it was NEVER going to be the same EVER again.
As I sit here I reflect on the day that everything changed - February 6, 2012. It was a day full of many different things with many kinds emotions.. My Grandpa's 90th birthday! WOW! 90 years. Such joy and celebration. It was the day of Jon's Aunt Delores funeral - such sadness over the loss of a God honoring woman who fought a courageous fight with cancer. And the day of Thomas' first MRI - emotions of anxiety, worry, fear, nervousness. Our emotions were all over that day. I remember Jon and I picking up TJ at the school - that image of him walking out of the building is still so vivid in my head. The MRI didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped and prayed for and left feeling a little uneasy and anxious for the results - which we figured we wouldn't get until the next day. We ran a few errands - TJ was to have 4H that night so we decided to grab a bite to eat before leaving town and that's when it all started to go downhill. He threw up in Subway - which really concerned me. So we decided to skip 4H, pick up the other boys and head for home. We had barely left Don & Glenda's when my phone rang - it was TJ's doctor. I remember her asking if I was with Jon and then from there it was kind of a blur. I heard abnormalities on the brain, get to Iowa City ER tonight! We were in shock, confused, scared and everything else in between. We quickly called family members - Jon's parents were going to meet us there, my parents decided to ride with us and Jon's brother and sister in law picked up the other boys. It was the longest drive in history (and not the most fun - TJ got sick another time - which required stopping at Wal-Mart for new clothes). In fact we didn't pack anything - I had no clue what we were in store for. I guess any other time I had gone to the ER - we had never been admitted - so I didn't think they would this time. Honestly, I wasn't thinking - my mind was all over the place that night. We were told to get to Iowa City as soon as possible and that's what we did. We got there and waited, waited and did more waiting. They finally called us back to tell us they had no clue what exactly it was and then they showed us the images from the MRI taken earlier. I think had I not been sitting down - I would have fallen over. I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing - how could we have not seen the signs earlier? How were they going to fix and help my precious TJ? I remember being admitted around 1:00 am into the PICU scared to death. They started asking questions and telling me what medicines they were going to put him on - but to me it sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown. What? HUH? I don't know? We tried our hardest to get some sleep that night - but it was useless - how could any parent sleep after receiving that kind of news? All we could do was be brave for TJ, hold on to each other and pray like we've never prayed before. We had no idea what the road ahead of us looked like - how long we would be there, when we would find out what these abnormalities were or how soon our life would be back to normal. What I never expected that night - was that it was NEVER going to be the same EVER again.
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