This week, 8 years ago, my husband and I went through one of the greatest trials of our lives. We were considering a move to Colorado and so, Daniel and I had gone on a survey trip to find a good church and put a contract on a house. We left our 22 month old daughter in the hands of trusted babysitters. They did a great job. When we returned from our trip, two days later, our little one woke up with a fever and flu symptoms. I took her to see her pediatrician and he said he looked like a summer virus and she’d be okay. I took her home and tried to give her a bath. Now, normally she would play and crawl all around the tub during bath time, but this time she sat like a bump on a log. Then I thought she needed to go potty (I had just started potty training) so, I took her out of the tub and sat her on the training potty. I went into her bedroom adjacent to the bathroom. She sat there. I called to her, but she wouldn’t come. So I went back into the bathroom and tried to stand her on her feet, but she wouldn’t stand. So I bundled her up and carried her to her room and took care of her the best I could.
The next morning I woke to hear her crying for us, which wasn’t unusual, but we I got to her crib, I immediately noticed that one knee looked much larger than the other. I carried her into our bedroom where my husband confirmed that one knee indeed looked swollen. He told me not to worry, but to take her back to the doctor. He went to work.
At the doctor’s, he recognized the problem right off. He said she had septic arthritis and had to take her to the Children’s hospital for surgery. I remember calling my husband, crying, our baby needed surgery because she has an infection in her knee joint. He came home and we back her up and took her to the hospital in downtown Fort Worth.
They did surgery to drain the joint. All night long, she slept beside me on the hospital bed. She looked so small and so weak. We looked forward to taking her home and things we looking good. Saturday, she was walking around and playing in the play room.
Then, on Sunday, she got a fever again and wouldn’t stand. The doctors gave us the bad news. It means we didn’t get it all with the flush and it’s grown back. She needs another surgery and we have to open her knee all the way.
She had surgery again and then later on in the week, did an MRI to make sure the infection wasn’t in the bone. She was clean and we finally got to take her home after 9 days in the hospital room. The whole time I only left the hospital once, for lunch on Labor Day. My in-laws came each day and my husband and I would go eat in the cafeteria.
God was so good. I wish I could say I never doubted that things would work out, but I was terrified for my baby girl. She is now almost 10 years old. She has the sweetest disposition and she loves the Lord with her whole heart. I thank the Lord for working things out. I thank Him for the wisdom of the doctors. I thank him for giving me my precious little girl.
Stories By Gina 