Saturday, May 21, 2011

Faith, part 1

                  
~For we walk by faith, not by sight.  2 Corinthians 5:7~ 



 ~Faith see the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.  Corrie Ten Boom~


  ~Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Hebrews 11:1~


We all think of Peter when he stepped out of the boat during the storm to walk to Jesus and quick to judge him because he took his eyes off of Jesus and started sinking.  How many of us call out to Christ when we are in the middle of the storm but when things get going "smoothly" again we take our eyes off of Him? No matter if we are still in stormy waters or in calm waters, we need to keep our eyes focused on Christ.


Faith isn't something to be studied, it is something to be lived.  Many say, "I have faith in God", but very few do.   Today I open up my life, invite you to sit down, and let me share how God increased my faith. 



Camryn was born December 30, 1999, in Valdosta, GA.  And let me just say, that that pregnancy was TOTALLY different from the other 3.  I know not all pregnancies are the same, but my first 3 were a little similar.  I should have known from the start that she was and continues to be special.  


We had no idea whatsoever that Camryn was sick at all.  I nursed her, just like I did with Ethan & supplemented with a bottle whenever need be.  But the one thing I couldn't get over was how much I was feeding her all the time.  Even when she started eating baby food, she would eat more than the other babies her age.  The other mothers were like, "Wow! She sure does have a good appetite!" She also had a lot of dirty diapers, but I thought, "well, all nursing babies have a lot of dirty diapers." 



I took her to the doctor one day because she had a cough and I wanted to get it taken care of before she got real sick.  Dr. Anderson walked in and said, "That sounds like a CF cough.  Has she ever been tested?"  I was quick to reply, "No."  So he prescribed some antibiotics and we went home.  The cough cleared up in 2 weeks.  

I had to take Ethan to the doctor in March of 2001 for a physical for T-ball, so I thought I would sneak a visit for Camryn in, reason being, she had a cough again.  So once again, Dr. Anderson came in the room and heard her cough and said the same thing he did 4 months ago.  "That sounds like a CF cough, has she ever been tested?"  And once again, my reply was the same, "No."  When I left there I went to the church to tell Tony what had happened.  He told me to get the doctor on the phone.  He proceeded to tell us to let her take the antibiotics for 2 weeks to see if it would clear up & if not then we would go from there.  During this time, my best friend Lisa & I started researching CF.   Tony told me not to get all worked up about it.  I really wasn't "worked up" about it, but as a mother, you just "know" when something isn't right.  I had already decided to go ahead and accept that she had it.  That way, when I was told she did it wouldn't come as a big shock and if I was told she didn't have it then I could breath a big sigh of relief.  Well, needless to say, the cough didn't clear up & the next month, April, we were sent to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL for her to have a sweat test done.  This is a test done to see if they have Cystic Fibrosis.  We went down on the 17th and the test came back positive.  When Tony told me the news, it was like I was already at peace with it.  The Lord gave me a peace that I have never had before.  She is His child, He gave me her to raise for Him, so I knew He would give me the strength to handle whatever was going to be coming with this disease.  We had to go back to Shands on the 19th to confirm the positive to make sure it wasn't a negative positive, if that makes sense.  And it came back positive.  She was 15 months old when we found out she CF.  She was behind in walking and talking and teeth coming in and hair growing, only because her body had been deprived of the vitamins she needed and the nutrition. Once she started taking her enzymes and vitamins though it wasn't too long and she was walking and running and talking!



We had a lot to learn about cystic fibrosis (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cf/cf_what.html), or 65 roses (http://www.cff.org/aboutCFFoundation/About65Roses/) as it is called by children because cystic fibrosis is hard for them to say.




When she turned 2 years old, we had our first "problem" with her cystic fibrosis.  She had rectal prolapse.  Something that they NEVER told us that was related to people with CF.  With the Lord's help we got through that in about a year with no surgery needed.



The Lord has blessed Camryn so much that she has never had to be hospitalized as some children with CF are, and we are so very grateful for that.  The only out patient surgery that she has ever had was last year she had to have a flexible bronchoscopy to check her lungs for mucus.   Her doctor said that her lungs looked well for a child with CF.  And once again, we are so thankful to the Lord for this.



How long will she have CF?  All her life.  It is a terminal disease & there is no cure for it.

Does she get tired really easy?  Yes she does.  Even though her lungs are not as bad as some children with CF, her lungs are still working double time, and it does exhaust her.

Do you hold her back from a lot of activities?  No.  We want her to be just like any other child.  

How long will she have to continue to take medicine and do her therapy?  The rest of her life.  

Sorry that this blog post is long, well, in a way I am......Just wanted to share about my little girl & how GREAT my God is!



2 comments:

  1. I remember when we arrived in Valdosta in October of that year and the problems with the rectal prolapse. You and Tony are amazing parents and your faith in the Lord has been such a influence and positive example to others. Camryn has grown into a lovely young lady and she has such a beautiful spirit. God has shown his goodness through her. Love seeing these pictures. I still remember when she got her pats machine and sounding like she was yoldling when she talked while playing with her little travel dolls. Enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

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  2. Love you Stacey, and sweet Camryn. You are an amazing testimony to all of us moms. Your love and faithfulness to Brother Tony and your children no matter what. We miss and love you guys so much.

    Ps. Thanks for adding me to your blog roll ;) got one hit. Sorry i don;t have one yet, haven't delved into that yet. and i'm afraid of forgetting someone! :)

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