It's just normal kid stuff.



The surgeon was very measured in his examination of Christopher's abdomen, and his concerned facial expressions led me to believe that I was probably going to be spending some more time in the surgical waiting area.  The doctor began the report of his findings with a deep breath and a huge sigh (never a good sign).  His shoulders slumped a little as he exhaled.  He tried to soften the blow, but his words were still like a sharp slap in the face. 

He told me that he had some bad news and some good news.  The bad news was that Christopher needed to have surgery (well, okay at least I know where that waiting room is), but the good news was that the surgery would be to repair the hernia that had developed in his intestine near his feeding tube.  My mind kept waiting for the good news.  I was sure he had said that this was a bad news/good news thing, so I asked the obvious next question...and the good news is?  He explained that hernias are not uncommon in children, and that they are easily fixed with surgery.  In other words, the good news was that this wasn't one of those weird, rare things Christopher usually gets.  It was just your everyday, ordinary hernia.  In my mind I was questioning the wisdom of his depiction of this as good news...oh!  Well, that is good news???  Then out loud I heard myself saying...I don't think I would call that good news.  It's more like just...news!

Michael, Christopher, and Ryan

Call it what you will, it still required surgery.  For most kids this would be a quick, easy fix requiring minimal hospital time and recovery.  For Christopher, it would require days and days of recovery before we could even begin the slow process of restarting his tube feedings.  For Christopher there was no such thing as quick and easy.

The operation itself was quick.  Christopher was in surgery for about an hour or so before the doctor appeared in the surgical waiting area to let us know that he had repaired the hernia, and that Christopher was resting comfortably.  The routine from here on out would be the same.  He would be in the recovery room for approximately an hour, and then we could see him up in his hospital room.  We thanked the surgeon, gathered up our things, and went upstairs to the pediatric floor to wait for Christopher.

Fragile, handle with care!

A two bed room was going to be home for the coming days.  Our roommate was already resting on his side of the small room.  As I walked in I was startled by what I saw.  He was probably about three, maybe four years old.  He was lying flat on his back and wearing a giant white helmet that said, "DO NOT TOUCH OR REMOVE!"  There was a large sign above his bed that said, "I HAVE A HEAD INJURY.  DO NOT TOUCH MY HEAD OR REMOVE MY HELMET!"

He wore a helmet much like this one.

He didn't have any visitors with him, and he was eerily still.  I couldn't help but watch his chest to see if it was moving, to see if he was breathing.  His face was expressionless, and his limbs rested motionless at his side.  I had a very uneasy feeling.  I couldn't exactly put my finger on it, but something was very wrong with this situation.  It wouldn't be long before I found out just HOW WRONG it really was.


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

More tomorrow...