Daddy!

It is among the hardest things in life to make a tough medical decision for another person. I once had to physically restrain my son Trevor while a doctor scrubbed a gash on his forehead for 15 minutes and then applied 14 stitches in two layers -- after the lydecane wore off. I tried to comfort him, but he just kept screaming incredulously at me, "Daddy! Daddy!"

The decision last night to bring Krista down to UCLA because of a fever was like that for me. She was really mad at me for paging the doctor so quickly, setting in motion what for her was unthinkable. She was convinced that the fever was just because she was too hot under the blankets. Even in the hospital, she felt like everyone was making a big deal over nothing. The instruments weren't calibrated right, the temperature was off because she was mad, or the doctors were just wanting to try out stuff on her like a guinea pig. She repeatedly said that she felt like a prisoner here.

Her opinion on the subject didn't change until this afternoon, when she threw up the lunch that should have gone down easy. And the fever got worse. Her urine specimen showed signs of infection, too. Chances are that the urology examination yesterday may have pushed some bacteria around, causing further infection, but there's a few more things that need to be ruled out as well. The doctors have her on two types of antibiotics as a preventative to combat whatever it is, even before they get the detailed results back. At some point, they are going to do an ultrasound of her kidneys and liver to make sure that there's no infection around them. Krista wants to have the urologist back home do the camera-work on her bladder -- maybe that will get her out of here sooner?

How long will we be here? The rule-of-thumb is that she has to go 24 hours without a fever before she can leave. This evening, her temperature was up to 39C (102F), so it looks like Monday's the earliest we could go -- and that may not even be possible.

Today's events have made me appreciate the trust that Jesus had in His Father's plan all the more. He was faced with the unthinkable, too: rejection by not only His creation but by His Father as well. And He was willing to do it, though the decision was clearly not easy:

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
(Luke 22:39-44)