I should not have ignored the symptoms.

Oh I saw the signs a year ago. She just wasn’t acting right. Ted and I just finished talking about how we should have consulted a professional back then. Maybe things wouldn’t have gotten as bad as they did. Sometimes everything would be just fine. But then, she’d start making weird noises and I’d find her shaking. But Ted didn’t know what to do.

As long as things got taken care of, day to day, I chose to ignore things. But the weird noises she made got more frequent. We finally faced it today. She was not going to get any better. I really don’t think she will function normally ever again. We have only about five more days.

Monday Home Depot will deliver our new washing machine.

So besides going out to buy a new washer today, I took Amanda to see the neurologist at Children’s Hospital as a follow up to her little surgery in February. The doctor said she looks good and to come back to be checked in a year. Her shunt is working fine and there doesn’t appear to be any other neurological problems at this time, and we aren’t going to look for any.

We keep very close watch on Amanda lately. She gets vitamins plus a dose of iron every morning, she does breathing exercise four times a day, we monitor to make sure she uses her A-vap (like a bi-pap) machine for the whole time she is sleeping, and we are keeping track of her oxygen saturation and heart rate – writing the numbers down several times a day. Unlike my washing machine where I ignored the symptoms, I can’t ignore them when it comes to Amanda’s health.

Life can get too busy sometimes and then all the things we are in charge of tend to find their place on the rung of a priority ladder. Some things end up sitting low on the ladder. The past couple of months were awfully busy, beginning with the holiday season and having family coming and going (it was wonderful!). Besides just getting Amanda moved out and settled, we then had her pneumonia and three week hospitalization in January. February, we tried to get back to a ‘normal’ only to dive into March and see my Pop go through heart surgery and a week in the hospital. Umm … yeah … so my house isn’t the cleanest right now. (low priority) And there have been more quick carry-out pizzas for dinner than usual. But my family sits high on the ladder and their needs come first. The house can wait. The washing machine had to wait.

I do try to keep the top rung of the ladder reserved for God. It’s what we all try to do. It’s what we all should be doing. With Him in control and leading from the top, the rest of the ladder should be an easy climb.

Psalm 103:2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits.

just Laurel