Never a Dull Moment

If you've been following Caleb's journey of pain you know that there have been many stops and starts along the way. Well...let me add another one today.

Last week when we met with the doctor at the hospital in Portland, he essentially told us that Caleb's pain is a malfunction of neurons from his stomach to his brain. In essence...the stomach is sending the wrong/too strong of a signal to the brain. He said he could find no organic or functional cause to Caleb's pain, and thus concluded that we needed to medicate him for pain and cramping and teach him how to live with it indefinitely.

I probably don't need to tell you what discouraging news that was. After this doctor had promised to get to the root of the problem, it felt like he aborted the process too quickly, not having completed the tests he had recommended when we first met with him three days earier.

So for the past week we have been wholeheartedly petitioning the Lord on Caleb's behalf, while at the same time, seeking out additional help for him. But every door seemed to be closed until Thursday when we had the appointment with the doctor my mom's friend had recommended.

He was heading in a more holistic, whole body solution which felt to us like a reasonable approach. We felt God had heard our cries and answered them, though were still unsettled that these other tests had not been completed. But you know...at that point when the door seems closed, you trust God as best as you can, and move on with what seems to be the next step.

With that in mind, yesterday Caleb and I drove down to my mom and dad's house for some R & R while we waited for our next appointment with the doctor we saw on Thursday. It felt good to be here last night getting love and care from them. Caleb had a good night's sleep and said he felt refreshed this morning.

But as the afternoon began, the pain intensified significantly. My brother decided to go with him to a movie to take his mind off things, while my mom, dad and I went to the mall.

Standing in a department store an hour later, my phone rang. I hesitated before answering it since I didn't recognize the number, but then answered.

"Hi Connie, this is Dr. B..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...wait a minute", I thought to myself. This is the doctor who essentially dismissed us last Friday. What is he doing calling me???

"I haven't been able to get Caleb off my mind - How is he? Has there been any change? No? Well, I feel like we didn't get to the bottom of what was going on for him. I know I said the test we did was accurate but I can't stop thinking about him and feel like we need to proceed with the rest of the tests...colonoscopy, endoscopy, and even the capsule endoscopy. Can you be here on Tuesday morning and we'll admit him to the hospital for these tests????"

Wow. My head was literally spinning as I listened to him. I was so shocked I could barely speak, not to mention the weakness in my knees. When does a doctor do this??? Caleb and I truly felt dismissed by him last week and couldn't understand the change of attitude we experienced from one appointment to the next. And now he's had a change of heart? This could only be explained by God.

We have persevered in faith and trust in the Lord for the week since our last appointment with this doctor, trying to think the best of him, but really confused as to what had happened.

Ah, but the journey is not so straight forward as we would like. It takes twists and turns for reasons that are often unknown to us at the time. Except for one morning of wavering in faith and hope, I can honestly say that in spite of these twists and turns, I have believed the Lord for his healing in Caleb. I still don't know how or when that will come...but I believe it will.

And now here we are...headed back into the hospital on Tuesday for another big round of tests.

Will you please join us in praying that the GOD WHO SEES ALL will reveal and make known the source of this pain for Caleb? It is at its worst tonight - he is laying on the bed beside me as I type (don't want to leave him alone in it) wincing and gritting his teeth as the pain sweeps through him. That is just hard to watch and not be able to do anything about.

But there is a God and He loves and cares for Caleb so much that He would change a doctor's mind about seeing him! So we head into this Tuesday with love, trust, and thankfulness in our hearts...and expectancy for what the next leg of this journey will hold.