There and Back Again, Noah’s Tale

Text from Noah: I think I’m running a fever and my stomach hurts. Can you come get me?

And that’s how it all started. The school nurse confirmed a stomach bug was going around and that it was a nasty one. I had the reaction all mom’s everywhere get when they hear that news, “Button down the hatches, and get the sanitizer.”

Sure enough, Noah threw up within 30 minutes of coming home from school and continued for the next three days. Now, usually, I’m pretty relaxed about viruses. They’re gross and awful, but not the end of the world. However, by Thursday, I was unusually worried. Noah had lost so much weight. He was in pain and miserable and at 103.5, his fever just wouldn’t break. I’d never seen him so sick.

I sat beside my sweet boy praying all day Thursday. I asked my friends for prayer. I checked on him late Thursday night: pale, feverish, so very thin.

On Friday morning I woke up and instantly knew, virus or not, I needed to take him to the doctor. At the very least, we needed a Doctor’s note for the days he’d missed at school. At worst, I thought he might need an IV. He was so weak.

We sat in Dr. Pfanstiel’s office, and I had one of those moments that I will never forget. Dr. Pfanstiel has been our Pediatrician since Noah was born and he is the most conservative doctor you could hope for. He also knows that we are self-pay, and always considers that. We love him.

On that Friday, he looked at me and shook his head. “I think he needs a CAT scan.” His voice was full of concern. “There’s a place that does them very inexpensively just down the street.”

I nodded. I trust Dr. Pfanstiel. I always have. He ordered the test and the nurse left to order it, but a second later Dr. Pfanstiel put his head down in the office. When he looked up, he looked at me for a good minute, and I knew he was praying.

“Tracy, I think you need to go to the hospital. I’ll call ahead. I hope I’m wrong, but I think it’s Noah’s appendix.”

I have to admit, I couldn’t have been more confused. His stomach hurt, but not in his side. However, as Dr. Pfanstiel looked at me, I felt such peace in my heart that this was the right decision.

I nodded and five minutes later we were on our way to St. John where Dr. Pfanstiel insisted we go.

I called Matt from the car. “Babe, Dr. Pfanstiel thinks it’s Noah’s appendix. He’s sending us to the hospital.”

And Matt asked me this one question that settled everything for me. “Okay. Do you have peace in your heart about that?”

In that moment, I checked my heart, and I absolutely knew that my heart was at peace. We were supposed to go to the hospital with Noah, and I never feared again. Cried, yes. Wished he wasn’t going through it, absolutely. But I knew God had us.

Dr. Pfanstiel called ahead, and we skipped admissions and walked straight into a hospital room on the pediatric wing. Two hours later my darling boy was in surgery. His appendix had perforated around a large stone and leaked all into his abdominal cavity forming a large abscess.

We spent the next five days in hospital and would hear these words over and over. “Wow, I can’t believe how well he’s doing.”

God had my boy. He used Dr. Pfanstiel. He used Dr. Raney (the surgeon). He used friends and family.

And almost three months later, on December 26th, God payed for the entire hospital bill. He didn’t just have us, He had a plan to pay for it.

As we close 2017, Noah’s miracle will always be the highlight of this year. God saved my son’s life this year. Not only that, He payed the bill for it. I am so thankful for His voice in my life and in my husband’s life. I’m so thankful for a husband who has been volunteering in the youth group with Noah, who knew the financial aid lady as a result because she volunteers as well, and for her encouragement to us to apply for a scholarship. I am so thankful for the miracles and kindness of friends and strangers who cared for my boy, brought us meals, gave to us financially during that tough time for self-employed parents. I can not begin to tell you what an encouragement the entire season was and how grateful I am for the way God worked His goodness in our lives.

God is never the author of sickness. He wouldn’t have sent His son, Jesus, to die to redeem us from sickness if it was a good thing. But He always, always works for good in our lives. What the enemy meant for evil, God worked into a miracle in Noah’s life.

We sat two nights ago, listening as Noah recounted the entire miracle, and I have to say, he will never forget 2017 either.

So, on this first day of January, I just want to encourage you, that God still works miracles. He is always, always good. And if He leads you to do something, you can absolutely trust His hand in your life, and His provision where He leads.

Thank you for your prayers for Noah. Thank you for sharing in this journey with us. Our God is so, so good and I pray He will give you eyes to see His goodness in your life as well.

With all my love, Happy New Year, dear friends.
~Tracy

List of miracles from Noah’s journey:

• —Dr. Pfanstiel having an immediate opening that Friday morning.
• —St. John was the only hospital with a pediactric gastric surgeon. Noah would have had to be transferred there if Dr. Pfanstiel hadn’t sent us there in the first place.
• —Long, thorough surgery to clean out the bacteria was 100% successful, and had absolutely no recurring infection. The Doctor was shocked.
• —Released in 5 days from the hospital! Completely a miracle.
• —Matt knowing Yolanda, being at the hospital when she came by the room, and feeling strongly that we should fill out the paperwork for financial help.
• —Monetary gifts from friends that helped to cover the missed work, antibiotics, doctor’s bills, and other immediate expenses from that time.
• —The complete provision of the entire hospital bill paid for.
• —Noah’s journey of faith in this whole process.

“Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusts Him.”
Psalm 34:8