Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Our little family has had quite a wild week of sickness. The craziness started on Tuesday, when Sadie came down with a cold. She was in good spirits, but was super clingy and had a runny nose.

Jimmy has been having some stomach issues on and off for the past few months and things came to a head on Wednesday. He was in so much pain, feverish, and feeling really nauseous. Sadie and I dropped him off at med express, which felt awful. I wanted to be with him, but we also didn’t want Sadie around any extra germs at med express.

After being looked at and getting some medication, the doctor sent him straight to the emergency room. Sadie and I picked him up from med express and drove him over to the ER. Watching Jimmy walk into the emergency room alone was not a fun experience.

He had all sorts of tests run while doctors worked on trying to figure out what was going on with his stomach and they decided to admit him to the hospital overnight. Then, poor Sadie girl woke up from her afternoon nap with a fever of 101.

Once I put her to sleep for the night, my in-laws so kindly came to our house for a bit so I could visit Jimmy in the hospital. The poor guy was throwing up, still in pain, uncomfortable, and so bummed to have to stay at the hospital overnight. I felt so helpless and just wished I could take away the pain for him.

I hated leaving him and knowing that things were unresolved. It was a long night for both of us. On Thursday morning, I got Sadie ready and my mom graciously took her to her house to spend the night so I could be with Jimmy since we weren’t sure how long he would be in the hospital.

Jimmy was put under anesthesia and had an endoscopy on Thursday afternoon. It turned out that he had severe gastritis with bleeding and erosions. Jimmy mentioned to the doctor that I had H. pylori a few years back, so the doctor took a biopsy to test for H. pylori to see if that’s what caused the gastritis (we’re waiting on those results at the moment).

Seeing Jimmy just moments after the endoscopy had me ready to burst into tears. He was still under anesthesia and had all sorts of wires and tubes attached to him. I’m just not used to seeing him like that, and it was just so tough.

We hung out in the recovery area, and then went back to his room where he tried to eat a bit, but wasn’t feeling too great. We FaceTimed with Sadie and my parents, and she was still struggling with her cold and kept getting fevers. Jimmy immediately started a medication to help heal his stomach and was thankfully released to go home that night!

We picked up his prescription on the way home and he went to bed at 7:00pm. The next morning, my parents were pretty worried about Sadie. She had a fever and was so lethargic that she was falling asleep on the floor.

We called our pediatrician and got her an appointment asap. We picked Sadie up from my parents’ house and by the time we got to the pediatrician she was so out of it and feverish.

I felt horrible for her. It’s just awful seeing your child sick. I knew Jimmy wasn’t feeling good, either. Everyone was a mess, basically! Sadie was tested for the flu but thankfully didn’t have it! She just has a bad cold and a double ear infection. The pediatrician told us to really watch her breathing, too, because she was breathing kind of quickly while we were there.

We got Sadie home and settled into a nap while I ran out to pick up her prescription for her ear infection. Whew. It was a long evening seeing her in pain, worrying about her breathing, and trying to help Jimmy rest and feel comfortable. Jimmy and I picked up Sadie’s cold, but overall we’re doing just fine.

I woke up this morning (Saturday) praying today would be the first day since Wednesday I wouldn’t be at med express, the ER, hospital, pharmacy, or pediatrician’s office! So far, I haven’t had to go to any of those places and I’m so thankful.

I was reading my Bible this morning and immediately thought about the verse at the beginning of this post, and how we are to rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances. It makes all the difference in situations like we had this week.

We had a tough week, but I’m so thankful for doctors and medicine and family and friends and prayer. We are so incredibly blessed. I will always, always do my best to rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances ❤