Tables turned

I wasn't going to write this but sleep isn't happening tonight. This blog is centered around Jacob's hospitalizations and fight for life but yesterday the tables turned. For once in all of Jacob's existence, one of his other family members was critically ill and he was fairly healthy. The second oldest of the three was rushed to the hospital yesterday morning for an infected cut on his face. My parents had been working with it all week. He was taken to the doctor on Tuesday but they wouldn't give him an antibiotic. Friday, he went back to the doctor because his lip was so swollen he couldn't get any food or drink down. He was then given an antibiotic but by that time the infection had spread. Sunday morning it was a life or death situation. I got the call as the nurses were prepping him for surgery. It's one thing to get a call saying he's in the emergency room. But saying he's in the emergency room and being prepped for surgery, all in the same sentence is a lot to take in. Now by no means am I the victim here, I'm just telling you that's what was running through my mind.

So of course everyone is a mess while we wait for him to get out of surgery and when he finally does my parents were told something startling. Apparently there are two triangles on the face. These "triangles" are the sites on the face where infection can get up to the brain. Essentially, it is a miracle that he is here with us tonight. Children who have infected cuts where he does usually would have had the infection spread to the brain already. But the surgeons got to it just in time. This wasn't a surgery that could have been important, it was important. He wouldn't be alive without it.... holy shit that was a heavy sentence.

It amazes me (not in a good way) that I still get the shock of 'I might lose my brother.' Regardless of which person it is, I should get it by now that life for anyone is never a guarantee. I'll say this though, my trust in God is certainly at an all time high. I'm not saying it can't be stronger because of course that's not true. But from the second I was told my brother was in surgery to the second I got the call that he was awake I knew God was going to take care of him. There was no asking him, it was knowing he was going to help him in whatever way was His will.

So please, whether this is your first time reading this blog or your 43rd time I ask that you hug your loved ones and tell them you love them. Set aside petty arguments and spread happiness, not rage. Don't assume the people you love/care about will be here tomorrow; just because you care about them and nothing happens to you doesn't mean it can't and won't. Just last night I was looking through old photos and videos on my phone of all of my brothers. I had no idea that I'd be told the "healthy one" might not make it the next day. Truly appreciate who and what you have, thank God for his gift of life, and love like it's someone's last day.