4.30.2008

This afternoon has been rougher than I would have imagined after my first post.

I got Steve fed and I ate lunch myself and settled down for a good 1/2 day of work. About 2pm, I went in to check on him before I left to get Jenna from school and found him in excruciating pain. I was stunned. I had no idea that he was even remotely uncomfortable except for when he went to the bathroom which we'd been warned about.

Apparently, the pain was a level 10+ in his back and that is the level it was when I had to rush him to the ER about a month ago. He'd already taken 2 pain pills, which was the max and so the only thing I could think was a hot bath (as the doctor suggested).

So, here I am, my laptop still logged in at work, trying to get that last thing done, 2:15 has no rolled around (the time I was supposed to leave to get Jenna), the AC man called and was on his way to do the maintenence on the unit (which meant letting him in, writing the check etc.) and I had the tub filling up with hot water for Steve in hopes that we could avoid the ER again. I was stressing out big time.

Oddly enough, I got everything taken care of and got Steve into the tub and within minutes, the pain had eased. I left him there a few minutes, set up the heating pad on the highest setting and got him out, dried off and back in bed. I finally left at 2:30 to get Jenna. I checked in with Steve about every 10 minutes. Things were going well until I was about 10 minutes from home and I called and he said he'd just been sick in the bathroom due to the pain. Imagine my frustration at being 10 minutes away, thinking this was all over and here we go again with the pain and the unknown diagnosis etc. I was just turning down our street when the phone rang again and I recognized the ring as being Steve's cell calling. I thought "Oh no...this can't be good". When I answered he said, "I'm fine now. The pain is gone". WHA???? Well, I don't know who was out there praying at about 3:30 today, but whoever it was, I thank you from the bottom of my heart because the pain went away and has been managable ever since.

He is in quite a bit of pain considering the most he was supposed to feel was "uncomfortable", but remember, the stint has been in place since March 29, so over a month...I'm sure he had started to heal around it and so there is more pain than usual. He plans to go to work tomorrow as do I. Pray for lessened pain and for a good night's rest for us both. I tell you, in the midst of the craziness today, I seriously did not know if I could take any more. I just want our lives back to normal and to not have some kind of doctor visit or surgery every week. The bills continue to pile up and I worry about how we will pay them all. I sincerely do not understand how people with no insurance do it. I am so fortunate to have as good of insurance as I do. But it's still quite a bit of money to come up with and when you are on a tight budget, paying extra bills means belts have to tighten somewhere. But, I have been faithful, so I know the Lord will provide.

Keep those prayers coming. They are still needed and felt more than you know.

If you haven't lately, check out this blog...it's one that touched me today.

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