13 April 2010

another day in paradise...well, maybe not so much

Today started out as a fairly easy shift. One pre-op, one six days out from surgery and one here a day too early for surgery so not even pre-op yet patient. Not a heavy load at all. Down in A-ward, my little rockstar, Marius, was going to surgery to have his bilateral cleft lip repaired. Marius, my rockstar because in his first week of the infant feeding program he never gained less than 100 grams of weight a day. Chantal, his mom, who taught a bunch of nurses how to dance one morning after church. Mid-morning, we got a call into D-ward/ICU that D-11 wasn’t going to be going to surgery today b/c their first case wasn’t doing well…wait a minute, their first case was Marius…what?!?!?

Marius didn’t do well in surgery. He came back to us on the vent and we spent the next 3 hours working on him to get him some sort of stabilized. My shift ended an hour into that 3 hours but there was no leaving Marius. When he finally was a bit better, I went to find Chantal and pray with her and talk with her about what was going on. One of the other nurses said “Natalie, I’m sorry you always seem to get the bad ones.” But really, THIS is (or at least used to be) my normal. I work in a PICU at home and having a child with respiratory distress is more normal than having one without it. It doesn’t mean it is easier for me or that it hurts my heart any less to see a child hurting, but this is my normal. And if my being there means someone else doesn’t have to watch a child hurt, then that is what I accept from my Father’s hand, relying on His strength. (ok, now that just sounds sanctimonious but no idea how to really say what I want)

Anyways, all this to say, please pray for Marius and his mom Chantal…pray for healing of his little body, the lungs fighting so hard for air, pray for peace to cover and fill mom, pray for wisdom and strength for those of us who care for them.

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