And the Day's Not Over Yet

Life can bring situations that are agreeable to us.  It can also bring circumstances that we would prefer to sleep away.  In the USA, I live in a society that seems to stress a life of self-centering.  All forms of media, newspapers, magazines, movies, and television, stress that we must be concerned with ourselves alone and not worry about others.  And, sometimes, we can be led into that trap. 

It's been a rough day.  I went to bed last night with a scratchy throat.  Nyssa woke up around midnight with a sore throat and trouble breathing.  Though she held out through the night decently, neither of us were in any shape to go anywhere this morning.  I helped Richard get the others ready for church and out the door, then proceeded to care for Nyssa.

She has Respiratory Airway Disease, otherwise known as RAD.  It's not exactly asthma, though it acts like it.  Whenever her allergies act up, there is the chance that her body will respond with asthma-like symptoms.  Her breathing gets shallow, her airways start to close, a raspy sound comes from deep with in her chest as she works hard to breathe, and her little heart beats so fast I am alarmed.  I am ever so grateful that she doesn't panic when it happens, as that would make it even worse.  And so far, she has yet to be admitted for the symptoms after an additional 3-4 treatments at the hospital.  She does, however, get a regular regimen of QVar twice a day and she has an albuterol inhaler in case symptoms arise.

This morning, I already knew when the rest of the family left that she would need such treatments, as the albuterol inhaler did not relieve her symptoms.  I had to give her three breathing treatments, after which time she was breathing well enough to avoid the emergency room.  After that, we were both completely exhausted and gave way to sleep.  I've been keeping an eye on her all day and I am already giving her another treatment as I write. 

To tell the truth, I'm still not feeling too great myself today.  I feel like an elephant is sitting on my chest, my hands and feet have not quite got complete feeling in them, and my sinuses feel like clogged drains.  My head pounds with every beat of my heart and I'd like nothing better but than to fall back into an oblivious sleep.  But it's not always about me.

That's what it boils down to, isn't it?  If we were to follow the advice of all those newspapers, magazines, and television shows, then we would miss out on the most important part of being a human.  Any living thing can have the instinct to protect themselves...but even a dolphin or a dog knows that when someone else is in greater trouble than they, to act upon it.  There has to be an intentional disregard for our own discomfort in order to help one another if we are going to survive, and not only survive, but to thrive. I've also found that, during those moments of crisis, when I am caring for her, my own needs seem forgotten in the shadows until she is better. I realize there has to be a balance...but right now, I can breathe a whole lot better than my daughter, and her need outweighs mine at the moment.

Look around...everyone has needs, it's a fact of our existence.  But we all also have the ability to care for each others' needs.  One person cannot fill every need, and we are all needed...and, ironic as it sounds in the midst of our neediness, we all need to be needed.

Please pardon me as I must go care for my daughter, who, even in the midst of trouble breathing, is attempting to sing through it.