One Day At A Time

I had a voicemail message this afternoon telling me my daughter's best friend was in the hospital and they wanted to talk to me so I could tell my daughter what was going on. That sounded pretty serious if Lisa, the friend's mother, didn't call us. I tried to call the messenger back...couldn't reach her...everything in the world going through my mind, not knowing what was going on. I didn't know if she was hurt, sick or what. On the heels of a classmate being killed two weeks ago, I think all of the parents of Knox Doss kids are a little jumpy.

This little girl and my daughter have been best friends since preschool. They are inseparable. Lisa says when my daughter is around (which is a lot) it's not like there's company there. My kid is like an extra kid for her and hers for us. For a couple hours, I didn't know what we were going to be dealing with...was I going to have to deliver heartbreaking news to my daughter about her best friend? I didn't know and I was a wreck. Every scenario went through my mind.

Finally, after a bit,(and after driving through that lovely windstorm we had) I did get to talk to the girl that called and she told me that my daughter's friend was at Vanderbilt Hospital. She had had several seizures yesterday and by this morning, was unable to see and was totally disoriented. I happened to see the ambulance go by our house about 6 this morning, not knowing who it was inside.

Poor little girl has been through umpteen tests today, including an MRI and they've determined it's either a kidney infection or strep infection causing all the trouble. She is much better tonight, but, still in ICU.

We spent a better part of the evening at the hospital. My daughter was able to see her dearest friend for a few minutes, which eased her mind. She was sleeping so she didn't get to talk with her.

She was pretty surprised a few minutes ago when the phone rang and her friend called her. (Even a scary illness can't keep those two girls off the phone.) One of the few times I didn't mind her calling after 10:00 at night, for sure.

We're pretty fortunate to have a facility like the Monroe Carell Children's Hospital here in our backyard. What a beautiful facility, that's taken such excellent care of our friend and her whole family today and everyday cares for children of all ages with all sorts of problems. In the pod next to our friend, there was a teeny, tiny, premature baby being cared for. The friend's grandmother said she talked with people in the waiting room today who are here from places like Texas, Georgia, etc. with sick children.

I hope and pray my kids (or yours) don't ever require the services of the Children's Hospital, but, boy, I'm grateful they are there if we do.