a work in progress....

 ...not the cabinets, me!  Well, the cabinets too.  I'm almost finished giving them a fresh coat of paint.  I've done them here and there when I can fit it in to my tight schedule, ha.  Actually it's that painting up high like that is not the easiest for long periods of time.  I poured paint into a little plastic jar with a screw on lid, and I wrap the paint brush in plastic wrap after using it every time, so it's easy to just pick it up and do a few doors.  I only have two panels left to paint, side cupboard panels.  

But yes, I am also a work in progress.  You can know something, and believe something, but you have to be tested in it to make it true, right?  I mean, we know that all things work together for the good for those who love God, because it's written in Romans, chapter 8, verse 28.  

Here's where blogging is tricky.  There is MY story, then there is other people's privacy.  Obviously, dealing with my kids strains and stretches my very soul sometimes, but that doesn't mean I can sit here and blab about things they are going through.  So you'll have to just believe me that my life isn't all rainbows and puppy dogs, although it is rather puppy dogs.

Miss Camille presented with what I thought was a rash, the other day at physical therapy.  I wrote it off, thought it would be fine...then later, her older sisters saw it...Emily is an NP, and Mariel is in oncology...I won't say they freaked, but they did ask me what happened when I pressed down on the rash.  Nothing.  Nothing happened.  No marks at all.  Ding ding ding, it dawned on me, this was not a rash.  It was petechiae.   Now, I won't get into other people's medical history, but two of my nieces had childhood leukemia, and I remember some of these symptoms very well.  I also remember the feelings of fear and despair and sadness, and these came welling up in one big sleepless mess.  I didn't just lie there and let it assault me, however, I prayed, and I asked God to help me believe that whatever happens, is weighed and measured just perfectly, and to be thankful and at rest.  It's one big spiritual battle.  

So the pediatrician's office couldn't fit her in yesterday, and today we're going to Florida, so I brought her to urgent care yesterday.  The NP there didn't scoff or scorn or dismiss the rash, in fact she confirmed that it wasn't a rash, it was the petechiae.  She asked a million questions, then ordered the bloodwork...

We stopped at Wegmans for some protein bars for our plane journey (you never know about flight delays, it's good to be prepared so you don't starve to death), and some other essentials like ginger seltzer (love it!), and pasta sauce (it's still only 99 cents a jar, and it's so good!).  

Home, ah home...what can you do when you're waiting for the urgent care to call you back?  Now, all this time, Camille has absolutely no idea why her sisters were concerned, or why we took her right in for just a rash.  She's just blissfully, naively, innocently, happy.  She doesn't complain about waiting for four hours at Urgent Care, she doesn't complain when the nurse couldn't find a vein, even after giving Cam water, and a heat pack for her arm...she poked, the vein disappeared, she didn't want to just poke again...if she couldn't get it on the second try, she was sending us to the hospital for a draw.

Camille wasn't worried.  She took it all in stride.  After holding the warm pack on for a while, the nurse still couldn't find a vein, so she took the blood from the top of the hand.  Camille took this like a champ, when it was over, the nurse praised her, saying that some of the adults cry out when that happens.  Camille said, "Well, I surprised myself."  She is a very squeamish girl.

So home...finally got the call:  the bloodwork was good, CBC (complete blood count), the other tests they tried to run were "inconclusive", which I'm not sure was a fault of the lab, or what, but I was told she could come in for another draw, or wait until she's seen by her pediatrician next week to see what's going on.  Her pediatrician will have a copy of the bloodwork, and if she thinks Cam needs more done, we'll do it, but for now, knowing the CBC was good, I feel better, and am not going to worry too much.  Why she had this happen, I do not know.  

Anyway, I do love my little Cam, she's such a treasure.  I started this blog when I was expecting her, 15 years ago, so her whole life has been chronicled, poor girl. (She turns 15 in November).  

When she was little...so cute!

Still cute!

I tell you, with 16 kids, I've spent more time waiting in waiting rooms!  Good thing I don't get bored!  

Of course I'm hoping and praying that this was just a one-time unexplained occurrence, and that everything is absolutely fine with her.  I cannot cross any bridges unless we come to them, much less jump off them, as in going straight THERE, straight to leukemia.  Oh our minds and thoughts can be torture devices, if we let them.  

Anyway...I'm leaving for the airport in an hour, should do some things before I go, like get ready, ha, and maybe sweep and mop...and I am going to check with Cam before I post this...because my story and her story rather overlap...she says it's fine...so have a good day, and off we go to the airport!