Count Your Many Blessings

Now that I've had time to process everything, I have noticed how much of a hand that Heavenly Father has in everything we do. It is also interesting to me the unique things that we learn through our trials.

It was really a blessing that Ryan was home when it all happened, for a few reasons really. I would have hated to have to go through this alone without his help and support. I am also thankful that I am married to a man that is worthy to hold the priesthood and was able to give Cannon a priesthood blessing. When Cannon woke up again at 1am, Ryan got up with him. I heard them in the hall and I knew it wasn't just a typical tummy ache. Over and over in my mind the Spirit kept telling me to ask Ryan to give him a blessing, so I did. I felt a lot of peace during the blessing and I knew Cannon would be okay.

Right after Ryan finished giving him his blessing, Cannon began to vomit and scream with pain. Then we both knew that we had to take him to the hospital. Again, the Spirit told me to take him to the children's hospital even though there were several other hospitals closer to us. I later learned (from Cannon's pediatrician follow-up this morning) that several hospitals around here don't even take children or that they are ill-prepared for treating children.

Cannon had thrown up on his beloved blanket (a major source of comfort), so we brought my blanket for him instead. At the hospital he ended up getting vomit on my blanket too, so he was left without a blanket. In the Easter basket they gave him was a cute homemade blanket and a soft bunny rabbit. Cannon was thrilled to have a new blanket and stuffed animal (he LOVES to cuddle soft stuffed animals, just like hid daddy). Whoever made that basket has no idea how grateful I am for their service. Those two things alone made him feel comfortable and happy.

I learned a lot about myself and about Ryan and our unique roles. From my experience working at a children's hospital, I was used to seeing IV's and pumps and all kinds of medical things coming out of kids. I just never knew if I would be able to handle something like that with my own kid. It turns out that I can! I realized that that is a strength I have. I was able to stay calm and focused to support Cannon through everything. After we left him with the surgeon and other medical staff, I went into the bathroom and cried. And then I was okay again. My entire focus was on Cannon and I was grateful to be able to have that strength.

Now Ryan, on the other hand, turned out to be more tender-hearted. It really hurt him to see Cannon in so much pain and he had an extremely hard time watching Cannon get his IV. It really had a great effect on him. After I sent Ryan home to go to sleep, he stayed up to wash our special blankies. And when he picked us up from the hospital, they were waiting in the car for us. Cannon was delighted to see his blanket! I love that Ryan is sensitive like that. He is patient and caring. I sometimes give Ryan a hard time for not thinking of others or being forgetful about things important to me, but I take it all back. He definitely deserves more credit than I give him sometimes.

We are blessed that everything happened so quickly. Getting to the hospital, no wait time, getting the ultrasound and x-rays. We got to the hospital at 2am and he had his procedure at 4am. Two hours to me is pretty quick for intake, tests, diagnosis, and treatment, especially considering that the on-call surgeon lives an hour away and we had to wait for him to get there! If it's not treated right away it can become more serious where the tissue in the intestine actually dies from lack of blood. Obviously that would require surgery to fix it. The pediatrician we saw today said that sometimes intussusception isn't caught right away. Sometimes the intestine gets itself unstuck, but then can go in and out again. She said he had a classic textbook case.

I know that this trial wasn't huge, especially compared to bigger things that other families have to endure. But it got me to ponder things. I know that everything happens for a reason, the good and the bad. I don't know all of the reasons that Cannon had to have this kind of medical problem, but some of the reasons were mentioned during Cannon's blessing. Although the blessing answered some of my questions, it was meant for Cannon. I know that he understood the blessing and that it was from his Heavenly Father. I know that the Holy Ghost provided comfort to Cannon and all of us. Lots of people have commented to me about how hard and scary this must have been for me, but it wasn't. I felt peace the whole time, because I knew Cannon would be okay. That never left me. I really never worried about him physically, I was more worried that he would be upset when we had to leave him (which he wasn't).

Today Cannon and I read a book by Mr. Rogers called Going to the Hospital. We compared the details of the book with his experience at the hospital. He told me about the IV in his hand, but that it didn't work in the other hand. He was so matter-of-fact about everything, which is great! I love that Cannon and I can talk about things together. I realized that we don't even have any play doctor stuff in his toy collection, so I ordered him some things from Amazon today so he will have the chance to play through some of his experience.

So we're good! We are back to our normal selves and we are excited to have our mini family vacation on Wednesday!