ER

Today wasn't quite what we had planned, but by the end it was better.  To begin with, all was routine as Daddy was at the church filming for KidPak and Madison and Mommy were home together.  But Daddy got the call from Madison, and knew something was wrong.  Mommy was in pain, on the floor, and needing Daddy to come home right away.

Of enormous help were Ye-Ye and Nana, who actually arrived at the house before I could.  They were there to help with Madison, and of course do what they could for Mommy.  Ye-Ye and I have had these same symptoms, which gave us a clue that this was probably kidney stones.

Here's what I wrote on social media, to let everyone know what's going on:

Hey everybody, this is David. Zena's in the ER. She has a much higher tolerance for pain than I do, and so it took a lot to get her to come here. But here we are - she was hurting pretty bad. On the way here, we were thinking it is kidney stones, although we are not doctors of course. Anyway, please stop and say a prayer for Zena if you don't mind. We'll update you as we can. I'm assuming she's asleep by now, under some medication to help with the pain. As an aside, wow, it is a crazy time to go to the ER now!

There were 184 comments that followed (so far), all sharing their wishes for Mommy, and letting us know they were praying.  Daddy waited in the hospital area, and it was a unique experience from other visits to the ER.  For one obvious reason, it wasn't Daddy who was there as a patient.  But seriously, there were National Guard people out front and the big long tent that admitted people who felt symptoms related to this recent virus.  Inside, there were mandatory masks and lots of questions and checkpoints.

Daddy waited for hours.  They apparently didn't know I was out there, so no one communicated with me about the situation inside, despite me asking a couple times.  They'd get with me soon, I heard.  But there was a mistake somewhere along the line, and so I waited out there a long time without hearing anything.  Fortunately, there were a few indicators that gave me hope that this was simply kidney stones.  I say 'simply,' because in many cases, these stones will pass and that's that.  Of course, the lingering question is where are the stones, and how many are there.  This is what we were praying about:  one stone, and it's either gone or about to be.  

Until then, I was just waiting in the room.  And there were angry people all around me.  I'll just go ahead and say it:  there were demons in that room.  I don't usually start pointing fingers or going there, but I can't explain it any other way.  A gentleman near me was so filled with anger and cruelty as he waited for someone inside.  He had no love for anyone, and I think he was only there because he had to be.  His companion kept trying to cheer him up, and then when he started mocking her and laughing at her, she remarked that at least he was laughing.  Sure, it was at her, but at least he was laughing.  And then his older kids showed up, and they used the same venomous language as he did.  And the rest of us in the waiting room just sort of minded our own business, rather than touch this raw nerve standing there.  So in time, this guy and his family leaves.  And someone else sits in that same place.  And that person has the same exact spirit.  He takes a bite out of a hospital sandwich, and then goes on and on with the same exact fury the other guy had, all of it directed at a sandwich he felt was made in 1952 or something.  I'm not sure why this is important to the narrative here.  I didn't necessarily endure anything here.  But it is an observation of something.  The fruit of their words and actions are fairly obvious.  I just comment about it now, without saying a name or anything, just to point out the shock I was feeling about how hostile other people can act, for such an extended period of time.  It was pure anger for over an hour, just spewing out.  It bothered me, but again, not that I was annoyed.  I was just perplexed and dismayed at it.

Meanwhile, Madison was out at Chick-Fil-A with her grandparents, and doing a bit of shopping at Five and Below to get her mind off of things.  She got a new phone cover, and some candy as well. She did some shopping for Mommy for Mother's Day as well.  She was worried, so Daddy was texting her from time to time to let her know that things would be okay.  Madison had a few recent events on her mind, and something like this is never a pleasant experience for anyone.  But her grandparents were there, and even greater, God's presence was there to let us all know that everything would be all right. We were really feeling everyone's prayers, and despite the fact that it took a little longer to get that pain medication, it did eventually come and Mommy did start to recover.

Eventually, the nurse called up on the phone to let me know what was going on.  Usually, the spouses or nearest relative can go back there.  But this virus situation kept us separated all this time.  Fortunately, what the nurse had to say was good.

UPDATE: This is David again, thanking everyone for prayers. We've got plenty of good news. Although it was a kidney stone, this too shall pass. It's not out yet, but I'm going out to get medication to help with that, and medication to help with any further pain. She's at home again, resting, and blessed. We're blessed with good health, blessed to be home again, and blessed to have wonderful friends such as you!

We're blessed and highly favored.  We had so many people praying for us at that moment.  She went to the hospital in a lot of pain, and she came out feeling so much better.  She could walk around and in fact she was making something to eat for Madison at one point.  She was doing well.

Daddy got the medication from the pharmacy, and picked up Madison from the grandparents house, and after that, it was a much calmer sort of day.  Mommy was feeling a lot better.  We watched some things on the television, some Clone Wars episodes.  We read from our book after that, and we said our prayers as well.  It was a heartfelt prayer of thanks.  Mommy was feeling a 10 out of 10 with her pain, but currently she's doing much better.  There's medication to help in the coming days, but the worst of it all is clearly over with.