The week we learned of "The One That Really Matters"

This past week has been...I can not even think of a word. It comes with many words and emotions.

Here's how the story goes:

On December 18th as we pulled out of the Port of Jamaica, Gabe and some friends played in the water park on our ship. It was amazing and just like every other day it came with laughter..running..playing..just pure FUN! Gabe decided that he would climb up the slide backwards. I am sure in pursuit of catching someone. He fell and Willy saw him take a pretty hard blow to his right knee. He saw him get up slowly and commented to himself..."Thats gonna hurt". Gabe continued to play and we continued to chill! That night he began complaining about it and started limping. The limping continued when we got home and into Christmas. He would complain of it often and I thought it would take some time to heal. It never was swollen. Trust me...we could see if it was. His knee is made up of bone and skin. Thats it. I know every knee is...but this one..well...it is the true definition of "bony". On the 27th of December I finally decided to call TOC. He had complained too long and actually asked for me to take him to the Doctor. Do not judge. He hadn't given me any other reason to think it was something major. Im sure that anyone who knows me knows that I would have had him flown out on a helicopter from the ship if I was that worried enough. The X-ray at TOC was negative for any break or anything else for that matter. So home.. Ibuprofen.. compression and lots of TLC. Follow up appointment on the 13th. day after our Marathon. Perfect! He continued to run around like a crazy person...with a limp. He had gotten great at limping..skipping..hopping..but never walking normal. On the 5th he started waking up during the middle of the night. SCREAMING with his knee and BEGGING for the compression wrap. I called and they suggested to keep doing the same thing and keep the appointment on the 13th. On the 15th he fell on it again. No serious pain...just a fall and get back at it again. Thursday morning...professor Klump leg. It was fevered and red and swollen and Mama was serious about getting into TOC. After a couple of calls and Sorry we don't have anything I text a friend from church who works there along with the picture of his leg and a this mama is on her way to Tallahassee. Something is wrong. After another X-ray...There was a "spot" that now showed up and was of great concern. The Dr told us all of the possibilities it could be. My heart raced and Willy passed out (literally). We immediately had an MRI and within an hour got a call to have our bags packed and ready for surgery on Friday after we met with a pediatric orthopedic doctor. Freak out mode would be the correct term. I was officially there. Surgery...on who knows what...on my baby. I know many people have gone through it before but when its happening to you it is very scary. We finally were taken back to surgery at 6:30 after 22 hours of no food. That was fun too. When the surgeon met with us post surgery...he scratched his head and said..."I don't know what it is. I thought I would find infection but it was nothing".. It was a hole. In his bone on the bottom of his femur. I looked at him and said..."What do you mean you don't know?!?!??!" He said "I am sorry. I just don't"....He said that what little bit of fluid and bone he got out he would wait to see if it grew any bacteria or anything on the biopsy. So we waited....and waited....and waited... While we waited...and got through the first night.  Rough first night, but after that. Perfect. Nothing was concerning in his blood work. No fever. No sickness. Nothing. Just a hole in the knee that no one seemed to know what caused it. Our Pediatrician was then brought in because the surgeon had done his job. Dr Martin is in with Dr Elzie at Professional Park Pediatrics. On a side note.. Parents... as of Jan 1 that group of Pediatrics are the ONLY ones who will be taking care of their patients if they are admitted into the hospital. If you are with another group you will be assigned a practitioner through the hospital. Also....THE ONLY Pediatric Infectious Disease Dr in Tallahasse no longer works at the hospital. The other TWO Infectious Disease Drs in Tallahassee would NOT look at Gabes pathology slides...growths..or whatever they do. THANKFULLY.....The ONE doctor in Tallahassee just joined with Dr Martin and Elzie at their office. Can I just add that the Lord made it clear to me during a scary time...that he was in control. Not a coincidence! Dr Martin was an angel. He probably would laugh and think we were a little crazier if he knew I said that....but he was AWESOME!! He took such great care of Gabe, got things moving and reassured us that he would work very hard to find us answers. By Tuesday morning..we still had no answers. Dr Martin and Dr Borom both agreed it was time for Shands and had already been on the phone with Dr Gibbs. They were just as ready for us to leave and find answers too. During our stay the nurses were AMAZING!!! Everyone fell in love with Gabe and Gabe told me he had no desire to go to Shands. He loved his nurses where we were. He didn't think they would be "as nice". So without explaining every minute of frustration....fear...and exhaustion...you can use your imagination. It was the hardest few days of my life. I could not think...My heart hurt. Literally. Like to the point I almost asked the Nurse to take my BP when she did Gabes. I spent the last day in the hospital bed as Gabe sat in the chair and read...played...or scooted around. I felt like I should have been the patient. I was so worried about my baby I could not function. I had taken all of my continuing education and favorite books Im reading...just to open them and close them. Although I didn't feel like I was functioning ...I sat or laid..in prayer. Not really prayer because I couldn't put into words anything. I sang...and Willy listened to worship music. We both had periods of crying. We didn't hide too much of it from Gabe. We made sure we let him know we were scared too but we also were fully dependent on the Lord. I tried to explain promises of scripture and that no matter how we felt....they never change. I do not know what I would have done without Willy. He never left. Except to run and get food. He was so afraid if he left he would miss answers. I know he was afraid too. But he was strong. He was an encourager. He would clean and tidy the room every morning after he made my Spark. On a side note...Spark...It was a necessity and we put it to the test. Not that we had any doubt but the nurses sure asked what we were drinking;) #thankfulforsomeSPARK He would stop and have prayer with Gabe. He was amazing and there is no one person more perfect for me to weather the storms with than this man. I am so thankful for him. His love for his family is evident in all that he does. I fell even more in love this week. So...after the talk of sending us to Shands...and two different ideas of how we would get there. They stopped the transfer after we had sent all of our clothes back with our dear sweet friend to Madison so mom could wash them just in time for Willy to pick them up and catch back up with Gabe and I in the hospital transfer van. Because Gabe was not sick Dr Martin thought it was over kill. I agree and am glad he didn't. I am sure we have over met our deductible but I'm glad not to have all of that tacked onto it. So we headed home on Tuesday, packed our bags again and COULD. NOT. WAIT. to get into our BEDS! And thats when Ben got the stomach bug.....around 3 am. I will save you from any descriptions. But I will tell you...I did NOT want to drop him off the next morning. He already wanted Mama and now I was dropping him off to take care of Gabe....He just could not understand WHY he couldn't go with us. "I'm sick too", he said.

