On Wednesday morning, when I went to get Jacob out of his bed, he showed me his thumb and made a face. I immediately noticed it was red, took him in the bathroom, cleaned it and covered it. He had a small callous on the spot where his teeth touch when he sucks it. It was the area around the callous that was red, but there was no broken skin. We had an absolutely crazy day that day, with errands to run in the morning, guests for lunch, my tutor in the afternoon, repair men that came to fix our air conditioner, and a house full of guests for dinner. Even with all that, I was able to twice during the day get his finger cleaned and made sure that he did not suck it, not an easy job. At about 1:30 pm Jared sent an email to a doctor explaining the symptoms and wondering what we should do. By 7:30 pm, when the boys were getting ready for bed, his thumb was a mess. The area under the callous was sort of grayish black, there was a very large puss pocket on one side of the callous, the entire thing was swollen, the redness went down to the joint of his hand, and he had two red lines spreading toward his wrist. Jared quickly took a picture and sent off another email. We also spent some time praying over the situation and then put the kids to bed. At around 9:30pm we were able to figure out what medication we needed to get for him and also what else we could do to help slow the spreading infection. After searching from pharmacy to pharmacy, with the help of friends, for the two medications, we were able to find one in pill form and the other only in IV form. Jared then went out with Jacob to get the IV at a local hospital. After visiting three hospitals, he could not find anyone who was willing to give Jacob the IV. Every single hospital was afraid of him having a reaction to the medication. Finally at 2:00am, Jared and Jacob returned home, frustrated. We gave Jacob the one medication, marked the red area on his hand with a marker, put him to bed, with his arm elevated, and spent some more time in prayer. The next morning, there was no obvious improvement in his hand, however the infection had not continued spreading (a good sign). First thing, Jared hired a taxi and he and Jacob drove the three hours to a nearby city to try to get the medicine. They went to a hospital that had a US doctor, and found the needed medicine in pill form. Praise the Lord! Also, by the time they arrived in the city, there was an obvious improvement in the infection, the red lines were almost invisible! This was Thursday morning. Jared and Jacob stayed in the city a couple days, at a hotel, in order to continue monitoring Jacob. Saturday they took a bus back home again.
We are all still a bit worn out from the lack of sleep and emotions involved in the past week. Looking back, however, we see so many ways the Father chose to bless us during this trial.
1) Just last weekend Jared and I talked through and began working on an emergency plan, for situations just as this. Not only was it all fresh in our minds, but we also had some lists of emergency numbers and other information in an easily accessible place.
2) Jacob has a very high tolerance of pain. Throughout the entire ordeal, and even now, he has not ever cried or even been difficult when it comes to us looking at, cleaning, and touching his thumb. He would simply sit on his stool, put out his thumb, and make little faces when it hurt. Not only that, throughout the entire time, rather than requiring kisses and hugs from us, he was continually showering us with kisses and hugs. God knew what we were needing at the moment!
3) We did not have to go through the ordeal of an IV. We were extremely frustrated after discovering that no one would give Jacob the medication he was needing. Yet now see how the Father chose to heal him in a different way. (It is a little ironic to us that no one would give him the medicine here, then we get to a US doctor who helped us to get that medicine for him. We had a similar situation with Emma a couple months ago. Could not find anyone willing to give her her vaccinations and finally found a willing a foreigner. The local doctors were concerned that because she was a foreigner she may have some weird reaction.)
4) Wow did we have many, many friends who sent us notes of encouragement. Thank you to our many friends and family who were praying for our little Jacob!
5) We had multiple friends here who helped us. Ones who went looking for medicine, made numerous phone calls, came over to our house when we were needing it, and just plain took care of us. I don't know how to share how much we have been blessed by these friends!
6) When Jared and Jacob arrived in the other city, they found a US pediatrician. What a blessing to be able to talk with someone in our first language and have medical care that we are accustomed to. Not a necessity, but a huge treat!
7) We are so thankful for our healthy little boy. God chose to not only heal him, but heal him quickly!
Jacob we love you so much!
P.S. Took this picture the day before the infection. I think this will be the last picture of him sucking his thumb :) We are currently working on breaking the habit.
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