Don't worry. He just has "the flu".

Psalm 86:6-7
Hear my prayer, O lord; listen to my cry for mercy.  In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. 

I decided to take a walk down memory lane in order to prepare for this post, so I got out Christopher's baby book and started thumbing through the pages.  It's hard to believe he was ever that little!  As I read through some of the things I had written, I was struck by the fact that a lot had happened over the last 16 years.

There was one page where you could list "mishaps and illnesses".  If you would have asked me then, I would have said that this page would most likely be filled with entries about colds, the flu, and earaches- all the normal kid stuff.  Unfortunately, the entire page was covered with information about hospital stays, emergency room visits, and surgeries. 

I looked at the first entry regarding his first surgery and hospital stay.  It said:  Pyloric Stenosis, 5 days in hospital, developed infection, had feeding problems, developed flu, problems continued for approximately one month. 

Two things struck me when I read that.  First of all, "feeding problems" that was the understatement of the year!  It's interesting to read that now with 20/20 hindsight.  I really had no idea at that point in time just how big of an issue that was going to become.  Secondly, the part about him having "the flu" was something that we were about to find out would be the default diagnosis that we would be given time and time again.  Unfortunately, it would turn out that Christopher's true diagnosis was so rare and difficult to determine that the doctors would just chalk his symptoms up to "the flu".  After all, the symptoms did mimic the flu in many ways, so it seemed obvious that it was the cause of Christopher's continued problems.  The main problem (at least we thought it was), Pyloric Stenosis, had been solved with the surgery, so it must be the flu.  But...since when does the flu last for 6 months?  It turned out that it would take that long to really figure out what was going on. 

I really do wish it had been just that easy.  I wish they had been right about that flu diagnosis because the flu is "normal" and "temporary".  It can be easily managed.  It doesn't make you a frequent flier at the hospital. Our first stay at the hospital would not be our last.  We were about to become "regulars" on the pediatric floor.


If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can pray like this:

More tomorrow...