The Flu

Today was difficult. I started out this morning feeling sick. Missing clinical is frowned upon, so I decided to just go and tough it out. When I got home it was all that I could do to get myself into bed. I had been using my inhaler all day, but by 5:00 p.m. my inhaler was providing me with little relief. I started to feel "loopy" and the "sense of impending doom" that accompanies the start of oxygen deprivation. Just then Dad called and said that he had been thinking of me. I told him what was going on, and he prayed with me then called Rachel. I called Bob and told him that I really needed to go to urgent care or the ER right away. Bob got home and convinced me not to drive myself. I was pretty out of it, and looking back I'm glad I didn't drive. We decided on urgent care, because the wait is considerably less than the dreaded ER. Also, in my state I didn't really realize how sick I was getting. The staff at urgent care saw me immediately with no wait. They must have a triage system because I wasn't the only patient. The doctor was wonderful ordering IV steroids, a nebulizer treatment, and a swab for the flu IMMEDIATELY. No time was wasted, and I received most of the treatments simultaneously. After the treatments, and a diagnosis of influenza I felt much better. The doctor gave me a prescription for oral steroids (for 1 week), and albuterol to be taken via nebulizer (every 4 hours until I get better). He then remarked that my name means grace in Greek. I said yes it does, and asked how he knew. He said he took some Greek and Hebrew in seminary. For a while he had been burned out in the ER and wondered if the Lord was calling him to be a minister. He started working in urgent care just to pay the bills and go to seminary at RTS. He found he really liked urgent care, and decided that his calling was in medicine after all. I told him my dad is a minister, and we had a good conversation. Afterwards he asked if he could pray for me and the baby. I told him that I would appreciate that very much. He prayed then gave me his card and told me to get a lot of rest and fluids and call if there is any problem or sign of infection. With all the frustration that I have had with prenatal care, I still see every day the ways the Lord provides and watches over me and this baby. I really feel that the Lord had his hand in all that transpired tonight. He got me to not only a very skilled doctor, but a fellow Christian too. I am humbled, grateful, and embarrassed by all of my worrying.