When it rains...

When it rains, it pours.

My aunt’s family has been repeatedly slammed with health concerns over the past few weeks, and sometimes it’s hard to remember that God will never give us more than we can handle.

My aunt Joyce had a cancer scare that turned out to be benign tumors, but on the heels of good news came the hospitalization of her daughter, Denise. Denise had visited the ER with bronchitis...worsened...and been sent away on a second ER visit with medication for a sinus infection. She entered another hospital ER less than 24-hours later and was found to have a serious case of pneumonia. The small hospital in Dahlonega could provide her no further treatment and decided to transfer her to Cumming. Denise was crying and fighting getting into the ambulance, insisting that she couldn’t breathe if they made her lay down. Sure enough...she basically stopped breathing (three breaths per minute) and received a tracheotomy en route. She was placed on life support in Cumming under heavy sedation.

The family watched and waited last night, and Denise remained unresponsive. As of this morning, she was showing improvement and was trying to ask questions about what happened by writing with her finger. She kept trying to interact, so they placed her under sedation again. The infectious disease and pulmonary specialists have been working with her and confirmed the presence of staph infection in her lungs. The infection was present before the onset of pneumonia.

Now it’s a waiting game. In the meantime, Denise’s husband (who suffers from seizures) had a seizure at the hospital and had to be placed in the ER. It has also been confirmed that Joyce’s husband (Denise’s Dad) has melanoma on his scalp and will undergo surgery a week from tomorrow.

Needless to say... The family can use an abundance of kind thoughts and prayers.