Tip-Toeing Through the Mine Fields

Here lately it's been...well...interesting. Life. It's hard to say what it will throw at you. This summer has been quite trying for me and sometimes I get a bit jittery to turn another corner. But just as easily as there could be something scary around that corner, there could be something equally wonderful and amazing. I'm waiting for the amazing things because I know they will come one day. But, this day was not yesterday.

It started with a fever around 2:00 in the afternoon. Alex was definitely a bit off and seeing as he'd been around a lot of kids this past weekend and out of his element, I wasn't surprised to see it. What I was surprised to see was Josh coming home, hunched over and in severe pain. At first, I assumed he'd hurt his back. Occupational hazards, you know? When he said he felt worse than he'd ever felt before in his life in a barely audible voice and I saw the pale skin beneath the dirt, I knew something wasn't right. He said his entire body was cramping up, he'd thrown up twice, and had to pull over due to his vision going out. All it took was one question: "Did you work in the heat all day?" When he said yes, I immediately thought it was heat related. Of course, he went downhill fast. He collapsed onto the floor in entire body cramps and then suddenly I heard him whisper, "I can't breathe!" Boom. That was it. Ambulance was in route. It was looking like he was having a heatstroke. He said he was sure he was having a heart attack. I kept my cool, but inside I was falling apart. Now before you get all freaked out, it wasn't a heart attack. His pumper's working fine. They took him away in the ambulance and suddenly I couldn't believe what was happening. I was in the car, dropped the kids off with my folks, and on the way to Josh. The hospital kept getting further away for some reason, but I got there eventually. I had called for prayer from Josh's brother and had him pass the word along. They didn't hesitate and were already in the car on their way...just as worried as I was. He didn't have a heatstroke, but it could have gone that far fast. He had what they called acute renal failure. His kidneys were all dried up and he his body began breaking down and eating his muscle to survive. Dehydration to the max. Four bags of fluid and a few tests later, he finally had to pee. The doc said that if you don't pee, you're not hydrated. First of all, the doctor said 'pee' and not urine. I loved that. It lightened my mood significantly. We all came up with a great t-shirt idea. "My kidneys are happy. I peed today." (Sorry. Had to joke a little. :-) All jokes aside though, it was scary and horrible to watch happen, but thank God he's okay. He's off work until Friday under doctor's orders. Actually the doc's orders were, "Get a red box DVD and relax for two days with lots of fluid." Done.

As for Alex, his fever is getting better, but he's got something else going on. His face is twitching. I took him in this morning and the doctor said she thinks he has tic disorder. Basically it's an involuntary tic that is caused by severe stress or illness. Well, I'd say we have that covered as he watched the five big guys hook daddy up to tubes and take him away to the hospital. Poor kiddos. I sent them to my room while it was happening but you can't hide everything. Let's just all pray that things get better quick for all the people in my house that I hold so dear to my heart.

So basically it's simple. There are no maps through the crazy thing that is life. You can tiptoe through the mine fields but eventually you're gonna hit the bumps you just didn't see were right in front of you.