SHILOH'S ANGEL

We have given Skyler an additional name - Shiloh's Angel.  At 1:30 this morning, Skyler woke Keith and I up again with the words, "Shiloh's sick."  (Even writing about it sends my heart racing.)  The symptoms were the same as our last scare with the addition of headache and blindness.  In garbled speech, Shiloh kept asking if we could take the mask off so he could see. 

Shiloh & Rufus - His Diabetes Bear

Let me give you a peek into our hospital experience.  We arrived at the hospital to find the emergency room door locked, and no one around.  I went in a different entrance and began knocking on doors.  A nurse woke up, and I told her that I wanted an I.V. of Ringer Lactate for Shiloh..  I asked her to call either one of two physicians whose names I had given her.  After 40 minutes of waiting, a totally different doctor came.  This doctor and nurse stood by watching as Shiloh vomited and offered no assistance.  I asked them if they had anything I could use to wipe the examining table so Shiloh could lay back down, and the nurse handed me two pieces of gauze.  After an hour, we were given a room (that hadn't been cleaned from the previous occupants), and the I.V. was started.  When you are admitted to a hospital here, you bring all of your own linens and toiletries.  Although a little of Shiloh's vomit had gotten on the sheets while in the emergency room, I had no choice but to use it for the bed in the room, too.  Keith went back to the house as one of our supporting churches had requested a Skype call at 4:45 a.m. our time for their Missions Conference.  (And there was no room for him to stretch out anyway.)  At 5:00 people began preparing breakfast for themselves and their sick relatives right outside our window on the sidewalk.  At 5:30 the nurse checked Shiloh's vital signs.  At 6:00 she asked if we wanted holy communion (this is a Catholic hospital).  At 6:15 she brought pain medicine (which I declined for Shiloh since I knew he would never be able to swallow such a huge tablet and would vomit it anyway).  At 6:30 the noise of talking outside my window became so loud that I opened the curtains and said (in as nice of voice as I could muster after just 3 hours of sleep), "EXCUSE ME, SIRS!  Could you, please, go someplace else to talk?  You are talking very loudly, and we need some sleep."  As their voices reduced in volume, I caught about 30 minutes of sleep, which helped a lot.  After 400 ml of I.V. Shiloh returned to his normal self - including sight.  We are thankful for this "backwards" hospital that at least has the drip Shiloh needs.

Skyler said that he had been having a scary dream about a bug that grew really big, which caused him to wake up.  I believe God allowed Skyler's dream so that he could be his brother's life-saver once again. 

Please pray with us that we will be able to find an endocrinologist who is willing to work with us during our two-week stay in Austin, Texas before we start traveling on furlough.  Our prayer is that Shiloh will be able to be fitted with an insulin pump that will help to control the blood sugar better and that we will gain further wisdom in helping Shiloh.

Thank you for praying for us, and please - don't ever stop!