Chelsea Update: Longest 5 Hours of My Life!

What started out as a really good day yesterday, led to the most difficult 5 hours I've ever had to endure. But, even within that, God's presence was overwhelming! Here's the story...

We are still working on resolving the GI issue they discovered. That was improving, and she was starting to improve. She was awake for several hours, watched some TV, and had some badly needed and long overdue laughs when her school volloeyball coach came for a visit. We had a really good talk with a dietician about some dietary things we can do to keep this from happening again. She seemed to be getting some strength back. Overall, we were all very encouraged! The doctor wanted to repeat one scan to check her GI system and see if the issue was completely resolved of not. They came to take her down to x-ray. That is when things started going badly...

Chelsea started having a reaction to one of the medicines she's had, although we had no idea at the time what was really happening to her. It started with her jaw muscles contracting and her tongue thrusting out of her mouth. That continuously got worse, and after about 30 minutes, her neck started seizing. (I don't know if it's actually considered a seizure, but that's the word I'm using to try to give you the right mental image.) Her head was being pulled as far to the left and as far back as it would go, and she couldn't stop it. She was asking me to try and hold her head to keep it forward. I tried, but I couldn't keep it forward no matter how hard I tried. Her neck was contracting that hard. After that, her eyes started rolling back in her head. At this point, we were all getting a little scared. We knew it MIGHT be a reaction to the medicine, but they had given her Benadryl and it wasn't helping yet. We didn't know why it was happing. We didn't know how bad it was going to get. There was just a lot we didn't know. I just kept holding her hand and trying to keep her calm. Matt got back and was able to actually spend some time really talking to the nurse and doctor. That's when we found out that it was definitely a reaction. Her jaw and neck kept seizing for about an hour longer, but they finally subsided. She was OK for about an hour, then round two started. It wasn't as severe as the first round, but it lasted about an hour and a half. It finally stopped around 11:00, and, praise God, didn't happen again. That was the most difficult 5 hours I can ever remember having to endure. But, the real story within this story isn't the "seizures." It's the way Chelsea handled it....

When the first round was really kicking into high gear, Chelsea grabbed my hand and through the seizures and pain, with very slow and deliberate speech said, "Mommy, don't stop praying! You can't stop praying! I'm not stopping! God is here, and He's going to make me better!" I was completely astonished! I have always known Chelsea had a strong faith, but for a 16-year-old who is going through the scariest, most painful experience ever, with no idea why it's happening, to make the choice to get through it by turning to God...  Well, let's just say I don't even have a word to describe how amazing it was! Throughout the whole evening, she prayed, used Christian music to stay calm, and asked us to pray over her. I just kept telling her what an amazing testimony she was going to have when this was all said and done!! What's even more amazing is that, once again, we saw first hand how real God's presence is and how he truly can heal those who cry out to him. About 5 minutes after Matt prayed over her, the doctor came in and said there was one more medicine they could give her that might help to relax her muscles some to help get her through. They gave it to her, and about 10 minutes later the "seizure" ended. I am so blessed to have been witness to yet another act of God's hand healing someone I love who is hurting so badly!

The good news is, today has already been MUCH better! She's really exhausted, of course, so she's been sleeping a lot. But, she is talking better, getting around better, finally strong enough to feed herself, and in much less pain. We are on the downslide of the GI issue as well. I'm pretty sure we aren't going home today, but it seems like there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel!

When you pray today, please continue to pray for her healing. But, also please say another prayer of thanks to the amazing God we serve for His presence in this room and in Chelsea's heart, and for the work He has already done for her!

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  ~Romans 5:3-4