Really?..... Are you serious?...No, seriously......

Yes, the Lord was indeed very serious!! January 31st and into February 1st those were my questions. Lord, seriously? You're kidding, right? Pinch me now-am I dreaming a bad nightmare? The Lord replies "No, dear child of mine. This is indeed real" ( I just hope the Lord calls me dear child-I added that part! :) )

Okay, here is my story. A part of me wants to call it a nightmare but it really wasn't-well, maybe it was. January 31st was Megan's 7th birthday. We were having a small party for her with a few of her friends. The night before I had taken Stephen to Urgent Care because he was having some pain and discomfort and we wanted to get it resolved. He was diagnosed with a bladder infection and given an antibiotic. The next day he was not better and was getting worse. He now could not uses the restroom. So he came and went during Megan's party. He would come downstairs for a while and then head back up to rest. I was trying to keep things going for Megan but in the back of my mind I knew Stephen had to go to the hospital. Once the party was over, Stephen came downstairs and said he needed to go to the hospital. We think he will get a catheter put in and then come home. Meanwhile, Nicholas has gotten a fever so I decide I need to stay home with him and ask David (Steve's dad) to take him to the hospital. We don't have many people that can watch Nicholas-well, mainly just my mom-so I knew I had to stay with Nicholas. When he gets a fever, he acts a bit different so I didn't want my mom to be nervous while watching him.

So...I wait. And wait...and wait for the phone call saying all is well and they are coming back home. Nicholas' fever meanwhile is getting worse so I give him Motrin. Then Stephen calls and tells me they think it is a kidney stone but will do a CAT scan because the pain is not any better. This is killing me! I want to be with Stephen but have to stay with Nicholas. Then comes THE phone call. "Lisa, I am headed to surgery. I have a ruptured appendix and they are doing surgery now." Okay, I think Steve is being funny. No time for jokes, honey. This is not a joke. I immediately start crying. What can I do? I have to be there with my husband. I call my mom and ask her to watch Nicholas-praying the fever will go away and he will be okay. I call our closet friends and immediately the two husbands. Todd and Kevin, head up there to take care of Stephen. Once my mom gets to my house, I head to the hospital with Stephen D. He wants to be there for Daddy as well.

Well, I miss Stephen by mere seconds!! I couldn't believe it. They just wheeled him back. Now the waiting game again. They said it would take 20 minutes. Don't ever believe that! They neglected to come and tell us that they went to surgery late so we did not hear from them until 12:45!! He went back at 10:00. That was a long 20 minutes.

I will bypass the jokes that the two men were saying (Todd and Kevin) while the surgery was taking place. Let's just say they did keep us laughing. One funny part that has to be mentioned real fast. Stephen D and I were getting nervous because it was taking so long. I won't go into details but it gets ugly when I get nervous and my nerves go crazy. Let's just say I need to be near a bathroom. Very near. So, a nurse comes running by-running! Stephen D. and I see this and get nervous. Oh boy, is she running to tell us bad news? She runs right past us!! But....Stephen and I both get up and take off to the bathroom. Running full force! So funny. Afterwards, he says "Boy, mommy, I got nervous when I saw the nurse!" Me too buddy which is why I was right behind you headed to the restroom. Guess my son has the same nerves I have-too much info? :)

Okay, back to Stephen. 12:45 and the surgeon comes out. "Boy, your husband was a mess!" Gee....thanks. "But he is good now. We had a lot of cleaning up to do." The quick 20 minute laproscopy turned into a "we need to cut open and clean out surgery" Stephen's appendix had evidently ruptured 3-4 days previously. A pelvic abscess had formed from the infection and pushed his ruptured appendix on top of his bladder. This was causing the inability to use the restroom therefore even more waste getting emptied into his body. He had so much infection and waste in his body. The surgeon said he would have given him maybe seven days. How the Lord blessed us that we did catch it and get him to the hospital. The Lord protected my husband- big time! If he had not lost the ability to use the restroom, we may not have gone. This was not a bladder infection by any means!!

So, I visit my husband in recovery and they tell me in 1-2 hours he will be in a room. Everyone heads home at that point and I decide I will head home for a little bit to check on Nicholas and then come back to the hospital. Little did I know the night /morning was about to get even worse!

I get home and Nicholas just does not look right. Mother's intuition says something is not just right here. His breathing is funny and he is shaky. I know deep down we have got to get him to the hospital. Now which one? Stephen is at Wesley Long. Do I go to Brenner in Winston or stay near by and go to Cone? Meanwhile, I am a nervous wreck. I am shaky all over fearing a nervous breakdown is coming. So, I call my dear friends, my friends I know I can lean on and will hold me up right now. I call Todd and Cheryl. Poor Todd had just gone to bed from staying with me at Wesley Long. They immediately come. Cheryl drives me to Cone and Todd goes to Wesley to be with Steve.
Long story short, Nicholas is admitted for a viral infection for 6 days. Steve is in for 6 days, coming home a day before Nicholas.

