A Little Inspiration, Please?

Chantell is a lot better at hope than I am. Oh, don't get me wrong...I have it & hold on to it. I even like to pass it around whenever I can. But sometimes I just need to get the cynic out of the way first...Would I disappoint you?

My calendar is a little different than Chantell's, too...on my calendar, Regan was admitted to the hospital for the first time on March 27, 2002. (Remember it was a Wednesday, Dear...) That means tomorrow will be the irony of ironies as we remember the day our life changed forever 5 years ago...and we'll celebrate the day in typical Regan fashion--in the hospital.

The older two kids were off for the weekend w/ Grandma. I had come home a little early from work so Chantell & I could go out for the evening. And I noticed Regan was unusually hot. Turns out she sustained a 102-105 temperature all night. We treated it until it broke mid-morning on Saturday. Then we ran some tests during the day to determine what was going on. All were negative. But the fever returned Saturday night. Sunday morning we took her to the ER first thing. They found a mild pneumonia & began treating it w/ a quick 24-hour therapy schedule. We thought we'd be out soon. But by 5pm they increased her status to ICU and put her on an external ventilator to deliver 40% oxygen, multiple nebulized meds continually and forced air. The goal was to support her system as she struggled to get enough oxygen into her blood. She was working really hard to breathe.

Turns out 24 hours later she has more medications in her body than she's ever had at one time before (somewhere over 15...I'm losing count). She has more medical technical support than she's ever had at one time (5 different pumps putting things into her body, 3 different machine removing thing from her body, and 8 things monitoring different vital functions). And she's more vulnerable than ever. I'm sure I could be pretty dramatic right now...and it would feel therapeutic for a little while to let it all out. But I'm more interested in Regan's therapy than mine...

To be "inspired" is literally "to have breath." It also means "to be spirited." Would you please pray for Regan to be inspired w/ breath tonight? And would you pray for Chantell & I to be inspired w/ Holy Spirit wisdom and strength. Many kids like Regan go through this all the time. But this is new territory for us. And we're trying to find the path that leads through it.