10 -14. A work in progress

Monday last, Candy took Walker back to the ER, avoiding having to call 911. Again his breathing had gotten so difficult that only emergent care could to help him to stay afloat. Panic sets in and the snow ball starts rolling down hill at that point and only immediate breathing treatments combined with sedatives will suffice in settling Walker down.

This time around, we and they pretty much know the drill. Get him on dialysis and run cultures. They did all this and more and he responded well. Still, this was one of the hardest episodes for Walker, a young man pressed intensely beyond the pale. Between frequent dialysis, many medications, extreme difficulty breathing, he was just tired and exhausted not knowing what the future holds, his parents feeling pretty much the same.

After a long hard night then morning dialysis, Walker was feeling much better and resting comfortably. The Docs, his favorite is sweet Dr Carillo who has been just great, didn’t find anything new so he was free to go by late Tuesday. What we have since learned is that his outpatient dialysis is only allowed to pull off 2.5 liters every other day and this has not been enough so that by the end of the weekend he is having fluid overload which makes breathing nearly impossible.

We had a pretty good week overall the rest of the week managing our new normal life. A nice outside patio dinner on Saturday and a movie for the 4 of us. Yet, we suffer through this trial one and all hoping, knowing that God strengthens those he puts through storms and difficulties. Our emotional scars will mend and we all will be tougher, stronger, and sweeter for it.

We keep on, keeping on fighting through this McKnight life.

Amen. And God bless you for your prayers

Dave