sic' em, sickness

For the third weekend in a row, our little family has been homebound dealing with sickness. The first weekend, Dave and I were sick, last weekend Natalie was sick, and when I went to pick her up from daycare on Friday, yes mam, she was running a 102 temp--sick again. My little punkin' has felt so yucky this weekend, and it has been so hard to watch her hurt...alligator tears streaming down her face. But today was a little better for her and I pray that she feels even better when she wakes up tomorrow morning.

This reminds me of the respect and appreciation I have for the patients and caregivers I meet in my work each week. They confront life-threatening illness on a day-to-day basis. When they tell their stories, it seems like one bad blow after another, as they lose jobs, homes, quality of life, and the ability to care for themselves. But truly, so many of them inspire me a great deal because they have such amazingly positive attitudes in spite of their situations. They face their challenges one day at a time, and there is a lot to be learned from their stories of courage. Many of them have an unwavering faith in God, and this is an unbelievable blessing to witness. I walk away from Emory most days with a heavy heart for their struggles.

I am not trying to say that our little bouts with colds and fevers are in any way comparable to what my patients deal with, but it does give me perspective on what their everyday lives must entail. When you feel 100% healthy most of the time, like I usually do, you realize how horrible it feels to be sick, and I can't imagine feeling like that every day. It makes you especially grateful for your health. May God bless my sweet patients and families for their strength and hope.

And hopefully...next weekend...when the times comes to yell "Go Dawgs, Sic' em"...there will be no sickness, no dimetapp, kleenex, motrin or tylenol at our home! Just some good 'ole football, fun and fisher price toys. And maybe we can get out of the house and go somewhere, too. That would be good!