The Storm after the Calm

"No news is good news." You've all heard that saying most likely. Well, I definitely feel like that now, after trying to write a post to update everyone a few days ago on the normal routine of the circumstances surrounding our present lives. The humdrum of our lives suddenly changed yesterday. Nathan woke up early feeling fine, fell back to sleep and woke up a couple of hours later with excruciating pain in the back of his left shoulder and radiating down his arm, as well as chest pain and difficulty breathing. He took one of his strong Ibruprofen

pills that he still had from his wisdom teeth extractions. I tried to get him into our family doctor, but there was not an opening until later in the afternoon. I knew he would not be able to deal with the pain for that long of a time, so I decided to take him to Urgent Care. By this time, his pain had let up some since he had taken the pill, but he was still having difficulty breathing. They checked him out, did a chest x-ray, and said everything looked okay and that he probably had some sort of muscle strain. So we headed back home. Later in the afternoon, that same pain hit him again about an hour and a half before he could take another pill to relieve the pain. He started begging for help and to take him to the ER. I hesitated, but quickly knew I had to take him since his breathing was difficult and his chest was hurting with every breath he took. I appreciate the help one can receive at the ER, but the wait is horrible!! Patience is definitely a virtue there, and you better not be dying! :o) After waiting for a few hours, we were f.i.n.a.l.l.y moved to a room. That was one step! Now more waiting! By this time, Nathan did have some relief from another Ibruprofen he had taken, but the pain was still there. He was nervous and I was nervous. We had no idea what was happening. At last, nurses came in with all the questions ~ routine questions, informational questions, scary questions such as, "Does anyone in your family have heart problems?" "Has anyone suddenly died for no reason?" Talking about scary .... yep, I was scared to death. He is only eighteen years old! A.T. L.A.S.T the doctor showed up!! He checked him over and ordered blood work and an EKG as well as pain medicine. More waiting ..... Nurses came and hooked up an I.V., took the blood samples, gave him pain medicine and administered the EKG. Now to wait for the results .... (2 hours or so). The doctor finally comes back in with the results of the EKG. He said, "Like I thought earlier, you have Pericarditis, an inflammation of the lining around the heart." He then went on to tell us that they may want to monitor him overnight and do an ultrasound of the heart in the morning. He would go and check with an internal medicine doctor. More waiting ..... At last, he returned to tell us that he did extra research and was quite certain that Nathan's complication is probably viral and should go away on its own with the help of medicine and he could go home. Most young men at such a young age usually only experiences Pericarditis in a viral form. However, the doctor said he needs to follow up with the family doctor to be sure he is improving. So, after more waiting ... and finally getting prescriptions ~ six of them ~ we headed to a Pharmacy which was not easy to find open at 9:30 at night. After problems getting one of the prescriptions, and stopping to pick up some food (we hadn't eaten since lunch) we headed for home. I was dreading the night, since I didn't know what to expect. Would Nate do okay with all these meds? Would he have another attack when the pain medicine starts to wear off? He has strict instructions not to lay down to rest, which he already discovered anyway. He could not breathe laying down. The ER doctor also told him that it is impossible to lay down with this condition. So, Nate slept in the recliner and I attempted to sleep on the couch. He wanted me near him, and I didn't want to leave him alone not knowing what to expect. Thank the Lord, the night went smoothly and an alarm was set for medicines to be taken. He has seemed much better today with no pain. In fact, he has not taken one of his pain medicines today at all! He has more than one, but at least both are not necessary.

Since this has happened, I have been told by a nurse that Pericarditis is sometimes caused by wisdom teeth extractions. This would make a lot of sense since he just had them pulled last Thursday. Whatever the cause, we are praying that he does not have anymore problems and that his heart is fine. The ER doctor did tell us that his heart looks healthy; it is not enlarged or anything like that.

Well, that is a long and detailed rundown of our "newsless" life that turned into a scary experience. Please remember Nathan in prayer. He has had a couple of scary physical incidents in the past few months with the large oral cyst that was removed and now this.

Just a few additional "news" items from our family with prayer requests:

• Nathan will be starting college through the distance learning program at G.B.S. next week.
• An installation service will be taking place this Sunday at the Voice of Victory Bible Methodist Church where my husband is currently pastoring. Bro. Sams will be conducting both services. Please pray that a good crowd will be present. We want to win the lost to Jesus.
• Evangelyn will be starting Phlebotomy classes at a nearby college in January.
• James' next writing assignment for Union Gospel Press is due at the beginning of October (I think) and he has been working long hours at his regular job. Please pray he will have time to get this completed.

We are leading very busy lives. At times we feel that we have too much on our plates. I know God has a purpose for all this, and we must trust in Him to see us through. He has never failed yet, and I know He never will.