I thought I would give you a moving update... but mostly I want you to pray for our health, especially Wesley's. He is struggling to get better from what we thought was strep, but maybe it wasn't... we're following up tomorrow (Tuesday). See below for more details.
Originally, we had planned to leave last Tuesday, March 1st from NC to drive to TN. Well, in typical fashion for our family... we weren't quite ready. The U-Haul we reserved was smaller than we understood, so everything didn't quite fit. We still had more stuff than we had hoped to have at this point! UGH! So we postponed leaving until Wednesday, March 2nd, and we got a trailer to pull behind the U-Haul! Dano & Derek were going to be in the U-Haul. I was going to travel in the van (which belongs to the FBC Hendersonville's mission house) with the other four kiddos. Thanks to many friends helping with packing and watching the kids, we were ready to leave Wednesday morning when we went to bed Tuesday night... ahhhhh. We were planning an 8 a.m. departure. Our friends were planning on showing up at 7 a.m. to make filling, fresh breakfast sandwiches for us to aid us in our departure. Amazing, huh?
During the wee hours of the morning, Emma woke up throwing up. =0( Shortly after we got it all cleaned up and we went back to bed, she woke up throwing up, again. Thankfully, it only happened twice. We began praying about our trip. We were hoping it was something she ate or a short virus. Unfortunately, when she tried to eat something "lite" in the morning, it came right back up. Then the other end joined in on the affair. We were debating what to do. Dano & Derek had to leave. The U-Haul needed to be returned on a certain day to avoid extra charges.
The kids and I couldn't stay at the house because the water was going to be off from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. because of sewer work they were going to do. You can't exactly keep a kid in Emma's condition in a house without water! Amazingly, our friends (Dick & Kathy) offered to help us in any way we wanted... they would drive with us... so I could sit with Emma, or the kids & I could come to their house for Emma to recover! They invited a throwing up (etc.) child into their home with 3 other siblings who could be ready to explode with the same illness! They offered to drive 500 miles! That is friendship, huh? I still didn't know what we would do. Dano & I were praying for wisdom. He went ahead and left with Derek. I finished gathering up the miscellaneous items that were going in our van, I let our friends take the kids to their house while I ran errands. I would decide later. I had three options: go it alone, travel with our friends, or stay the night with our friends and reassess in the morning. I really wanted to leave. Normally, when our kids get something like this, it is a short virus. I was leaning heavily toward leaving. Dano was okay with whatever I decided. While running errands, I called Dano, he prayed again... then we decided that I would stay with our friends, and leave early the next morning. After making that choice, it was confirmed by "running into" a nurse practitioner we know from JAARS. Her husband serves in aviation, too. By talking to her, I felt like we had made the best choice (this may be a "duh" for many of you). Also, by talking to her, I was wondering if perhaps Emma had strep instead of just a virus. We've never had strep... so I don't usually consider that.
I went back to our friend's home & let them know we were staying. They were so gracious. We moved in for the day/night. I worked on taking care of Emma & keeping her hydrated. They worked on taking care of entertaining the other kids & even walked them to the park after nap. We felt at home. We went to bed, assuming I'd leave the next day. Well, Emma did not sleep well... nor did I. Her throat was really hurting, and she had a temp higher than I would expect with a virus. By morning, her symptoms had extended beyond 24 hours. I was actually considering taking her to the doctor for a strep test.
When I came downstairs, our friends told me their doctor office took walk-ins. They also told me that they would drive us to TN so we could be with family. They would drive their car and my van. I could ride with Emma and take care of her. They said they'd do whatever I wanted. I was till welcome to stay. Can you believe that!? I began to cry. I wanted to refuse... but I knew I was in no condition to drive considering the lack of sleep I'd had the past 2 nights. I also realized I was in need of help. Emma needed taking care of while riding. I couldn't drive and do that. If we stayed there, I wondered if we'd be there another week waiting for everyone to get better if someone else got "it." So, I got dressed & took Emma to the doctor.
Emma's quick strep test was positive. =0( BUT I was glad to have an answer. If you know me, you know I HATE antibiotics, but in this case I was glad to receive them. She got a shot which began to make her feel better so quickly it seemed. When I got "home" from the doctor's, we prepared to leave. We were on the road by 1 or 1:30 p.m. EST. Emma traveled very well. She only threw up once & the other end didn't give us any problems. Olivia & Wesley traveled with Dick in his car, and the rest of us were in our van driven by Kathy.
The trip went amazingly smooth with great weather and traffic and company. The kids were all fabulous. We arrived at the mission house in Hendersonville right at 10:00 p.m. EST! I think that was a record for us. (Of course, we didn't make our normal Cracker Barrel stop.)
Our friends spent the night with us along with my brother who was in town. Unfortunately during the night Virginia began throwing up. Emma had a rough night, too. UGH! I was beyond exhausted. Of course, Dano was tired, too.
Our friends left back home to NC after waking up. Later that morning, Wesley threw up. =0( I decided to take Wesley & Virginia to the doctor (my sister's pediatrician) after lunch. Virginia also tested positive for strep, but Wesley did NOT. We assumed the quick test was wrong. Virginia & Wesley both got the antibiotic shot, too. (a different one than Emma got) It seemed to take them a little longer to bounce back. That was Friday. Today, Monday, Virginia is finally keeping stuff down and is walking around and playing. Yea! Wesley has still been very fatigued today. He was keeping stuff down, but late this afternoon he threw up again, and slept some more. We have been diligent keeping him hydrated.
I called the doctor to see if his culture was positive for strep (as we expected it to be). It was negative. =0( UGH! What is going on with him. I scheduled another appointment for tomorrow afternoon to see if we missed something. Perhaps he "just" has a virus. PLEASE PRAY FOR HIS COMPLETE RECOVERY. PLEASE PRAY FOR WISDOM. As I have been typing this novel off and on today, Wesley has remained the same... but as I am finally reaching the end, perhaps he is already feeling better! He is up and playing and talking and having fun! WOW! Please still pray! Maybe I can just cancel that appointment in the morning!
Please pray for the health in our family. Pray that no one else will get sick. I am seriously concentrating on boosting our immune systems. This has been our worse season of sickness EVER! I am certain it is due to the fact that we have had so many immunizations that have worn down our systems. I do believe the immunizations are important for our move overseas, but I wish I would have spread them out over a longer time span. I also wish I would have been EVEN MORE cautions about building up our immune systems BEFORE beginning. Thank you for your prayers!
Also... will you praise the LORD with me for our friends Dick & Kathy that got us here? If we would not have left when we did, we might still be in NC! Will you pray God's blessings upon them and our other friends who sacrificed time and lots of other things to help us move? THANK YOU!!
Please also pray that we'd have a nice time with family the remaining time we are here... so far we haven't gotten to see anyone so much for obvious reasons!
Thank you! Please stay in touch with us.
Blessings,
Melinda =0)
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