by Nancy O.

Ten days before Christmas when my daughter was 16 months old, she became very ill during the night. First thing the following morning, we were at the pediatrician’s office. The doctor was puzzled by her symptoms. “I think it might be pneumonia,” he said. “If she isn’t better by early afternoon, call and I’ll admit her to the hospital.”

I looked down at my baby. She was listless and gray. I had never defied a doctor before, but this time my voice said, “I want this baby in the hospital now.” He agreed.

Around noon, a nurse came into her room to give my daughter a shot. She didn’t even flinch. Moments later, the doctor came in, said, “I’m going to do a spinal tap. It may be meningitis.” Quickly, they wheeled her out of the room.

Following the procedure, the doctor came to her father and me and said, “We have to grow the culture to be sure, but it’s clearly meningitis. I think we caught it early enough that she won’t have any permanent damage, if she lives.”

For the next 10 days, she lay listless in the hospital bed with tubes in her arms, under an oxygen tent. The few people who were allowed into the room had to wear a hospital gown and a mask. I rarely left her side. I was in constant prayer.

Slowly, very slowly, she began to respond. Her color returned. She moved. But mostly she slept. My hope increased.

On Christmas Eve, the doctor said, “She’s ready to come out.” He removed the oxygen tent and all the tubing. For the first time since the ordeal began, I was able to hold her, and it frightened me. She had lost muscle tone and felt like a large newborn in my arms. She couldn’t even hold her head up. But the doctor reassured me. “These little ones recover fast. She’ll be running down the hospital halls by the end of the day.” And he was right.

That night I slept soundly and didn’t hear the Christmas elf who tiptoed into the room to leave a red flannel stocking stuffed with plastic toys on the corner of my daughter’s bed.

I’m grateful for the vigilant nurse and the capable doctor. On that Christmas, I received the gift of my daughter for the second time. I’m also grateful for the quiet presence who left toys for the delight of a child. I believe in Christmas.

Nancy’s book Journey from Head to Heart is available as an ebook through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Links are below.

http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Head-Heart-Working-Authentically/dp/1932690433/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317055134&sr=1-3

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/journey-from-head-to-heart-nancy-oelklaus/1018149687?ean=9781932690439&itm=2&usri=oelklaus