My youngest brother is seven years old. He is the same age as my son and is about half of my son’s size. When he was born he only weighed about a pound, so he had some serious catching up to do. The first several years of his life were spent with oxygen tubes, long hospital stays, and lots of worry filled nights whenever he got the sniffles or a cough. His lungs were severely underdeveloped due to being a few months premature so any sort of respiratory illness landed him in the pICU for several days. As he got older his lungs matured and for the most part we have been incident free. It’s been a few years now since he’s had anything major happen.
Two nights ago I got a text from my mom saying that they had to take him to the emergency room because he was having a hard time breathing and his at home aerosol treatments weren’t doing much. They ended up admitting him after the hospital administered four treatments without any change for the better. He was put on a liter of oxygen (which was later increased to four liters) and has been there since. From what I understand at this point, they plan on keeping him until he can go without any oxygen and keep his levels up.
Aside from the obvious problem facing him right now, the added difficulty comes in because of the fact that he is already a ridiculously hyper little boy (we’re talking Super Fudge by Judy Blume type hyper), but you add Albuterol (an medication that you inhale to relax the muscles in your lungs) to the mix and watch out…it increases your heart rate and makes even the most docile child a little jittery. So now he is extra juiced, hooked up to all sorts of IV’s and hoses (which limits his mobility), AND he is overtired because of the nurses being in and out all night. My poor parents probably will need a hospital stay themselves once this is over.
Yikes. My husband would tell me that was a lot of information that could have been summed up in a sentence or two. I could have said, “This is my hyper little brother Zion who is currently sick and in the hospital and is having a hard time staying still.” But I am a woman and women like details. So there you go…those are the details.
What impressed me this morning was that in my mind, I envisioned him sitting in the hospital being miserable. I thought surely mom and dad would be struggling to keep his spirits up. But then I got this picture texted to me with an attached message that said, “To Q (my son) from Z (him).”
Two nights ago I got a text from my mom saying that they had to take him to the emergency room because he was having a hard time breathing and his at home aerosol treatments weren’t doing much. They ended up admitting him after the hospital administered four treatments without any change for the better. He was put on a liter of oxygen (which was later increased to four liters) and has been there since. From what I understand at this point, they plan on keeping him until he can go without any oxygen and keep his levels up.
Aside from the obvious problem facing him right now, the added difficulty comes in because of the fact that he is already a ridiculously hyper little boy (we’re talking Super Fudge by Judy Blume type hyper), but you add Albuterol (an medication that you inhale to relax the muscles in your lungs) to the mix and watch out…it increases your heart rate and makes even the most docile child a little jittery. So now he is extra juiced, hooked up to all sorts of IV’s and hoses (which limits his mobility), AND he is overtired because of the nurses being in and out all night. My poor parents probably will need a hospital stay themselves once this is over.
Yikes. My husband would tell me that was a lot of information that could have been summed up in a sentence or two. I could have said, “This is my hyper little brother Zion who is currently sick and in the hospital and is having a hard time staying still.” But I am a woman and women like details. So there you go…those are the details.
What impressed me this morning was that in my mind, I envisioned him sitting in the hospital being miserable. I thought surely mom and dad would be struggling to keep his spirits up. But then I got this picture texted to me with an attached message that said, “To Q (my son) from Z (him).”
Even amidst all of the poking, coughing, medicine, and frustration that he is currently facing, he knew my son loves Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and he wanted to send him a message to make him happy. In times of crisis, it is amazing to watch how the hearts of children respond.
Matthew 18:3 says “and he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” At what point do our hearts become hardened and jaded? When does selfishness kick in and we become the center of our own worlds? When did we stop trying to make other people happy even when we are sick?
Regardless of when it happened, today is the day that I am choosing to stop being cynical and guarded toward other people. I am going to be like a kid again and offer myself openly and honestly. I am going to try and cheer other people up - even if I am feeling down myself.
Thanks for the reminder Z!
Matthew 18:3 says “and he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” At what point do our hearts become hardened and jaded? When does selfishness kick in and we become the center of our own worlds? When did we stop trying to make other people happy even when we are sick?
Regardless of when it happened, today is the day that I am choosing to stop being cynical and guarded toward other people. I am going to be like a kid again and offer myself openly and honestly. I am going to try and cheer other people up - even if I am feeling down myself.
Thanks for the reminder Z!
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