Joyce gave us all a good scare last week when she went to ER for severe stomach pains. In all the years I have known her, this was a first, so I knew something was wrong.
Well, it happened to be Hayden's birthday when she went to the hospital, creating a predicament for Thomas. Did he keep his plans with his son for his birthday? Or, did he rush to the hospital to be with his mom while she received tests and a diagnosis?
Thomas quickly called me to ask my opinion as to what he should do and where he was most needed. I was able to tell him to go to the hospital to be with his mom, because we had been taken care of. As I looked back and really looked at how the day played out, I was in awe.
Early afternoon, while Hayden was still at school, I had strong impression to call one of Hayden's friends and see if he could come over right after school to play with Hayden. Gunter's dad agreed and said he would be over around 8pm to pick him up. As previously mentioned, my friend Amber, had come over at about 4:30pm with a beautiful dinner spread for Hayden, including all of his favorite foods, including a delicious birthday cake.
While talking to Thomas, I assured him where he needed to be was with his mother. Obviously the Lord had taken care of me and Hayden, providing everything Hayden and I would need for Hayden to have a great birthday. We were taken care of and let Thomas head up to the hospital without feeling guilty that he wasn't home to take care of us.
As Thomas' mom grew sicker throughout the evening and into the night hours, surgery looked like it would be coming very soon. Thomas was able to comfort his mom with a priesthood blessing while all of the testing took place. Once it was determined that she would be going into emergency surgery, he was able to have another priesthood holder come up and help administer a blessing of healing to her. After the blessing, Joyce started feeling a little better and what may have ended up as emergency surgery, instead became an admittance to the hospital with several procedures and surgery within the next couple of days.
Thomas took the next day off of work to be with his mom while she waited heading in for her first procedure/surgery. I know how grateful he was that he was there when she bled quite a bit during the procedure and had to put in stents and stop. For the next couple of days, if Thomas wasn't at work, he was with his mom. After her gall bladder was removed, during Saturday's surgery and then a followup procedure on Sunday, that evening she was able to come to our house and stay.
Thomas and I were again in awe at how many blessings and tender mercies that our family received so that he could spend time where he wanted to be and was needed. The Lord helped make the decision easy for Thomas as person after person, meal after meal, detail upon detail fell into place so that he could spend as much time as possible with his mom.
After staying with us from Sunday to Wednesday, she was more than ready to be back in her home, her bed and away from the craziness of our Murphy household. Thomas was so thankful for the time he was able to really stay with his mom and to spend so much time with her. I know it will be a time he always looks back on and cherishes. He loved the talks, the laughter, the memories recalled, stories shared and time spent serving his sweet mom. And, all of this he was able to do, without guilt, because others were so lovingly and generously looking after Thomas, Hayden and me.
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