Day 27, Happy day after March 31st

27/46 of daily Lenten blog…

This morning, one of the triage patients that arrived at the hospital in hopes of care caught my attention. 6 year old Gothel (not her real name) was accompanied by her mother, who said that Gothel appeared ‘swollen’ the last few days. I looked at her and saw a darling, big eyed, slightly chubby little girl with dimples (see pic below). I didn’t appreciate swelling, but mom was convinced she was. She reported difficulty getting her sandals on.

I did some tests on her looking for various culprits of cause, but fully expecting pretty normal results. What I found was, on the contrary, abnormal albeit not entirely surprising. She had a problem with her kidneys. This prompted me to check her blood pressure.

Her blood pressure was 160/120! She’s 6, and weighs 45 pounds. If this blood pressure number doesn’t mean anything to you, Let me put it into context:. If a Twinkie represents a normal blood pressure for a 6 year old (which turns out to be 93/55), then her blood pressure would be like a 35 foot long and approximately 600 pound Twinkie… (fans of the 80’s you gotta open that link…)

This blood pressure prompted a brisk walk to the ER where Sweet and Reliable Liz placed an IV and we started infusing her with some chemical solutions (medication). This was the point in my treatment algorithm where it said “refer immediately to a Nephrologist” (which is a type of doctor way smarter than me…).

So this is where we’re at: trying to get her blood pressure down (so she doesn’t have seizures or a stroke) and solidifying a diagnosis of why she has developed this problem in the first place. (might be a side effect of recent strep throat infection…)

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OK. I just need to say it. We have some big news in our family that I’d like to share.

Juliet is pregnant! Sure, we were a little surprised at first. Slightly upset. I mean, she is only 9 years old. But, by golly, she’s our daughter and we support her. Who could stay mad at her, right? We thought the father was going to turn out to be one of the other missionary boys, but we are hoping to be proved wrong. It might be an immaculate conception. However, more likely there’s been a Vergence in the Force…

Future mom, Juliet:

Well, that’s it. Happy first day of the 4th month of the year!

Photo of the Day:

With mom’s consent, here is a picture of Gothel. I told mom that in exchange for beholding her daughter’s cuteness, I would ensure that ya’ll would pray to the Lord for a speedy recovery. Don’t let me down!