My Mom said she missed my Blogs . . .
So, here’s to Mumsy!
After we started foster care, I really felt a nudging to share our journey. How we got to here. How God got us here. As I typed, I originally intended to start blogging and have no end. It seemed to naturally flow when I was alone, in the city, sipping lattes at Café One Eight waiting on the girls to be done with a visit. Their cobb salads are incredible. Even after two years of foster care visits, knowing those totally alone moments would soon come to an end, I (honestly) thought I would continue to blog even at home. That I would still find that personal time and space to share. That the Holy Spirit would give me the words to write each and every week.
In my free time!!! Insert all the belly laughs from said Mumsy about Rachel’s free time. If you know me… you know me…
Except, not. As life changed, blogging changed. Although I wasn’t content with not writing, it felt out of my control. If I didn’t have the words, or the prompts, or the time, how could I possibly share my heart? It’s not that God was any less faithful, either. Visits for the girls slowed. Things went south with my oils business & praise God, really, because I was striving and not thriving. We were approaching the time to welcome our miracle baby into the world. And that thing that’s going around that we can’t talk about – I’m not going to give it any credit. You know - life just keeps moving forward . . . until it doesn’t. Until your entire world and life as you know it is facing you square in the eye telling you that Life indeed, is probably, most likely, going to end.
You see, My Dad had been having some unknown, odd, health issues for about 9 months. He was really tired at first. He went to our family doctor and they said “Oh well I guess you are getting old!” & being 53, he said “Yeah, I’m certainly not 30 anymore!”. A month went by. Still tired and he started having some back pain. Another doctors visit and blood work. Doctor says, “Well, you have some thyroid imbalance and high blood pressure, but you know, normally things for an aging man.” Starts some medication . . . still not feeling better. Just r e a l l y feeling “off” and the pain is increasing. Naturally we tell him to get a second opinion! Same results. Blood work and a visit. “Well, you don’t have Lyme. Thyroid imbalance and high blood pressure. See you in a month.”
Dad felt worse after the 3rd month. More pain, and still feeling off. Starting to not be able to do his normal tasks. Taking naps. NAPS. If you know my Dad... or ME - We. Do. Not. Nap. We are workers. Mules. Stubborn and really put our all into our work. Do you think “come back in a month!” is encouraging to someone who is seeing absolutely no progress in his health? Absolutely not.
It was more than a month… We kept saying to Dad - they have got to do something for you!! Why wont they order a CT scan? This is 2021!! Why does this feel like it is being over looked? Dad says… “Well every time I call in, they are so worried about COVID that they think I have it, they don’t want to see me in the office! They want to do a virtual visit!” WHAT?
I’ll tell you here and now. He didn’t have COVID symptoms. He had - very odd for his build and level of activity – symptoms. He had – I threw my back out worse than I’ve ever thrown my back out and I didn’t even do anything – pain in his back. He was a “sleep when I’m dead!” kind of worker. We just had no idea what was going on or what to do, since our family doctor was clearly not helping. The second opinion guy was also a dead end. He went on to one more place where he had some x-rays and ultrasounds. We still didn’t receive any clear answers. “Oh, maybe kidney stones, but they should pass”. My dad has never had a kidney stone in his life or for that matter, & OK lady – how do you explain this sudden high blood pressure from a man who has literally - never – had more than a head cold???
Someone suggested to drop him off at an ER. He thought about it for a solid month. After being drug around by t h r e e other doctors, he didn’t want to deal with it. I don’t blame him, talk about frustration. After some convincing, he said I am absolutely not going to any local hospital, so forget that. The closest hospital he would consider is Hershey. & praise the Lord for that, because I think we would’ve came up with the same answers if we had stayed “local”.
Here we are on my birthday - July 28 of 2020. I drove the 55 minutes up 897, to 419 through Lebanon, connected to 322. I dropped my hurting father off at the doors of the ER Hershey Medical Center at 3pm and said “I don’t care what you have to tell them, or how long your wait is but you cannot leave here until they figure out what’s going on with you.”
. . . . .
It was 1 in the morning when he called me. He said “They figured out my problem right away! This place is amazing!! You can come pick me up.” Giddy to have answers, nervous to know what they were and hopeful for a quick fix, I headed the 55 minutes up 897, to 419 through Lebanon, connected to 322. This time I parked my car in the Hershey Medical Center parking lot. In I walked, and the desk lady led me around the maze to the ER room he had been in. There he laid…. “Rachel this place is amazing. For only being an hour away, the staff here is top notch! They gave me a CT right away, no questions. You’ll never believe what they found!”
& so starts my 443 day journey with my Dad….. To be Continued ….
Circa.... 2000??? :)