Shabbat has Come!

Shabbat is a time of rest and introspection. It is a day that the father has set aside to meet with his children, and this Shabbat he is meeting with us. Yesterday, we were discharged from Lebohneur Hospital in Memphis after just only three days of recovery for Tzadok. His recovery has been amazing and I'm sorry that I haven't had time to update the blog in the last several days, but it has been a whirlwind of emotion for us. Tzadok went into surgery Tues. morning at 8 A.M. That was the most difficult thing Rachel and I have ever had to do in our entire lives. The surgery took about five hours. Wow, five hours. I remember pacing the waiting room and with each hour that passed the knots in my stomach grew worse almost to the point of being sick. Rachel also experienced this same feeling, and I still get those feeling when I think back at those moments. Who couldn't? We were updated every hour of the process. Call #1 Dr. Klimo has made the incision and the surgery has begun. Call #2 His vitals are stable and he is doing well. Call #3 Dr. Klimo has made visual contact with the tumor and is beginning to drain the cyst. Call #4 Dr. Klimo is very pleased with what he saw, and is closing the incision now. The fifth call never came and instead Dr. Klimo met us in the waiting room to let us know that Tzadok was doing great and he was on the sixth floor, which was the Neuro ICU area. Neuro ICU, words I thought I would never say.

Everyone we talked to that day and since has said if their child was facing a similar diagnosis that there was no one better than Dr. Klimo. I would agree. I am happy that the father led us to St. Jude and ultimately to Dr. Klimo. He was meticulous with the surgery and he even has specific instructions for the gauze covering the incision, which is better than some Neurosurgeons we've heard of. Its the little things that sometimes make the difference.

Back to the actual recovery, the first night after surgery was a sleepless night filled with IV's, morphine, and swelling; however, Tzadok did well drinking some liquids and sleeping for the most part. Day two was a little different. Tzadok was taken off of the IV's because he was drinking even better and even attempting a bite or two of food, which meant that we had to manage his pain differently than the morphine because it ran through the IV. So we tried a Tylenol lortab mix, which equaled mistake. He became irritable and couldn't stand the taste of the medicine so we had to regain his trust. He was also in a drug induced fog where he wouldn't eat or drink. That night he was put back on the IV's and the morphine, which was another trying time for him and for us. After that night, we regained his trust by letting him stick his finger in the medicine before tasting it and we also stopped all pain medicine except for the Tylenol, which was a good move as long as we kept the medicine in him every four hours. The next day was simply watching my boy recover. He started eating again, continued to drink, and we were in awe as the Father shrunk the swelling. He has done so well that we have been discharged from the hospital after only three days. Three days! That is also supposed to be the worst day of recovery, but we were released on the third day. How amazing is our Father!?  It is Shabbat now and I'm about to head to Nashville and pick up our boys for a long awaited reunion another Sabbath blessing. The first leg of our journey is almost over and  your prayers and support have aided us so much, but the second journey is about to begin. However, today we will focus on rest, recovery, and family for tomorrow has cares and worries of it's own.

Tomorrow has come

St. Jude is a massive hospital with a multitude of patients from every walk of life. As we went from appointment to appointment, there were mamas, daddies, grandparents, and sick babies everywhere. There was not one place you could go around here that doesn't have a bald head or a scarred head somewhere. Everyone is facing a trial and I can't tell you how comforting it is to be a part of this whole experience. Imagine you are confronting the most difficult trial you have ever faced and everywhere you turn there is someone else facing the most difficult trial they have ever faced. You draw upon everyone's strength and you never feel alone. When you cry no one looks questioningly at you, because they understand. Perhaps, just yesterday or the moment before they were also crying. Love abounds here and at times you could be sharing stories with another patient looking at the pictures of children who underwent the same struggle your own is about to face, and in another moment you may be grabbed by a nurse and given a hug. At other times there are smiles and within the same moment prayers rise because you meet someone who has received more bad news.

On to our day in particular, we started out speaking to the neurosurgeon, Dr. Klimo, about the upcoming surgery; then we had a check-up, and ended our day speaking with Tzadok's radiologist Dr. Merchant. We've defiantly learned the ropes around here and day two has been much better than day one. Let's just say yesterday I was in tears and tonight I'm not. There are two important things we have learned over the last couple days. First, you will walk and wait a lot and secondly we have been reminded that disease is not a discriminator between people. We have seen Amish, Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Hindus. If that is not enough diversity, we have seen poor and rich patients, Hispanic and African-American patients, along with Asian and Caucasian patients. Many patients are from out-of-town, while others are from the local area, however some come from other countries seeking hope. That is the thing that binds us all together in this hospital. Hope. We all hope. We all struggle. Tomorrow has come for us and we hope. However, we don't hope in doctors. Our hope is in YHWH Elohim. Please keep Tzadok in your prayers and please pray that Dr. Klimo's hands are unnaturally blessed. Pray for Rachel, the boys, and myself. Pray for our situation when we return back home, but most importantly pray that Tzadok is a warrior in just a few short hours.

Arrival

  Well, we've finally arrived in Memphis to begin treatment on Tzadok's tumor. The day was first marked by dropping three of our other boys off with some friends of the family. This was especially challenging because our boys have never been away from us longer than a day at a time and they will have to stay with our friends for over a week. It's going to be very difficult, but we keep reminding ourselves this is necessary for Tzadok. When we arrived at St. Jude our first visit was not as smooth as expected, there was plenty of miscommunication between our situation and the nurses. We got to our room late and had some issues over the use of our food voucher card, but overall there was a very sweet nurse that went above and beyond to make sure we learned our way around. It still feels very surreal that our son is about to undergo brain surgery; however, when it comes to the precious life of one of your little ones our personal preference must be left at the door and the Father must lead us in what is best for him. We have taken comfort with the fact that the Father is in control of this situation, and overall, our first day has been one of peace in the knowledge that we are in the best hospital in the world for Tzadok. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, it has been a comfort for Tzadok and ourselves. Zephaniah is sleeping and Tzadok just fell asleep because Rachel was scratching his back. It has been a blessed evening. We have a very busy day tomorrow but we will update everyone after the appointments are finished for the day.