A Letter To My Little Henry

A Letter I wrote to Henry in February after his return home from the hospital:

My dear sweet Henry doodle bug,

As I sit next to you and watch you sleep my heart is full of such a deep love for you that I cannot explain.  It has been a wild few weeks for you.  In one week time period you had symptoms of viral pink eye, ear infection, diarrhea, cough, fever, vomiting, cold symptoms, and dehydration.  All these symptoms later resulted in being diagnosed with RSV positive.  With RSV you were not able to get the oxygen you needed.  

As you began to developed these symptoms at home we began to treat each symptom and make you as comfortable as we could.  Your brother Owen was also sick with an exhausting cough the same week.  For three days at home we tried to get you well but your symptoms only increased and you were getting weaker.  You were only comfortable if you were held upright and you could not sleep comfortable for more than a few minutes at a time.  For three nights dad and mom took turns walking you around the house so you could get some sleep, but even then we could still tell you were miserable.  My mother instincts told me that there was something more, so we took you to the doctor.  I took you in to see your wonderful pediatrician Dr. Rapp and you perked up in public so he did not see you as sick as you actually were.  The doctor wanted me to call him in the afternoon to see if there were any improvements.  The next six hours you drastically got worse, refused to eat and only wanted to sleep.  After talking to the doctor he told us that something serious was going on and we needed to bring you to the ER.

On our way to the ER, we dropped off your brother with grandma and grandpa.  We were seen right away in the ER and after running multiple tests you were diagnosed RSV positive.  The Doctor at the Salmon Creek hospital thought it would be best to have you at Randall's Emmanuel Children's Hospital in Portland in the PICU.  They had the Kids Team Ambulance from the children's hospital transport you down to Portland, along with mom.

There is no medication you can take for RSV, but they helped to support you through the recovery of the virus by giving you lots of fluids through an IV and hi-flow oxygen through tubes in your nose.  Your little body had been fighting this virus so hard for several days.  Once you received fluids and oxygen you were finally able to get some much needed sleep and enough energy to eat a little.  It was hard for my mommy heart to see you so weak and sick.  I am so thankful that we live in a place with such great doctors and modern medical technology.  

You responded very well to the support and after two days you were able to move to the general floor to continue to heal.  After only one day on the general floor you had regained enough strength to go home.  Owen came with daddy to pick you up from the hospital and the two of you were so excited to see each other.  You both had the biggest smiles on your faces, it still brings tears to my eyes when I think about how much joy you both had when reunited.

I am so thankful that God has healed your little body Henry!  During long days and sleepless nights God was my Rock and the strength of my heart.  The verse that I clung to during those long days was Psalm 73:26 which says, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."  As I look back now, I can see evidences of God giving me strength, encouragement and peace.  When I was at my breaking point and in tears, God used Owen to remind me to look to Jesus for help.  When I was not able to cook, God provided someone to make meals for us.  When I did not have extra hands to clean, God provided people to clean our house.  When I was emotionally and physically exhausted, God's timing allowed daddy to be there to support me.  When I was feeling weary, God sent his Spirit to remind me of truth.  When I felt tired, God sent encouragement through friends and family who were praying.  My dear little Henry "...it is good to be near God, I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all God's mercies!" (Psalm 73:28)

I am so thankful to see you feeling better.  I love you my sweet little Henry!

love,
Mom