Meanwhile, our close friends were headed to Philly because their son was having major back surgery. So here we are, dying to be there for Chris and Teressa but stuck in our situation. That was almost as hard as everything we were going through. It hurt Stephen and I so bad that we couldn't be there for Chris and Teressa. We love them so much and wanted to be there but we were all in hospitals. When Stephen and I talked about this later he said "You know, I am thankful I was in the hospital during Timothy's surgery. I was ale to just concentrate on Timothy and pray. My time was in prayer for Timothy. No other distractions just prayer for him."

I don't know why all of that happened. We have no regrets. Stephen was able to focus on prayer time. I was able to learn more how to depend on my friends, let go, accept help. The Lord never gives us more than we can handle. He knew, with our friends help and support, that we could make it through this. Wow. That says a lot. We could never have made it through without His strentgh, without our friends support and love, meals, everything. We are loved-so loved. We know this and treasure this.

Thank you to everyone for your love and support. We love you too.

Happy CHD Awareness Day

Today February 14th is CHD Awareness Day-Congenital Heart Defect. This is obviously something dear to our hearts because of Nicholas. Below are some facts about heart defects. Please take time to learn more about these defects.
About 35,000 infants (1 out of every 125) are born with heart defects each year in the United States. The defect may be so slight that the baby appears healthy for many years after birth, or so severe that his life is in immediate danger.

Heart defects are among the most common birth defects and are the leading cause of birth defect-related deaths. However, advances in diagnosis and surgical treatment have led to dramatic increases in survival for children with serious heart defects. In the United States, about 1.4 million children and adults live with congenital heart defects.

What is a congenital heart defect?
A congenital heart defect is an abnormality in any part of the heart that is present at birth. Heart defects originate in the early weeks of pregnancy when the heart is forming.

Septal defect: This is a hole in the wall (septum) that divides the right and left sides of the heart. A hole in the wall between the heart’s two upper chambers is called an atrial septal defect, while a hole between the lower chambers is called a ventricular septal defect. These defects can cause the blood to circulate improperly, so the heart has to work harder. Some atrial septal defects can be repaired without surgery by inserting a thin, flexible tube into the heart and then releasing a device that plugs the hole. A surgeon also can close an atrial or ventricular septal defect by sewing or patching the hole. Small holes may heal by themselves or not need repair at all.

Tetralogy of Fallot: This combination of four heart defects keeps some blood from getting to the lungs. As a result, the blood that is pumped to the body may not have enough oxygen. Affected babies have episodes of cyanosis and may grow poorly. This defect is usually surgically repaired in the early months of life.

Stalwarts and Heros

Most of you are aware of the circumstances surrounding our family last week through word of mouth or through Lisa's Facebook page. If you are not aware, I was hospitalized for a ruptured appendix at one hospital while at the same time Nicholas was hospitalized at another hospital. Needless to say, it was an extremely difficult week for Lisa and the kids.

The definition of a stalwart is: strong, brave, valiant, firm and steadfast. The definition of hero is: a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal. My wife is both: She is a stalwart and she is my hero.

Words are inadequate to express the gratitude I have for a woman with such strength and character. I have heard so many of you say, "I just don't know how she does it." Well, quite frankly, save for the power of Christ, I don't know how she does it either. What so many are unaware of is the fact that 4 to 6 hours of sleep a night is best she gets, and that is always interrupted.

So this year for valentines day, I simply want to let the whole world know how priveledged I am to be the husband of Lisa Richardson. Happy Valentines day to my Hero.

Love,

Stephen

Father-Daughter Sweetheart Dance 2009

Well, again, it has been a while since I have updated. We have had a lot going on- a lot- but that will have to wait until later. Right now, we will discuss the Father-Daughter sweetheart dance. Stephen has taken Megan to the Father Daughter Sweetheart dance for the past five years. Westover holds this every year for the dads and daughters. Very Sweet! Megan gets so excited and buys her dress almost a year in advance. Princess city!!

Well, Stephen had started double dating with Chris and Anna and this year was no exception until.... Chris and Teressa's son (another blog update) had to have his back surgery and this would mean he would be gone for the dance. The surgery was to be in Philly. So...Anna asked if Mr.Steve would take her. Very much honored, Steve of course said yes. He would now have two daughters for the dance.

Then, the surgery got postponed because Timothy had the sniffles. So the dance was back on. I immediately went to work trying to find one more ticket to the already sold out dance so Chris could take Anna.

Well....hold on again, surgery is back on and they again have to head back to Philly. Back to square one. Steve will be dad to two girls.

Again...not so fast...Steve ends up having a ruptured appendix(again another blog update) on Megan's birthday and has to be hospitalized. Well... now both girls are dateless. So, do they not go or do we see if someone else can take them. I ask Megan- "Megan would you like for someone else to take you to the dance?" Megan replies "Yes, I want Todd to take me." Todd and Cheryl are great friends of ours and I knew he would not say no to Megan and Anna. I just didn't know if that was too much to ask?!?!

He, of course, said yes and took both girls to the dance. They had a ball with their date Todd. He took them to Bravo where they made their own pizzas and then hit the dance floor. Below are pictures of the evening.....








Todd (and Cheryl), thank you so much for taking care of our daughters and giving them that night. We will never forget the joy you gave Megan that night in a time when things were rough for her. We love and appreciate you both very much!