From the Trenches
1-2-07
Jaymun is continuing to heal. We are still working on weaning the morphine from his body, but it's a process.
I don't know how many of you have ever had a loved one go through morphine withdrawal--it's not a pleasant experience.
Jaymun has spent the last several days in a restless state. Even when his eyes are closed, his arms and legs spasm out in startled movements.
When he is awake, he seems quite agitated at times. The last three days he's been throwing up whatever goes down him.
I spent the majority of the last nights just holding him, trying to comfort him and get him to relax.
Today seemed to be much better...
I hope we're seeing the tail end of the withdrawal symptoms, because it's been difficult to ease his discomfort.
He receives PEP treatments for his lungs several times throughout the day and night. They need to press an oxygen mask over his nose and face and have him breathe through it for about ten minutes. He isn't fond of these treatments, as the mask scares him quite a bit. He still takes Vitamin E and green tea orally twice a day for his liver. The doctors have told us to expect to be here about a month more, perhaps a little less if all goes well.
Even now, the medical staff is still amazed at how quickly this boy recovered from near death.
I asked his transplant doctors if they had ever known of a situation where a patient acquired both CMV and VOD.
They've told me they've never encountered nor even read about such a case.
Both CMV and VOD are quite serious, often fatal, just by themselves.
Somehow, Jaymun managed to survive having two known fatal diseases simultaneously raging in his body.
We seem to have started out 2007 with a miracle.
I begged and pleaded for one to take place and I am holding up my end of the bargain by declaring that prayer works.
I've seen it with my own eyes now.
I'm certain that there are those of you who are reading about Jaymun simply because his story is interesting--it's not everyday that a baby is born with cancer.
It's even possible that there are those of you who gloss over the parts of our journaling that talk about our faith.
It's true that the "foxhole" type of praying is understandably mocked by skeptics who point out that of course people who are in immediate crisis are going to grasp hold of whatever crutch they can.
But people who are only in danger for the moment easily drift away, don't they?
Once the emergency is past, their belief quickly fades.
We're hoping not to be those kind of people. If there is any "lesson" that comes out of our pain, it's this: When the going gets tough, you'd better have an anchor to hold you steady. I wouldn't recommend going without.
'Nough said.
