Not What We Were Expecting

Last week, the grandbabyBoy was in the best of moods.  He was just personality plus, chatting up a storm, wanting to play with his exuberant puppy, on the phone whenever he could grab one, full of smiles and hugs.  His favorite book right now is The Shopkeeper's Bear.  It is a delightful story that rhymes and has rich illustrations.

 The shopkeeper has broken his glasses and makes lots of terrible mistakes.  There is a picture of a woman screaming when she is handed a rubber snake instead of a hose.  Charlie fake screams with a big smile on his face when we get to that page, and when we get to the page where the shopkeeper gets a new pair of glasses and realizes his new assistant is a BEAR.  Charlie and I had a ballet DVD playing while we were playing on the floor, background music mostly.  When the music changed to ominous, he rolled over and did his scream with a smile!  Somehow, in an instant it seems, everything has changed drastically.  On Friday he woke with a fever, by Saturday night he was admitted to Children's Hospital Boston and on Sunday night he was put on a ventilator!!!  Not at all what we were expecting.  Last week I was missing the grandbabygirl terribly and praying that God would give me a dream about her.  Days later, we are roaming the halls at Children's and being reminded of so much.  For now he remains in ICU on a ventilator and medically paralyzed.  CO2 levels are a concern.  Frequent chest X-rays to monitor his lungs.  His right lung was still collapsed last night and the left has fluid.  We are trying to rest and trust in our sovereign God.  I am encouraged knowing that another family with twin boys who have I-Cell endured a similar incident last spring and documented it in their blog.  One of their boys was in ICU for 47 days, on the ventilator and paralyzed for much of the time.  He did recover.  We are hopeful.