I Am Grateful on Father's Day

Night before last, I was called home early from worship team practice to take Mom to the emergency room.   For a week and a half, she'd been having pain in her left leg that, at times, was unbearable.  We'd decided it must be varicose veins, because it felt similar to the varicosities she had in her left leg last summer, while pregnant with Annemarie.  She has several friends with varicose veins, but they had never suffered to the point of being unable to walk, like Mom.  A venous scan, to rule out blood clots, had been scheduled for the next morning, but her pain had become unmanageable, and our dr. told her to go that night instead.    

At ER, they scanned Mom's leg, and it was not a good experience.  It was so hard for me to see her in such agony.  They could barely take the pictures because it hurt her so much when they pushed on her leg with their machine.  They found that there were no varicose veins or blood clots.  Praise Jesus!  But the mystery of where the pain was coming from remained, because it obviously was significant.

We couldn't get any more information about her condition until the next day, after our doctor explained the radiologist's report.  He diagnosed her with phlebitis in her saphenous vein, which means she has inflammation there.  This vein begins in your ankle and stretches to the top of your leg, which is why her whole leg has been in so much pain. We're not sure how it originated, but he said it can happen from even a minor trauma like a child bumping into her, when running past.  I'm relieved that her pain will not be a chronic thing- only short term, our doctor believes.

There's only one big problem: the medicine makes Mom's milk not safe for Annemarie to drink.  The game plan is that my dad and sisters and I will feed her breast milk donated by friends from a bottle for 7-10 days.  Our first feeding didn't go so well, but our knowledgeable friend, Kathy, who works with all kinds of nursing and pregnant moms professionally, says we'll find our groove in 48 hours. 

I'm so grateful to know that we are headed towards healing for Mom, and normalcy for all of us.  I'm also grateful for our friends, and families at church that have volunteered to bring meals and help in other ways needed.  I am so grateful to my mom for being brave; and I am so grateful to my daddy who leaves this home every day to provide for eleven people, in an economy that could very easily tear down his hopes and minimize his endeavors.  He is a man of great faith and worthy of honor.  He is the one who keeps us smiling when we're all maxed.  

Plus he really loves his babies...