Comforts of Grace

The honor of being chosen the recip ient of the coveted Kiwan is Merit Award medal during the eighth grade graduation awards ceremony was just the boost Taylor and o ur family neede d .  T he worst of the medical trauma appeared over a nd recovery was on the horizon.   Taylor still had two days of school to finish the following Monday and Tuesday, but after that , he planned to use the summer to finish his four to six week s of antibiotic IV infusions at home to erradicate the staph infection and rehabilitate his kne e and body for the upcoming high school football season. Anxious to re connect with his teenager social life, Taylor attended a youth baseball game on Saturday afternoon, June 3rd, 2006, to watch his teammates pla y.  It was a very warm, su nny day.  Dressed in a t-shirt and shorts , h e applied sunscreen everywhere except his affected knee and leg due to the recent surgical incisions that were still healing .  His stiffened knee meant he had to prop his leg on a b

We arrived at the emergency room before sunset on Mother's Day S unday, May 14th, 2006 .  Once registration was complete, we were relieved to learn th e doctor I spoke with over the phone had called the hospital and they were awaiting our arrival .   A s luck would have it , a resident orthopedic doctor assigned to Taylor’s orthopedic surgeon was on duty that evening.   He was paged to report to ER.   When he entered our ER cubicle, he remembered us immediately having assisted with Taylor’s ACL surgery the month prior.   He too had an ACL reconstruction surgery while in college and had shared his reassuring personal experience with us just before Taylor's surgery. After the brief reintroduction, the room grew serious as he assessed Taylor’s painful, swollen knee and asked many questions.     As Chris and I suspected, it was necessary to withdraw fluid from the knee for testing.   The resident doctor inserted a long, thick needle int o Taylor’s knee and extracted a yello

Remembering ... 10 years ago this spring.  Little did we know, that spring, the pain, suffering and fear that was about to engulf our young family for most of 2006.    A deep dark pit where man's earthly control proved error-prone and limited ... but God's awesome power overcame all. Our medical journey was rare and unbelievable as the harrowing weeks turned into months and years of fear.  Some of the best pediatric specialists in the country were puzzled and apologetic as the medical trauma was unrelenting.  Our small hometown community and beyond united in ceaseless prayer and support for us while hugging their own children a little tighter each night. Yet, the storm finally eased to a conclusion with what could only be described as a miracle.  Still to this day, ten years later, I thank Him daily for sparing our teenage son's life and the lessons it taught. The chapters to follow are gleaned from a daily medical journal I kept in 2006 that was later transcribed to