Rock on...

10-2 is a very significant day for me. In my former life as a cycling enthusiast, I celebrated this day as the day Lance Armstrong was diagnosed and began his crusade to conquer cancer.  Ugh, Lance - it just seems so insignificant now. 

One year ago today I was thrust into a new significance for the date 10-2. I awoke to my cell phone ringing. It was the PICU nurse and she needed consent to give Parson platelets. She also said the surgery fellow was at the bedside to get consent to take Parson in for a lung biopsy later in the morning. I snatched on my clothes and rushed back to parson. On 10-2, we received the diagnosis that would ROCK our world. We learned that Parson had a genetic mutation (Filamin A deficiency) confirmed by a brain MRI that showed she had Periventricular Nodular Heterotopia. "I'm sorry, Can you repeat that? Better yet, can you write that down for us?"  I remember it just like it was yesterday. Then they wheeled her out to surgery. 

My mind has never spun out of control faster and my thumbs have never Googled faster.  We waited & searched. Searched & waited. Nothing.  There WAS nothing. It was rare. Parson was only the fifth little girl diagnosed at Texas Children's Hospital.  As Par returned from surgery, with more questions than answers, we began our 10-2 crusade. 

Lemme tell you friends. Nothing can absolutely ROCK your world like a major healthcare crisis. Everything changes. You think different. Your relationships are different. You pray different. You are never the same. 

Thank the good Lord I am not the same. The "10-2's" and "bruises" bring us closer to one another. Like the song says... They give us a common spirit. They break the vow that separates us. They make for better conversation.  They remind us that we are not alone in how we've been. We learn how it feels to grieve what "could have been". We learn how it feels to hurt deeper than we have ever hurt before. We learn how it feels to leave everything at that feet of Jesus. 

Whew. I could write on & on about this experience, but as I sit here thinking back over the last year (with my eyes leaking) I can say with confidence...

Sometimes you gotta walk the ROCKS to see the mountain view.  

"He alone is my ROCK and my salvation, my fortress where I cannot be shaken." - Psalm 62:6. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground in sinking sand. Looking back, I can see him leading with love through everything. He loves us way too much to let us be less than what we were destined to become. 

All because of a savior  All because of a donor. All because of a doctor. All because of a nurse. All because of people like YOU - 10-2 gives me hope to ROCK ON!!!