Christmas Miracle Deja Vu

We are home again!

Our Christmas present this year is Carson coming home on Christmas Eve. HDMTX treatment number 3 finished up without much fanfare...and that's just fine with us. Carson again tolerated his nasty chemo concoction amazingly well.

A big thanks goes out to the doctors for bumping up his treatment by a day. Because of that we are able to spend Christmas Day at home...opening presents and doing all the crazy-fun things that kids should be doing on Christmas.

Ten years ago today.

Talk about deja vu. Christmas Day ten years ago we were in Texas and it was Francesca who was being released from the hospital.

A flashback to ten years ago today when we were caring for another sick puppy. (Check out those glasses!)

The amazing part is this...we really weren't suppose to be in Texas. This was 1999. Remember all the "year 2000" hoopla? I wasn't suppose to take leave. But, we were living in West Africa at the time. We weren't worried about all the computers in the world crashing, the electrical grid coming to a halt, or the water treatment plants shutting down. Heck, that was daily life for us! So, despite the travel restrictions put in place that year at work, my boss let me take leave for the holidays.

By the time we were admitted to the ER in Texas, Francesca was unconscious. Then we were told her blood sugar was 850...uh, just "slightly" higher than the normal 80 - 120. I was hoping it was from too much Sprite...but it was diabetes.

Francesca, barely two years old, was quickly transferred to the Pediatric ICU at Medical City Dallas where she spent two nights getting her blood sugar under control. Those were two long nights. There were only 12 or so beds on the ward...and a child died each of the nights we were there.

Once hooked up to fluids and insulin, Francesca sleeps for almost 24 hours.

At one point while in the hospital I switched on the tv to catch up on the news...only to learn that a number of soldiers had taken control of the city where we lived in Africa and there was shooting in the streets. It was a military coup. Had we been there we wouldn't have been able to get Francesca to the hospital...assuming the hospital there could have helped anyway.

Do we believe in divine intervention? Do we believe in miracles? Heck yeah!

Two Christmas miracles are at home with us this year, plus the celebration of another miracle - the birth of Jesus. Enjoy all the miracles in your life today because every day is a blessing from above.

Merry Christmas!!

Paul.