Last night was the worst night. It started OK. She slept from 10-11:50PM. I got up and gave her the midnight meds and she slept a little until a very bad spell from 1:10-3:00AM. We got up, she tried to walk, went to the couch. I rubbed her ankle (somehow it helps her hip). We watched some TV, anything to try to get her to focus on something else other than the pain. Through the tears she said it reminded her of the days long before when our children were tiny and we got up to feed them in the night. We would sit on the couch and watch the Wild, Wild West. She said the only difference was that then we had a baby to show for it, but now only tears. Finally, the pain subsided and she went back to sleep, but it did not last long.

She got up, walked, rubbed, tossed and turned.

Then the worst attack of the whole expereince began. At about 6:10AM the pain went through her like lightening. She called to me like a she was hanging off the edge of a cliff. We tried to respond quickly with ice and massage, but it rushed out of control. At 9:50 AM the pain lowered for a few minutes to about 5 and we thought she had made it to the other side. During that lull we talked to the PA and she made another adjustment to the medicine and said we should come on Monday or Tuesday for some scans and possibly a work-in appointment. The pain must have understood that we were trying to vanquish it and it returned with a vengeance. Up and up the pain ratcheted until it reached a 10 (hypothetically as high as the pain can go) and did not come down. After 3 hours we made the decision to head to the ER.

We decided to return to the hospital where she had surgery in North Frisco. It would be over 2 hours, but it is where her doctor is and Cindy bravely said “Let’s go to Frisco.”

We “packed” our bags, stuffing and grabbing and generally panicking. We got in the car about 12:45PM and started driving. It was hard to stick close to the speed limit.

When we were about 15 minutes from the hospital the pain began to relent. It continued to fall to levels she had not seen for several days. We pulled into the ER driveway and parked. She walked and then we made a plan.

Pause. Breathe.

Sasha, the PA, called back and we told her we were about to go in the ER. She gave us a plan. We could go right in and they were ready to prescribe new meds. In the morning we would get an MRI and a CAT scan help discern the problem OR we could go to the hotel and she would send the exact same new meds to the local pharmacy and then we would go to the hospital in the morning for the scans.

We chose option B. The hotel is 300 yards from the hospital. We drove to the HEB Pharmacy and got the new meds and got them into Cindy. By the time we got to the hotel she was nodding off.

We got her into the room and into bed and she is sleeping, really sleeping, for the first time in days.

I reworked the medicine crate, repacked the bags, and sat down to rest.

We are praying that we can get through this night and to the tests tomorrow and some answers.

“In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.”

— Psalm 4:8

Sleeping Beauty

Light

The seige