His Compassions Fail Not
I can’t do this anymore... was my thought that Sunday morning.
17 times my body had wracked from the deepest pits of my stomach. 17 times my mom had to hold my body up because I didn’t have the strength to keep myself from falling into the commode. For the past 24 hours, I hadn’t gotten any relief from severe nausea even after my stomach emptied itself. Every time I stood I worried my legs wouldn’t be able to support my weight.
I can’t do this anymore…Please, God help me…
“Mom, I need you to call the hematologist on call.”
Relief swept over me when Mom ended the phone call and told me the specialist said I needed to come to Nationwide Children’s. How I craved bags of fluid to replenish my body.
My Dad had carried me to the car and we began the trek to Columbus. My stomach showed no mercy and what my gut was producing was unlike anything I had ever seen. I wasn’t concerned I was suffering from a low hemoglobin like I had in the past when I’ve dealt with excessive vomiting. But the worry I was dealing with a ruptured or blocked bowel was very real.
Where were His compassions? I knew they were present, but at that moment in my sick state, I couldn’t feel them.
As I sat in a wheelchair in the registration line, I looked at the teenager in front of me and heard the cry of the baby behind of me and prayed I wouldn’t get in sick. But as another wave of severe nausea hit me, I prayed if getting sick in front of the registrar would allow me to be taken right back to a room, then I hoped it would happen. Right before I left the registration desk, my prayer was answered. The registrar jumped from her seat, “We’re taking her right back!” She picked up a microphone that connected to a loudspeaker to the inside of the ER, “Please be advised, we have a critical case coming your way.”
…His Compassions…
As the doors to the ER opened my eyes encompassed the concern looks on the doctors and nurses faces as they saw what was in the container I was holding.
“You don’t like what you’re seeing do you?” My mom asked.
The ER staff shook their heads.
“Yeah, I didn’t think it was good either.”
The ER staff worked quickly to hook me up to an IV to receive fluids as I was severely dehydrated and so they could check my blood levels. After a little while, X-ray techs came to my room with a portable X-ray machine to obtain images of my bowels and intestines. In my mind, there was a very real possibility I could be on an operating table within the next hour. The results came back and my bowels and intestines were perfectly intact. Shortly after I received those results I was told all of my blood levels stable.
…His Compassions…
After I dodged this bullet immediately another one came when I found out I would be admitted. Due to the nature of my illness, I wouldn’t be in the Hematology unit, I would be going to the Infectious Disease floor. Again, worry filled my heart. I had never seen an Infectious Disease doctor. They didn’t know me nor were they familiar with my complicated case. Would these doctors and nurses be in tune with the care I needed?
Monday morning, I saw the Infectious Disease Attending. She explained that I didn’t actually have the original diagnosis of the flu, but I was suffering from viral and bacterial infections in my stomach. She laid out her treatment plan which included consulting with my Hematologist and Immunologist at Nationwide Children’s as well as my medical team at the National Institutes of Health before she put her plan into action.
…His Compassions…
Tuesday morning, I continued to receive fluids and my blood levels were checked again. I finally felt I could handle more solid foods and began to feel strength entering my body again. That afternoon my doctor made her rounds again and revealed to me my white blood count was normal for the first time in my life. I had never heard the words from my doctor, “Your white blood count is normal.”
…His Compassions…
By Wednesday I was eating three solid and substantial meals a day and gaining strength with each passing hour. When my doctor came in that day she gave me exciting news. I recovered much quicker than she thought I would and she would be sending me home the next morning.
…His Compassions…
It can be so difficult to see where God is when life’s trials knock you off your feet without warning. But here’s what I learned through this experience: God allowed me to go through this medical crisis to show me the healing He has done in my body. I know this may sound kind of funny- God allowed me to get sick, to show me I’m not as sick as I was?
But it’s true.
The old Whitney wouldn’t have bounced back as quickly as she did. She would have been down for one to two months. The old Whitney’s blood counts would have plummeted. Her white blood count would have sky-rocketed from 30,000 to 60,000 instead of reaching normal levels. God was reminding me that He isn’t slack concerning His Promises and He would fulfill the one He had made to me. So friend, if you’re in the midst of a battle, be encouraged! Even if they are difficult to feel at first, His compassions fail not. In fact His mercies are new every morning. And His faithfulness is great!
