Friday, May 1, 2015

May 1 – “Lunch time medical calls”

We went out to lunch the other day.  My personal favorite on the Island, Shrimp and Stuff.  My standing order there is a popcorn shrimp meal, because I also like the way they do french fries, and Chris likes the hush puppies that come with it.  She just gets the popcorn shrimp a la carte.  The shrimp were a little different this time, though.  Much smaller than usual.  Some were tiny, in fact.  Well, not as tiny as the little critters we had to babysit the other day.  Those brine shrimp operating under the assumed name “sea monkeys” still take the prize for the smallest bait I have been able to actually see with my naked eye.  I still haven’t figured out a way to get one of them on a hook.

As we drove up to Shrimp and Stuff we saw fire engine 5 parked across the street on a call at what looked to be a barber shop of some kind.  I found out later it was a medical call.  After we got parked and made our order, I went out to check on them.  I could see through the door that the crew was still inside working diligently on the patient, so I didn’t bother them.  The ambulance arrived very soon after, so that patient was secured and sent on to the hospital to be checked out.  Another in a string of medical calls duly accomplished by the ever-vigilant Galveston Fire Department.  Nice job guys.

And from there we headed out to the hospital ourselves.  We received a text as we arrived at the restaurant that a good friend’s youngest boy, 15 month old Owen, had been admitted with what they thought was a rather extreme reaction to a mosquito bite right over his eye.  The eye had swollen shut, and as it turned out, he had developed an infection.  The hospital admission resulted when the infection didn’t get any better, and in fact seemed to be spreading rapidly to his ears and even his lungs.  They had him on IV antibiotics, but the line blew, so he was taken orals.  And then the lab work results came back.  He had one of those staph infections that was resistant to antibiotics.  Boy do I ever remember those days.  That means he will need IV antibiotics for days, maybe even weeks, until that thing is cleared up.  And that meant for me, and it was looking like it would mean for Owen, installing one of those PIC lines that goes right up to the area near the heart.  It does mean less sticking, so that’s a plus.  But it also requires an extended level of cleanliness and care that most under-two-year-old boys don’t do so well sitting still for.  The prayer now is that one of those world-class medical professionals will be able to get a new IV line in, and that the new line will stay in place for the next few days so they can avoid the PIC line.  Or … if the PIC line is the best way to go, that they will be able to get it inserted with little difficulty and it will do its job.  Or, of course, there is that other option …

Exodus 15:26 says, He said, If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.’”


Father, you are the God Who Heals, and you can still do miracles today.  We would sure be happy to see one in Little Owen.  He’s in your hands.  Touch him where he needs it the most, when he needs it the most.  Amen.

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