My Son, My Miracle Page 10

An infection had invaded by body . . .

Because He Lives

Because He lives,

I can bear whatever burden may be mine.
I am encircled in the arms of love divine,

Because He lives.
Because He lives,

He will banish every shadow of my pain.
Every sorrow will be swallowed up in Him.
For in His hand is healing for the weary soul.
This I know because He lives.

Because He lives,

My heart is filled with peace amid a world of fear.
And through the blindness of the night, in Him I rest secure,
Because He lives.

Because He lives,

There is no task so great that I cannot endure.
I bear no heartache that His tender mercy cannot cure,
Because He lives.

.Because He lives I will fear no darkness.
Because He lives I will walk in light.
Because He lives I will praise His kindness.
Because He lives hope shines ever bright.
Because He lives I will seek His righteousness.
Because He lives I'll follow where He leads.
Because He lives I shall conquer even death.
And I shall live because He lives!

--Sally DeFord

Sometimes the Lord sends angels to help us along life's path.  Many times we do not know from whence they come or to where they go.  We only know that they cross the threshold of our lives at the precise moment they are needed.  One such angel, I shall refer to as Penny, ascended into our lives and became a self-appointed caretaker for our two tiny munchkins while Steve and I visited with Jared in the NICU.  She loved our children and fancied herself  our instant on-call unpaid nanny. 

Penny arrived to our home in a flash that ominous Saturday morning right after the ambulance whisked me away.  Knowing his babies were in good hands, Steve jumped in his car in pursuit of flashing lights.

Upon arrival, the emergency room staff found me delirious and febrile.  The words coming out of my mouth were not matching the questions being asked.  I just wanted my husband.  I didn't want to die alone and I knew if Steve was there everything would be all right.  The next thing I remember was lying on a gurney as an ultrasonic test was being performed.  There was concern in the doctor's voices as they mentioned something "glowing" in my uterus.

Finally Steve arrived.  As soon as he found me, the awaiting staff told him he had gotten me to the hospital "just in time."  I have often pondered those three words and know that had we waited much longer to seek medical treatment, it might have been too late.

For the next three days I fought for my life.  I was placed in a private room where I received IV antibiotics and pain medication.  My body languished through a long stubborn high fever.  I had developed septicemia, a blood infection.  I looked and felt like death.  While lying in my hospital bed one of those dreadful nights, I really thought I was going to die. I started having severe chest pain.  A nurse brought medication but it did not touch the pain. Later, the pain radiated to my left shoulder and down my arm and then to my right shoulder. It was unbearable.  Discovering that I had received no relief from the oral pain medication, the nurse called a Dr. who  instructed her to give me a shot of morphine which lessened the intensity of the pain.   No one had an explanation for the pain.

Once I was able to sit up in a wheelchair, I insisted on visiting Jared in the NICU.  One of Jared's nurses looked at me pitifully and said, I really hate to see you coming in here like this."  

It almost seemed as if someone was trying to keep me in the dark about my condition.  This was confirmed to me when one of the doctors who delivered Jared entered my room at about two o'clock in the morning, pulled a chair close to my bed and talked to me about how hard she had worked to become a doctor.  She seemed the least bit concerned for my welfare and to my total astonishment she tried to convince me that I was not sick!  She next insinuated that the reason why I was in the hospital was to be close to my son and that she was going to release me from hospital care as soon as possible.  She went on to say that I should get a hotel room because it was cheaper to stay in a hotel than in a hospital.  This was incredulous to me.  I was in total disbelief and at this hour in the morning there was no one around to witness the conversation.

Stay Tuned . . .