Marc is coming home!

We have a long road ahead of us but here is the Reader's D*igest version of what the past week has revealed and what will happen next.

Marc has one of the most severe bacterial infections that you can get. The bacteria is called Streptococcus Viridans. The way that I understand how all of this came about is that we all have this bacteria in our mouths, throats and colons. Somehow Marc's immune system became compromised enough to have the bacteria become so numerous that it made him very ill. That in itself is a huge problem but even a bigger issue is that the bacteria caused an infection on his heart mitral valve and damaged it to the point that he has to have heart surgery.

The first thing that has to happen in that Marc has to be on very dangerous and toxic IV antibiotics for 6 weeks. I will be administering the IVs with the help of a nurse that will come in once a week and oversee that as well as draw blood from Marc to gauge the med levels as well as his progress. The reason that I have to administer the IVs is that our very expensive (please note the sarcasm) health insurance will not pay for any home health care. That is a whole other issue that once I get started on I may never stop so I best not go there. Once the infection is cleared from his body he will have his heart operated on.

There are a couple of lessons that have been reinforced this week, the most important one being that you must always listen to your gut instincts...they rarely will mislead you. Marc had visited two doctors when he first started feeling ill. Both of them assigned him to a nurse practitioner who initially told him that the symptoms that he was experiencing were the result of exhaustion and the second one said it was probably a virus. They did blood work but by Friday, July 3rd the results of the labs were not back and Marc was becoming VERY ill. I was out of the house with Katie when he called me and told me to come right home as he needed to get to the hospital. I had never heard him sound like that and I have never moved so quickly to get anywhere. My parents met me so that they could watch the DD and we were off. We waited 5 hours in the ER and Marc kept saying that maybe he was over blowing this and that we should leave. I reinforced that there was something that brought us there and that we should make sure that he was OK. Thank Goodness that we did or who knows what the outcome would have been.

The sickening thing is that Doctor's office that told him it was probably a virus has still to this day not given him the results of those labs and Marc has been in the hospital a week. They do not know he is even in the hospital and when we called to find out what those labs showed we were told that the Doctor had the results on his desk but had not signed off on them. That statement needs to stand on it's own and I am sure there is nothing more that can be said about it....it speaks volumes.

The other lesson is to try to everything in your power not to let the pressure of daily life compromise your immune system. I know that is easier said than done but let this story be a reminder of what can happen. Marc was working way too hard and for way to long with not enough sleep for days on end. He and I have been under an extraordinary amount of stress due to his father's illness and the closure of my business in addition to other normal daily life issues. It seemed to be a potent recipe for disaster.

Last, but never least I must mention that my family and friends have been nothing short of amazing. My parents have been here daily to watch the children and offer moral support. Justin and my wonderful friends have also helped with DD shifts. My sister, who lives up in Northern Virgina was a constant source of support on an almost hourly basis sometimes to help me keep my sanity and has come though in ways that bring tears to my eyes. The directors of the early childhood center at our temple that runs Katie's preschool called us when they heard and told us to bring our children in to camp (tuition free)to allow me to deal with this crisis. Basically every friend and even friends of friends have offered assistance in every way possible and I have no doubt that every offer was sincere. It is very hard for me to accept help and I know that really is false pride but I am working on it.

We feel so blessed that we found this out in time to save Marc's life and if we did not know it before we surely know now how much love surrounds us and that we have riches that have nothing to do with the almighty dollar and are infinitely more valuable.