A prescription worth celebrating

Who knew a prescription could be so exciting?

Since Christopher's healing we had seen the GI doctor and the surgeon, but we hadn't yet met with his regular doctor, his pediatrician.  It was a bit of an oversight on my part.  Christopher's vaccinations were up to date and he hadn't had an illness, so I just didn't think about making an appointment.

Your typical Oregonian in January.

January is a notorious cold and flu month.  Christopher had been getting yearly flu shots ever since that first bout with the flu landed him in the hospital, but flu shots are not a perfect fix.  There are still plenty of other colds and viruses running rampant during the winter months, so it was no surprise when Christopher developed the tale tell sore throat and runny nose.

Your best friend when you have a cold.

We waited a few days for his immune system to battle the cold virus on it's own, but when he developed a fever I called his pediatrician's office for an appointment.  The ever helpful receptionist made an appointment for him.  Even she was surprised that the doctor had an appointment available because their office had been overwhelmed with cold and flu victims.

When we arrived at the office, it was easy to see that Christopher was not the only one suffering with a sneezy, stuffed up virus.  The waiting room was full of kids in need of a box of  tissues, a bowl of chicken soup, and a prescription for antibiotics.  No need to consult the calendar.  It was definitely January in Oregon.

Mom's have forever been prescribing chicken soup as a cure for the common cold.  I never could make this work with  Christopher's feeding tube.  After God's healing, Christopher could eat all the chicken soup that he wanted.

When the nurse called Christopher's name, we took our turn in the exam room. Within minutes, the pediatrician was looking down Christopher's red and swollen throat.  With the usual chit chat and discussion of symptoms complete, the doctor began to write a prescription for antibiotics.  Thinking out loud, he stopped and reminded all of us that it needed to be in liquid form in order to go into Christopher's feeding tube.

Christopher and I looked at each other and smiled as we realized at the same time that we had forgotten to tell the pediatrician that Christopher had been healed.  I gave Christopher the nod to fill the doctor in on all that had happened.  Just as he had done many times before, he gave details of the day that God healed him.

The doctor was standing when Christopher began the story, and by the time Christopher was done the doctor had to catch himself on the nearby wall to keep from literally falling over.  He had a stunned expression on his face as he kept repeating over and over again that this was so amazing and unexpected!

A litany of questions were fired in rapid succession.  When did this happen?  What did it feel like?  When was the last time you used your feeding tube?  What have you been eating?  The doctor took off his reading glasses and looked Christopher up and down.  After a quick glance, he announced again that he was so surprised and happy for Christopher.  Then he added that God's healing was definitely working since Christopher was able to eat, his weight was perfect, and he looked very fit. 

Then, surprised that he hadn't thought of it sooner, he asked Christopher if he had seen the GI doctor.  The pediatrician wanted to know about her reaction, so I explained that she had been happy for Christopher too.  The doctor pressed for more.  He remarked again that this wasn't supposed to happen.  There was no cure for the disorder that Christopher had been suffering from for so many years.  He wanted to know what she thought of God's healing.  I told him the only thing that I could. She was happy for him.  I explained that she had seemed surprised, but that she was clinically neutral.

The doctor, who had nearly lost his footing upon hearing the news, was perplexed with the words "clinically neutral".  He wanted to know how anyone could be clinically neutral.  I reminded him of his medical training (and hers), but he remained incredulous.  In a firm tone he stated that doctors do receive medical training, but they are still human after all. 

As he wrote Christopher a prescription for his very first ORAL (by mouth) antibiotic, he was still saying over and over again what great news this was.  Then he handed us two pieces of paper.  One was a prescription to give to the pharmacist.  The other was a souvenir to remind us of this very special moment in time.  It was the first time Christopher could swallow his medicine instead of putting it through his feeding tube.

Leaving the physician's office we were so distracted by the doctor's reaction and the souvenir prescription, that we almost forgot why we were there in the first place.  Christopher's spirits were buoyed so much that he hardly noticed his stuffy nose and sore throat at all. There may be no cure for the common cold, but we had a prescription worth celebrating.


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

More tomorrow...