We met with Dr Gibbs...with ALL of the charts and tests and you name it. All of it besides the Petri dish. Its still in Tallahassee trying to figure out what kind of bug is actually growing. After looking at it all Dr Gibbs was convinced it was a chondroblastoma. I benign bone lesion that is very fast growing. He did remind us that Pathology was pending and if it did grow something then it would be what they originally thought, infection. He said he would not know the Pathology report until today.. the 16th. He had us scheduled for surgery today, but decided that we should wait for the wound to heal. He wanted to access the same area but no surgery on a fresh wound. He literally got into my face and told me to look into his eyes. He told me that it was not cancer. And whatever it was...he was going to be ok. Willy and I were so relieved yet still nervous. A bone lesion is scary. His is not in a great spot. It is very close to the growth plate and joint. Not a good thing for a growing leg...So Dr Gibbs and his entourage of Drs and nurses walked out while we stayed with his scheduling nurse for an appointment on the 29th followed by surgery on the 30th.

10 minutes later. Maybe. Dr Gibbs came back in. Walked by Willy and I. Shook Gabes hand and said...Congratulations...You have Osteomyelitis. I didn't even hear him. I think my heart may have even skipped a beat. Maybe I even died for a split second I really don't know. Willy told the Dr to SHUT UP! In a good way. Everyone laughed. I was still wondering if I was dead. I don't know why it only took 10 minutes rather than a day....But I think the Lord KNEW. Mama needed to know. Not just mama....but everyone. So we wait....still...on what the bug is. Right now treatment is...2 months oral antibiotics (this is subject to change. Possibly to IV at home antibiotics. That would be a challenge. But we could do it!) Gabe does have a fracture at the very bottom of his femur. Under the actual hole. He is not able to put any weight on his leg for a while. Dr Gibbs informed us that this is actually a very timely healing process, more so than the chondroblastoma. His body will have to make new bone and we are PRAYING that all of the bacteria is out of the hole. We DO NOT want to have to go back in for more surgery.
I can not begin to tell you the things the Lord has taught me. He once again has reminded me of his faithfulness and comfort. EVEN WHEN I felt like I was dying. I knew....He was not changing. I knew...that he was in control and I know that he carried me. All of us.....

On our way to Shands a friend messaged me to let me know she had left something for Gabe in her mailbox. It was a comfort cross. It fits into the palm of the hand to hold it in a tight grip. I noticed Gabe grabbed it when we got out of the truck and put it into his pocket. When the Dr walked in....he slipped his hand inside his pocket and I could see his clenched fist. It wasn't until the Dr came back with the news of osteomyelitis did he take it out of his pocket and wave it at us. Willy looked at Gabe with tears in his eyes and said...You got it didn't you?  He's been here all along and we are to thank him. We talked about prayer and its power. It was five minutes that I will remember forever. Gabe cried too. I know that he knows...and it touched my soul. We talked about the scar being a reminder of how the Lord worked through His people and prayer.

 We are home, Thankfully. We still have some answers to find. Like THE BUG! Ugh!! And what will exactly kill it. I am praying we caught it early. I am believing we did. I am not sure why no one seems to make sense of it all. Perhaps thats exactly why. The Lord doesn't need an explanation. He doesn't have to play 100 scenarios in his head of what might have been. He knows. We told every nurse and every Dr we believe there doesn't have to be a reason. We are thankful Gabe hasn't been sick and pray that it stays that way. Gabe wasn't meant to have distinct characteristics of disease. He was meant for some reason to teach the world around us.....There is someone orchestrating on a much grander level than we could even comprehend. Thank you for all of the prayers and like I have posted. The gifts..the visits..the texts..the calls..the messages...the transporting of clothes...the cards...and just showering us with love.  My mind is still processing what in the world just happened and what is going on. Today I have had waves of fear as I unpacked of getting a call to pack back up again. Or that the petri dish shows something else.  I am praying that away so I can enjoy all of us being home together and continue to trust in answered prayers. We Love the journey the Lord has us on. He has spent the last year and a half showing us just how much we need him and how he is forever present. And just how much the world needs to hear of the same hope love protection and grace. Praying our family's life song sings just that! We Learned about "The One That Really Matters"  Click to hear Willy's theme song.