The Lord is my strength and my song!

It is so good to know that God is in control and holds us in the palm of his hand even when life seems so out of control. Today, God was able to show himself strong when we are weak. We went to the clinic today for, what we thought was going to be, a routine, relatively quick visit to the clinic. He was to get an IV push of chemo and a shot in each leg. Grandma and Trent came with us. Grant was so excited to show Grandma the clinic. We do feel like we live there sometimes.

He did alright with getting his port accessed, but that was just the beginning. He got numbing cream on his legs, so we had to wait for that to work before he got his shots. He did not do well with this. I can't really blame him. I felt like I was taking part in torturing him. He sat on my lap with me hugging him. Each nurse held a leg and gave a shot in each leg. He was screaming and flopping around the whole time. He had tears running down his face and I just felt like I was betraying him. After they were finished, he sat up and was elbowing me and screaming to get down off the bed. We let him down and he ran out of the room into the playroom. This was more than I could handle and I just started crying. The nurses sat with me for a minute until Grant returned wanting mommy to hold him. This kind of extreme change in attitude continued to happen.

The doctors and nurses observe patients for an hour after getting this shot. About 30 min. after Grant's shots, he asked to go to the bathroom. He began screaming again and saying his stomach hurt. It was like it was contracting. This happened off and on for the next 30-40 min. We notified the nurses of his complaints and they were observing him. Finally we went into a treatment room with the doctor but she couldn't even examine him b/c he was so out of control. We was thrashing with pain. By this point, I had pointed out that his face seemed to be swelling. The solution at this point was to give him some benedryl. So they gave him benedryl and fluids for the next hour through his port. This was to treat any allergic reaction and calm him down so the doctor could examine him. He went to sleep in less than 10 min.

I called Rudy and he came to the clinic. Grant slept for about 2 hours and the nurses and doctors were observing him and checking his breathing. He swelled up even more and seemed really uncomfortable. After he woke up, the doctor evaluated him and felt like he could go home. She told us we needed to watch for a few things and call the on call doctor if anything got worse. We left the clinic about 4:45. Grant seemed to be feeling much better. By the time we got home and had some dinner, his swelling had gone down a lot but he had developed a rash. We called the doctor, who just told us to be more aggressive with our benedryl regimen at home and call if anything changes. So where are we now? He went to bed feeling fine. He still had a rash in some areas and his face seemed to be swelling a little again. We are to wake him up at 1 and check his symptoms and give him more benedryl. It's been a traumatic day, but of course, Grant has recovered and is handling it like a champ. I think sometimes we forget how sick Grant is b/c he is doing so well. When things like this happen, it just reminds me that nothing is guaranteed and to be thankful for every good day we have.

Thankfully, Trent was amazing for being stuck at the clinic all day. He even took a nap for about an hour. However, when we got home, he was playing outside and somehow hurt his mouth. He bled for a little while and then bumped it again later and it bled again. It's a little swollen.

The verse God gave me through the chaos today was Exodus 15:2: The Lord is my strength and my song. When I put Grant to bed tonight, he chose a story from his Bible. When we opened the flap to read the Bible verse, it was Exodus 15:2. God is good!!