Chase is Extremely High Maintenance at the Moment

Although we truly believe we’re at the turning point in Chase’s condition, he’s extremely needy at the moment – he doesn’t want to be left alone for a moment. This means that everything on the home front is “on edge”, with extremely high levels of stress at almost every moment. Since he can’t use his right hand and leg, Chase gets very frustrated often which quickly escalates to anger when he can’t do what he wants. This is of course understandable, but nonetheless unbearable when we’re hopeless to relieve him. All we can do in those situations is surrender to God and retreat in prayer (when we can remain calm enough to remember this) which is very hard with a yelling and crying child to deal with. Needless to say, we’re really learning the meaning of “handing it over to God” in this situation, because there’s simply nothing more we can do.

Fortunately, there are still some happy times. Chase went and picked out a hamster yesterday for his 6th Birthday and was really enjoying his company. He was giggling and chuckling for hours until Carol heard a loud scream and came running to find Chase vomiting violently. When he finally calmed down and was able to relay what happened, it turned out that something set him off laughing so hard that he got a head rush which led to the nausea. This little story clearly exemplifies the tenuous situation as well as the range of emotions that fluctuate at any moment. Add to this the fact that in those circumstances Chase only wants his mommy to be there, and it means that the pressure on Carol is almost unimaginable. Even more frustrating for me is being rejected many times when I try to console Chase, can’t understand what he wants, and ultimately nothing will do until Carol is back by his side….

I’m only relaying this background to convey the fact that more than ever we’re being challenged and having to turn to our faith as we’re clearly being put to the test. We know that we’re doing everything possible to support Chase’s recovery and that the ultimate outcome is up to God. However, complete surrender is never easy, especially when the “tests” occur on a daily basis, often hourly. We’re finding ourselves stumbling more often than we’d like and being brought back to our knees – which is the only place that is “safe” at the moment.

This afternoon, Chase is having some of his friends and classmates over to celebrate his B-day. We’re making sure he gets a good nap while hoping and praying that he can keep it together to enjoy himself. After organic pizza, cake and soy ice cream, we’ll be taking the gang to see the grand opening of Over the Hedge. Please lift Chase in your prayers today and throughout the weekend as we hope his recovery accelerates so that his pain can soon come to an end.

Thanks for all the prayers and support! With lots of love and gratitude,

John & Carol Sammut
Chase & Barbara Ann