Tuesday, September 14th

I really thought the month of June had been our worst month in Drew's treatments. With the surgery and several other setbacks that month, I was sure I had seen the worst, but that was until this morning. After Drew's appointment yesterday, he came home, got in the bed, and tried to move as little as possible. He had an awful night. He slept in our room, and hurt all night long. He couldn't get comfortable, couldn't get up to go to the bathroom, and had started coughing. Drew has always been prone to bronchitis and pneumonia every since he was a tiny baby and had a serious case of pneumonia. I've tried to watch for that since his immunities are low and he's naturally inclined to have a weakened respiratory system anyway. It seemed like his coughing worsened by the minute, and he also had begun wheezing. About daylight though he had fallen asleep, so I let him sleep. We started school as normal without Drew. Around 10 a.m., Drew staggered into the living room and all but fell into the recliner. He told me that he was going to try to do his school so he wouldn't get behind and asked for the laptop. I left the room to get him a pillow and before I could get back, I heard him screaming. I ran into the room and he was crying, "Mama, get me up, I can't breathe!" He was crying, and the kids were all bewildered. I tried to get him up and couldn't. Clay tried to help me, and every angle I tried just hurt him more. I considered calling 9-1-1 but then remembered that Lane was at the church office that morning. Bent called him, and I'm surprised that he could understand her because she was crying so hard, but he did and was home in seconds. He was able to pick Drew up and carry him to the van. Drew was in obvious respiratory distress and in more pain than I'd ever seen him. Drew's very laid-back, quiet. He doesn't complain of pain, so when he does, it's got to be over-the-top pain. I know we were in a crisis situation, but I don't know what was harder--seeing Drew crying from the pain and struggling to breathe or the looks in my huddled group of bewildered other children's eyes. They'd never really seen Drew like this. In his hardest times, he's always been in the hospital, and usually with only Lane and me present. They were so upset, and I hated leaving them to wonder what was going on. The Lord Jesus did what I couldn't do this morning and comforted their sweet hearts.