While I was visiting Kait this afternoon after work she woke up from a nap and was in quite a bit of pain. The machine that compresses her legs to get blood flow going to prevent blood clots was also not working-so we called the nurse. When the nurse got there I said, "we need to get Kaitlin some more pain medication and also fix this machine ASAP." Although I'm sure she didn't mean to make a poor judgement call, the nurse chose to first tinker with the machine instead of attend to Kait's pain. Kaitlin promptly said, "hey-do you think maybe you could get my pain meds going BEFORE you fix the machine? In my brain that just seems like more of a logical sequence..."
She's such a gem! And in all seriousness, we are SO thankful to see her advocating for herself, even as she fights the pain. Be comforted-she has not lost her feisty spirit!
We had a lovely Wanberg family dinner tonight with a few dear friends out on my parents back porch...I was reminded again and again of how GOOD our God truly is during our time together. We feel so blessed to get to experience life WITH Kaitlin-and we are just so thankful that she is still with us. We still get to dream about future adventures together...this is the biggest thing we are grateful for today.
The amount of encouraging and supportive text messages (and e-mails!) that we all receive each day is the most beautiful confirmation of the community that the Lord has blessed us with.Today, one text message in particular comforted my aching heart in such a genuine way. Tara wrote, "know that the support for them is not temporary." To all who are diligently reading this blog in order to be updated & pray for my sister-please know that we are so confident in your consistency. We are so grateful for a community who lives life with us and who walks through the trenches alongside us. We really do believe that you are with us for the long haul. Kaitlin is stronger because of each one of you...she is who she is because of each one of you. She knows it, and we know it.
A medical update: Kaitlin's back brace went on today. She keeps it on her back all the time, but the front part (velcro on that goes up to her chin-super light, super "high tech" as Tom says) is only kept on when they are turning her or doing some sort of physical activity. HUGE VICTORY: Kait ate solid food for lunch today! Pizza, peaches & milk...and she rocked it. When John and my dad (Tom) were attempting to motivate Kait to eat her lunch, (despite her best efforts to discourage them) Tom & John were shamed when in her softest voice she asked, "did you bless the food yet?" Ha! We believe she is on the verge of getting her competitive, soccer juices flowing...she will be even stronger tomorrow. In the afternoon, her voice was returning to a normal volume...another victory to praise God for! She was asking us questions about how our day was going and was particularly worried about Peter (my youngest brother-the soft spot of our whole family) because he seems to be "taking it hard." Just like our Kait, isn't it? Concerned about everyone else before she worries about herself. Continue praying for strong breathing & against pneumonia. Pray for her pain to decrease. Pray that she would continue to have a will to fight.
Last piece of news: THANK YOU to all who contributed to the fund to buy Kaitlin and John ipads! We were able to buy them today & give them to John tonight...he was so thankful and humbled (see picture below). Just a reminder that if you feel the need to give now (which we understand-it's hard to feel like you can't do anything to help!) the paypal that's linked on David's last blog post is still open; however, we are having a family meeting this weekend to determine next steps as far as setting up a more permanent solution to help John & Kaitlin financially-so if you are able to be patient and wait...stay tuned! I promise to have a solution soon. I told David today that it's like trying to organize your house during a tornado...you do the best you can in the moment when nothing is clear until the dust settles-and then you clean up and figure out something more sustainable. Despite the poor analogy...I hope y'all can understand where we are at as a family and have patience with our temporary fixes!
Tonight we cling to Jeremiah 17:7-9: "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
Sending all of our love your direction- Carolyn
I love her spunk! Tell her how much I love her. :)
ReplyDelete-Brittni Smith