Our Quiverfull - No more antibiotics!!

Jan. 3, 2008

No more antibiotics!!

We had our appointment with ID today and Noah is officially off of his IV antibiotics! This means the possibility of waaaaay more sleep for mommy. It also means that he will once again be unhooked from all pumps for at least a few hours each day. We will still be administering his IV benadryl as needed because his hives and swelling are still a significant issue, but TPN and IV benadryl seem like a cake walk after all of the antibiotics.

Of course, it also means that if our current 5 week streak of no line infections/sepsis was only due to all of his antibiotics, then he is at risk again, so this move calls for as much prayer as it does for rejoicing.   His fever is continuing to creep right up and was nearly at the point of no return at the ID office today.   Like I posted earlier, Monday's labs were perfect in terms of infectious markers so none of us are in a hurry to see Noah admitted, but we have all seen those labs change VERY quickly with Enigma Boy. All we can do is watch and wait and pray.

I have a neat story to share, then I need to run. About a year ago we got a wonderful Australian Shepherd puppy for the children. Edison is a great dog, but he is ALL puppy and brought with him all of the work that puppies bring. Since he is so high energy (and high chew and high bark LOL) we would have to kennel him every time Noah went into the hospital or to Greenville for the doctors - he just wasn't at the point where we could leave him at home all day. We finally made the difficult decision that Edison needed a new home because he was spending SO much time at the kennel or in his crate, and that is no life for a bouncy puppy. The children began to pray earnestly that we could find someone to care for Edison just until Noah stabilized or until we could move (planning/hoping/praying to move to some land this spring). God answered those prayers in spite of Jeff's and my disbelief and a wonderful family with dog fostering experience is keeping Edison for us right now.

Well, the children have grieved and grieved the loss of this dog even though they know he will come home one day. For one of our children it has seemed to symbolize all that we have gone through this year, and he has deeply struggled with not having a faithful canine friend to talk to. He has been asking and asking for a dog that we could have now, and we have repeatedly said that it just wouldn't work - there is NO WAY on earth I could train a puppy right now. We had to go to the pound this week to buy a cat as a gift for my mother in law, and of course this son asked again about getting a dog. I told him that the ONLY kind of dog we would EVER consider at this point would be a small, older (not puppy), slowed-down, not bouncy, not barking, not chewing, housebroken dog - - -and that NO ONE gives dogs like that to the pound. He said he was going to pray about it. I guess I should have just bought a leash at that point LOL. We got to the pound and he asked if he could ask about a dog like I described. I felt confident enough to say yes, and Jeff and I were shocked when the pound lady looked at him kind of funny and said that they actually had one dog that fit that description perfectly LOL. She brought out a 5 year old Jack Russel Terrier who isn't AT ALL hyper and who they have only heard bark ONE TIME (weird for that breed, I know) who went right up to this child, leaned into him, stared into his eyes, and started licking his face. Jeff and I were stunned.   We asked every possible question that could "disqualify" this dog, and couldnt' find a single problem. The dog played and cuddled with all of the children while making this particular boy his clear favorite. He even let Sarah carry him around like a baby. I still didn't think there was any way Jeff would go for it, and he made a big show out of saying that we couldn't have even a super low-maintenance dog right now.

Jeff fooled us all. We knew he had to fill out paperwork for the cat, and I actually sat there listening to him do it - when all of the time he was filling out paperwork for the dog LOL. He got the pound lady to say "cat" each time instead of "dog" so we wouldn't suspect anything. He finally let me in on the secret later yesterday. Jeff said that if God loved our son so much that He would provide the very specific dog our son was praying for, that he wasn't about to stand in the way. The dc have named him Buddy and we will pick him up tomorrow. They pooled their money to pay for the dog and went on a shopping spree at Pet Smart today to stock him up. This won't make up for Edison, and we can't wait to get him back when we move, but it will give a hurting little boy a friend to talk to. This is the child who has struggled the most with all Noah and our family have been through, and who has the least coping skills. He isn't old enough or mature enough to really know how to seek out help from a family member or adult friend at church, and he is too big (or thinks he is) to just climb into someone's lap and cry like the little ones do.   We are praying that this dog will be a faithful companion and good listener. :-)

I need to go take advantage of my new earlier bedtime (yippee!!). We have a very busy day tomorrow with the dog arriving, the carpets being cleaned, and some other projects to do, so if I don't get a chance to update it just means we were too busy working (OK, it probably means we were too busy playing with the dog). If Noah has to go in, someone will update right away.

Blessings,
Kate

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Comments

Jan. 3, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by hallfamily8

Oh what an adorable dog story! I love it! I'm continuing to pray for Noah and your family. :-)

Love, Dawn
www.caringbridge.org/visit/susannahall