For such a time as this.....

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 2:3-4

Isn't that the truth? Well, it's 10pm, and Bethany has been sleeping peacefully for the majority of the evening. Although her day and afternoon began on an extremely rough note, it has ended on a relatively calm note. Me....the antithesis of modern pharmaceuticals, the homeopathic aficionado, the believer in the 'less is more' theory...is Praising God for modern medicine and it's drugs. Yes, it's drugs. Gotta love them. The more they can safely give Bethany to encourage her body to sleep peacefully, the better. Who knew?

Bethany is definitely not 'out of the woods' yet, nor is her boyfriend, Nathan. I wasn't able to make it to his room today, however, I have heard that he is very sick, can't stand the light or noise, etc. Sound familiar anyone?

Last night, Bonnie, Brianna (the nurse) and I made a feeble attempt to change Bethany's sleeping situation. We somehow managed to put an air mattress under her top sheet and inflate it so that it would help manage Bethany's pain. Well, that was a huge mistake. She was in sooooo much pain, and I can't say that we helped her at all with the mattress. So we deflated it, and left it on her bed. She wouldn't let us go near it.

This afternoon, however, Bonnie suggested that I run to Bed, Bath and Beyond and purchase a Memory foam mattress topper. Done. I had to run to the main campus pharmacy to pick up my z-pac script from my doctor, so I flew over to Monroe Street. After staring at countless mattress toppers, I purchased two. Again, nixing the 'less is more' theory. My mind is definitely on vacation, due to lack of sleep, and the otherwise normally extremely decisive person in me, went on vacation, too.

I brought it back to the hospital and after some debate, we all decided on the Isotonic memory foam one. So, we placed it atop two foam waffle mattress toppers, threw a cover on it, and a sheet over all three of these and began a little adventure. We waited until Bethany had taken some dilatin, and after receiving her permission (she was in a lot of pain on the pressure points of her body), she acquiesced. Immediately Nurse Kim, Nurses Aide Laura, Bonnie, myself, Joe, Chris and her cousin, Heather, worked on getting this huge pad underneath Bethany's sheet, atop her mattress.




After disconnecting as many machines and IV's as possible, someone held a few cords, while everyone except Laura and I lifted Bethany up, via her top sheet. Bethany was a trouper when Laura and I attempted to slide the huge pad underneath. Laura kept running from one side of the bed to the other, eventually with excellent results. I had to leave the room for a bit because I became pretty emotional over the entire 'adventure.' I knew that Bethany was in a lot of pain, and this was a last ditch effort to relieve her of some. If it relieved her of even a little bit of pain, then it was all worth it. I just hoped and prayed that Bethany felt the same way.

She immediately did. Heather had been holding her hand the entire time, and Bethany whispered, 'I love this. Can we take it home.' Ah....sweet relief. She has basically been sleeping ever since. The night nurse, Brianna, has been coming in her room to administer her pain meds every hour, on the hour. Thank God. Also, I am really praising God that we have the same nurse that we had last night. She already knows the entire situation and got 'right on it' the moment the shift changed. That's a major relief.

Aunt Bonnie and Joe have both been Godsends. I definitely would not have made it through last night without Bonnie and I keeping each other awake. The IV alarms would NOT stop beeping, and Bethany would not stop crying and moaning. It was very stressful and exhausting. Around 11:00 am, Bonnie sent me home to sleep and shower. Little did I know that Chris called off work (his second job) today to spend with Bethany and me. For all of the time that he has been here, he has basically only seen Bethany for about 10-15 minutes. So, when I called Chris to say that I was on 280 going home, he realized I foiled his surprise.

I quickly showered, and he met me at the house. I then put a quiet movie in, "A Good Year," with Russell Crowe and fell asleep in his lap, while he enjoyed it. It took me a little bit to fall asleep, as Koda and Domino would NOT stop playing and making noise, but alas, I did fall into a sweet, sweet slumber. Ahhhh...After the movie ended, Chris woke me up and we headed to the hospital. Ok. He went to the hospital. I went to UT and then to Bed, Bath and Beyond.

So, there it is folks. What began as a precariously difficult morning, has turned into a relatively peaceful day. God only knows how it would have been if the hundreds and thousands of Saints that have been praying for Bethany had not been beseeching God on her behalf. Thank you so very much for your prayers and encouragement. They are invaluable.

Also, thank you, Wiona, from the College of Engineering. She brought Bethany a bouquet of flowers, a card signed by everyone in Bio-Engineering, and a University of Toledo Rockets Sweatshirt blanket. She also completed all of the Medical Leave paperwork for Bethany, including withdrawing her from all of her classes, refunding her scholarships, and refunding all of her fees and Meal Plan. Thank you to Jo Campbell, from Student Services, who also visited and offered up her services. She took care of the paperwork for Bethany's dorm. These are major reliefs for us, and we are so very grateful.

Thank you, also, to the University of Toledo Department of Geography and Planning. They, too, sent Bethany a beautiful planter of flowers and a package of snacks in the mail. Bethany has yet to see anything Engineering left for her or the package of snacks from Geography and Planning because she has been so sick. But, believe you me, she will.

Blessings, peace and joy, Love, Shari and Bethany

The strong