So, below is the post for Day 2 of Tam’s ordeal from 2007. I wanted to post this last night but felt like I’d be rushing it, and since I’m under no professional deadline, I decided to delay and ruminate on it a bit longer. J
Shar and I were talking yesterday and I asked if she could give me any further personal insights from 7-8-07, and she said “it was unreal”…” like you just can’t believe it’s happening”. I agreed and then wrongly used the term surreal to describe my view. Sharon’s term fits so much better than mine.
Surreal implies that we are thrust into a dreamlike situation, where, even though we almost immediately become unwilling participants, we have no fear of having it morph into reality. As if we’ve been pulled into a Dali painting, but with full knowledge that we can we never really become a melting clock or anything so bizarre.
However, “Unreal” forces us to look at things like this; we have just become spontaneous actors in a very real situation from which there is no visible escape; a game which must be played out, regardless of our wishing it would just go away. Just like when we were children and could close our eyes for a long time, and then suddenly reopen them hoping against hope that the unreality of the day would magically be gone. When our eyes were opened, we came to the realization, that this is stark, in your face reality, and that the only thing we could do was fall on our faces before a holy and righteous God, and trust in His deliverance from or comfort in this trial, like any other in our lives. OK...now back to your regularly scheduled Tam post!
In these posts, I am going to try to give as much as detail as I can remember about July 2007, without going too crazy on the length. Day two was a big day but not too many items to report…..here we go!
So, after a great
night’s sleep, on a sheet covered rock called a “bed”, in a closet called a
“Sleeping Room”, I went up the 7 East PICU to help Shar begin day 2
of Tam’s road to recovery. Even though I had spent the entire
previous day with Tamara and Sharon I was still shocked to walk
in and see the 168 thousand different wires and tubes sticking out of
her little body. Actually, it was only about 8 wires and tubes
including a ventilator and an NG feeding tube. We’ll revisit
the dreaded NG tube in the days ahead. Tam also had one of those awful
“C” Collars for the strained ligaments in her neck. She looked so
uncomfortable and it hurt to look at her like that, but considering the
alternative, we took it and never looked back. As a result of this
time of trial, the following excerpts from Psalm 91 became some
of the bedrock verses of my life and still are to this day!
See below for the day's important update! :)
See below for the day's important update! :)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Psalm 91 has
some Great and True promises that I love to gather strength from in tough
times:
1 He who dwells in the
shelter of the Most High, will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the
LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
14 “Because he loves
me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he
acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon
me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will
deliver him and honor him.
See
the 2 e-mails below for the details from day 2 and we’ll be back tomorrow with
more! Peter & Sharon <><
7-9-07 11:35 am –
Update
Hello
All,
For
those who haven’t yet heard. Tamara was hit by a car yesterday after
sneaking away from her Sunday school class. We attend First Baptist
Church in Doylestown and it happened right in front of the church. (next
to Doylestown Hospital) She was flown from Doylestown to CHOP in about 10
Min’s and quickly taken into Trauma to begin extensive testing. She has a
badly fractured lower left leg and will most likely to have rods inserted
to hold the bones in place during healing. Surgery is scheduled for today
between 12 & 2. Sorry I cannot be more specific, but she is an
“Add on” in an already busy Monday schedule.
After
many additional tests the Dr’s are 100% confident that there are no other
issues to deal with, which is truly a "praise" in itself.
I
will send another update as soon as we have more info, but suffice it to say
that we feel the prayers, so please keep them coming. We know the with
God’s strength and love Tam will come through this just fine and we’ll ALL be
better for the experience.
No
root cause analysis needs to be done here, no blame is being placed and no fingers
are being pointed. This is just something that happened, and it could
have happened on ANYONE’s watch. Now we just need to deal with it to make
sure we have better controls and procedures in place to prevent this type of
thing in the future. Tamara has been a groundbreaker ever since she was
born, so it’s no surprise that she was at the center of this important, life-changing event!
Love
and appreciate you all Very Much!
More
later!
P
<><
7-9-07
6:24 pm – Update
Hey
all!
Sorry
for the lateness of this e-mail but it’s crazy trying to get on-line here with
all of the other parents trying to send e-mails. Great reason to get a
Blackberry I suppose. :)
Enough of
that, here’s the news you wanted to hear!
Tam
came through the Surgery with Flying colors (as expected) and is resting
comfortably. The procedure only took about 45 Min’s, and she can have the
Pins removed in 6 months. Dr. Flynn Rocks!
Right
now the swelling is bad so she will not be casted until Wednesday.
Initially, she will have a full leg cast (hip to ankle) for the rest of July,
then we’ll switch over to a half cast for August. Total time in the cast
should be about 6 weeks, and we’ll take that any time considering that she had
a fight with a car.
Thanks
again on behalf of Tam, Sharon and myself for all of the Prayers, Love and
Support…..we couldn’t stay strong without all of you lifting us up!
More
in the a.m.
Goodnight!
P
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