Danelia called late this afternoon and all I understood at first was that they had just brought him in. Her voice was shaky and I asked her what was wrong. She said he had a fever and was in a lot of pain and the doctor was coming to see him and she wanted me to know. I told her I was going to have Susanna call her so I could understand everything. She said okay and hung up.
I called Susanna and even though she was in the middle of taking care of her own things, she called Danelia for me and then called me right back. It seems as though he began complaining again of the pain and this time, in addition to the pain in his leg and his arm, he complained of pain in his neck. His fever was high and she couldn’t get him to eat or drink anything and that he was losing weight. She knew she needed to get him back to the hospital. The doctor had come in briefly and said he was going to put Kenneth on an IV morphine to help with the pain. Danelia told Susanna she wanted prayer.
I asked Susanna what she thought. She said she honestly didn’t know, that it did seem like he had deteriorated very quickly but that maybe spending a few days in the hospital would help him get some strength back. She said it’s too hard to guess. Having just lost her grandfather to cancer less than two years ago, she is very compassionate to the situation. Her voice softened and she told me it could be right away or it could be months yet that she just didn’t know without talking to the doctor. I was okay until she said she was sorry. In my own struggles, I can deal with facts and I can deal with hard situations, but I don’t handle tenderness and compassion well…it takes me straight to tears.
Normally, we would have jumped in the car and headed over to the hospital but nothing’s been normal here for the last week or so. This morning, there had been a young man at the gate this morning, when Jim was gone, asking Margarita for trash to go through but when I went to the door, he left in a hurry. It was odd but I didn’t think that much of it and just told Jim about it when he got home. Then right before Margarita left this afternoon, she told us there were two young men cutting wood across the road but that they were also watching our house. She told us to keep careful watch on the wall and the house. We thanked her and told her we would. Whether they were actually watching our home or whether Margarita was just jumpy due to last week’s incident next door, I don’t know but I do know I was starting to get that uneasy feeling. So, we decided I would stay home and Jim would go to get copies made.
All of a sudden, we heard Pixie barking at the gate. Jim went to see what was going on. There were a group of teenage girls and young women looking through the gate and reaching in. They had already charmed Pixie…fine guard dog. They were talking among themselves and when they realized Jim was walking up to the gate, they asked him for water. He told them no and they continued to stand there talking to each other for a little bit. He brought Pixie back to the house. The uneasiness grew.
Jim said he wasn’t comfortable leaving the house and I wasn’t comfortable with him leaving. It was right after that when the phone call came from Danelia. After a lot of discussion, we decided that Jim would revamp his lesson for his class so that he didn’t need to make copies. We also decided that he would go to school tomorrow as he also has a meeting in Los Cedros immediately following his classes and that I would call Susanna and see if she would take me to the hospital in the morning. Of course, she said she would. I don’t like missing my classes with the kids but I know that I need to be at the hospital. It’s not like I can really do anything or change the situation but I still feel that’s where I should be. Besides, I really want to just go love on Kenneth for a little bit and give Danelia the hug I know she so desperately needs right now. Freddy is usually here by 8:00 a.m. so I know the house will be okay with him here and I also know he will stay until Jim or I get home.
So, after working all this out, I then called Danelia and told her I would be there tomorrow morning. She said okay and began to cry. I asked her if she needed anything and she said prayer. I told her we were.
So this is where we’re at tonight. I’ve read more on his disease, still trying to find a way out of this. All I find are things that frustrate me…that in the U.S., Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is one of the most curable cancers; that in his age bracket, there is a 95.4% survival rate of 5 years or longer; that there are new advances every day improving both diagnosis and treatments that are improving both the length and quality of life in these patients. That’s such good news but it doesn’t make much difference in a country where there are still oxen pulling carts loaded with firewood down the main highway in the capital city.
I’m tired. Susanna called just a little bit ago to touch base about going to the hospital tomorrow. She’s tired, too. The thing about tomorrow is it’s a day that hasn’t come yet. It can be a day to dread or a day of promise. Oh, how I want it to be a day of promise…
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow...
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
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