Johnnie's Miracle

"Mommy!" I jerked up from my sleep and went to see which one of the
kids was hollering for me. It was 2am and they should've all been
asleep. Maybe a nightmare...

It was my youngest, Johnnie 2nd. He was sitting up in his bed, shaking
uncontrollably and crying. The first thing I did was check his
temperature--104.2 and rising. I knew that I had to get him to the
emergency room immediately. I called 911, to get an ambulance there,
and woke up my husband.

We arrived at the hospital and they gave him a shot of Roseffin. This
was to get his fever down. They ran a zillion tests, but couldn't find
anything wrong. They sent us home around seven that morning.

This went on for six days. His fever would spike...We'd go to the
emergency room...They'd get the fever down...They'd run tests...They'd
send us back home. It was on the seventh day that I had finally reached
my breaking point. Johnnie and I were working full-time, making
constant trips to the hospital, and trying to take care of the other
three kids.

On that seventh day, we took Johnnie to the hospital again. We
demanded that they keep him and figure out what was going on. We had
noticed a swelling on his neck too. That gave the doctor's more things
to check for. Cat scratch fever? No, we didn't own a cat. Allergies?
No, he's not allergic to anything. More questions, but never any
answers. This continued for seven more days.

In that time, the swell on the right side of my darling three
year-old's neck had blown to a circumference of eight inches! Still,
they had no answers. We prayed so hard. We were watching our son get
worse and worse and dying a little more each day. He didn't eat or
smile or anything. It got so hard that all I wanted to do was sit by
his bedside and cry. I just couldn't believe this was happening.

On the fifteenth day, they finally figured it out. His lymph node had
exploded! This was something that was very rare and that was their
reasoning for taking so long to find out. I didn't care what reason
they had, I just wanted my son to be well. They scheduled an immediate
operation to drain and remove the node. We breathed a sigh of relief
and thought the worst was over. It wasn't.

The next morning, they came in to take him down to surgery and
anesthetize him. His fever again had spiked to over 104 and they
couldn't do anything until it dropped. On top of that, they informed us
that at this rate, he had a 5\% chance of not making it. This was
mainly due to the fact that it had taken them so long to figure it out.
As people, most accept what the doctor's say. As one who has worked as
a nurse, I know that it's not always that easy.

For the first time in my life, I yelled at God! "How dare you do this
to me! Haven't I been through enough?!" I just couldn't believe this
was happening. The other kids had no idea this was going on, but I knew
that they were starting to sense the tension and worry around the
house.

Finally, on the third surgery appointment, his fever had dropped and
he was ready to go. They took his frail little body and placed it in a
metal crib. I know it was for his safety, but I cried because my
Johnnie looked like a helpless little baby. They allowed us to go up to
the surgery floor with him while they waited for the anesthesia to take
affect.

I will never forget anything about that day. The nurse had put the
movie "Babe" in the VCR, to help him go to sleep. He just cried and
cried. He wanted to go home. He wanted me to stop the pain. He wanted
out. I don't blame him. I felt so helpless. There was nothing I could
do for my child.

It only took him about 15 minutes to fall asleep. The hardest thing
we've ever done, as parent's was to leave our son's life in the hands
of those we didn't even know. I prayed, apologized, prayed and
apologized through his whole surgery. No one came out to reassure us
and our imaginations were running rampant!

Six hours later, the doctor came out. Johnnie had made it, but now was
another critical stage. There was an opening, about the size of a
quarter in Johnnie's neck. Every hour, we had to put a hose in and
clean it out. There is nothing worse than putting something in an open
wound on your own child. I cried every time! The doctor said that if we
could help the nurse keep it clean for 3 days, then it could be allowed
to heal shut.

They had removed the node and infection was the only danger now. By
the second day, he was asking for food again. This was awesome! I was
so happy that I was dancing all over his room. He said, "Mommy, you're
crazy." It was the greatest thing I had ever heard! Johnnie went home a
few days later. The infection never took hold and God accepted my
apology.

Johnnie is six now. He loves to play T-Ball and he makes all A's in
school. I thank God for the miracle that He gave to our son.