God is Good: The REST of the story...

As we continue to thank you all for your prayers and support over the last week, we want to tell you more about what exactly you were praying for. In the midst of the health chaos with both Trevor and Kaylin (see earlier posts), we faced another very difficult and alarming scenario. Situations like this remind us that we live in a sinful, fallen world where "the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). However, we are also "convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). God has already won the battle and is with us always and in all circumstances. We couldn't have made it through without our faith in God and the support of family and friends. So here goes... an amazing example of God's faithfulness in our lives:

Saturday - May 6th
During the initial procedures of getting Trevor set in the NICU, a nurse got accidentally stuck with a needle after assisting the doctor with Trevor's spinal tap. As a matter of routine policy they then had to draw some of Amy's blood in order to screen both Trevor and mom's blood.

Sunday - May 7th
The on-call pediatrician that had sent Trevor to the NICU and was doing rounds on Sunday, came to visit us and let us know we needed to talk in private. She first assured us that Trevor was doing well... but then she proceeded to give us the biggest shock our lives. Initial (preliminary level) screen tests of Amy's blood had come back positive for HIV. Even though we had strong doubts about the validity of those results, as you might imagine, that's a horrible conversation to have with a doctor. However, there turned out to be many reasons why we could try to believe that the result was a false positive. First, the obvious, basic reason that came to our minds... neither Amy nor I have any high-risk lifestyle issues that can lead to HIV (multiple partners, drugs, transfusions, etc.). In Amy's pre-natal screening, she tested negative in October. Also, we found out that pregnancy (recent pregnancy in Amy's case) can cause a false positive test. Not to mention that Trevor was negative and my blood test later that evening came back negative as well. But as I wrote earlier, even though we really doubted the result, it certainly brought some scary worries to our minds (especially for Amy obviously).

As if that conversation weren't alarming enough, the doctors had a responsibility to recommend that Amy discontinue breast-feeding in order to protect Trevor. We of course wanted to do the right thing for Trevor (even if we felt the chance of Amy being positive was very small) but it was very difficult for Amy to give up taking care of feeding her new baby.

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him"

We were told at that point that we wouldn't hear more conclusive test results until Tuesday at noon... so we're going to have to carry this enormous burden until then. Another unfortunate aspect of Sunday (as we look back) is that we weren't offered access to an expert who could really answer our questions and alleviate our concerns.

Monday - May 8th
Monday they started giving us the idea that more conclusive test results would be obtained Monday night, instead of having to wait until Tuesday. Come Monday evening we are told that "Monday night" could mean the middle of the night (early Tues. morning). Amy and I give up on waiting for results and leave the hospital about 11:30 pm to TRY to get some sleep... Trevor's nurse said she'd call as soon as they heard anything.

Tuesday - May 9th
We woke up the next morning having still not heard anything. At about 7:30 a.m., a nurse called to let us know they still didn't know anything but that Dr. Gallagher (our actual pediatrician) was going to be coming through at 8am and she wanted to see us. She'd gotten back from vacation, been brought up to speed on our situation, and was very frustrated for us and what we were going through. She found herself as the unfortunate person to bring us the news that in actuality, the more conclusive test hadn't even gotten underway yet... so we thought we were still 24 hours from getting some more answers. But is was great to have Dr. Gallagher as our advocate, finding our why the needle-stick ever happened, seeing that we got to speak with an infectious diseases expert (who really helped ease our mind and confirmed that it was very likely a false positive), getting to the bottom of why we'd been given bad info about when we'd get a result, fighting to get test results quicker, etc.

James 1:2-3,12 - "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance... Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

Thanks to Dr. Gallagher's efforts to keep us properly cared for and informed, we were able to relax a bit, not get more angry, and just settle in to care for Trevor and wait for further results on Amy. Meanwhile, Dr. Dietz (a local infectious disease expert) came to chat with us and as I mentioned above, that was very helpful in giving us peace of mind while we waited. After reviewing our situation, he seemed convinced that we were dealing with a false positive. He also explained yet another reason why Amy may have a false positive result, she'd had a flu shot in Dec. and those can cause false-positive results. Also, he explained what to expect when the results of the two additional, more conclusive tests came back. If he hadn't done that, we'd have probably been unnecessarily worried even more when one of those tests came back with an "indeterminate" result.

Tuesday evening
Just after Trevor had officially been cleared to be released from the hospital, Dr. Dietz called Amy with the great news that the last (and most conclusive test) showed that she is definitely not HIV-positive. It was indeed a false alarm. What a ridiculously HUGE relief! So in a matter of 2 days, things went from crazy to resolved. Kaylin is feeling much better, Trevor got to come back home, and Amy is good to go! Praise the Lord!

Romans 4:25 - 5:5 - "He (Jesus) was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."