Rescued and Protected

This fella really scared me last night. If you know Evan, you know he doesn't lay around much and never asks to go to the doctor. Yesterday, he did both. After eating dinner we went to cub scouts and while all the kids were playing on the playground, Evan was laying on the bench. His leader came to tell me that he wasn't feeling well and as soon as Evan saw me he asked if we could go home. Having one kid in cub scouts and another in boy scouts makes Monday nights tricky for us so Bryan came to get Evan and I stayed with Dylan at boy scouts. About 10 minutes later, Bryan called and said Evan was having an allergic reaction of some kind. His ears, eyes, nose, hands, and around his mouth were deep, dark red. He had hives all over his belly and arms. And it was getting worse right before Bryan's eyes. Bryan gave him Benadryl and I rushed home. I picked up Evan, and took him to the emergency room.

He was scared and so was I but we prayed together and we knew many others were praying as well.  We knew that God was right there with us. When we entered the emergency room I told the receptionist that he was having an allergic reaction. She got us checked in and they brought Evan to the triage area immediately. There was a team of people waiting on him to make sure his airways were open and clear. Thankfully, the Benadryl had slowed the allergic reaction and his airway had not started to close. 

After checking his vital signs, we got moved to the "fast track" area of the emergency department. We sat together and talked and prayed. The doctor came in and checked him thoroughly, gave him a steroid and more antihistamines, and said she was thankful we had given him Benadryl or we probably would have had to call an ambulance. As we waited to be sure he wouldn't get any worse,  I watched the red splotches and hives fade away. By the time we left the emergency room, Evan was back to his fun-loving, energetic self! The hives were almost gone and only his ears remained red. We still aren't sure what he had a reaction to but hopefully, an allergist will be able to help us find the culprit and prevent this from happening again.

There are so many things about this experience that I am thankful for. God was right there with us each moment and it was so obvious to us.  There were probably 40 people waiting in the emergency room when we arrived but we never even had to sit down. The nurses and doctors were concerned for him and they were ready to do whatever needed to make sure he was ok. There was literally a team of doctors waiting on us in the triage room. I can't even express my gratitude for their expertise and promptness. It felt like God opened a pathway in the ER and lead us right past everyone else to ensure that Evan would be ok. We also never had to go back into the waiting room after being checked in triage. Others had been checked in triage and then waited several hours before being seen by the doctor. That is such a huge blessing for our family because most of the folks in the waiting room were coughing and obviously sick with flu-like symptoms. The infusions I get are in the chemotherapy family and compromise my immune system greatly. If I got the flu, I wouldn't be able to fight it. We still wore masks just in case, but I feel as if we were protected by our Father! Everyone was so kind and helpful and made Evan feel comfortable. He never seemed scared or bothered by what the nurses and doctors were doing. He knew they were helping him and he was so grateful to them.

I could seriously go on and on because it was an experience that could have gone so much differently but God protected us and lead us. He gave us wisdom and peace. My momma heart was tempted to freak out and worry but I remained calm and just watched as God rescued and protected my boy. 
Thank you, Father!

Psalm 91:14 "Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him and I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name."