The Challenges of Caring for a Child

The Challenges of caring for my child Caring for your children in general can be very hard. Most parents worry about keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads. Parents also hope that their kids will make the right decisions when it comes to making friends. I can tell you with all that concern that we have as parents, taking care of a child that has had health problems only adds difficulty. I have had three different occasions where caring for my son was the only thing I could do! The first health issue my son had started in January of 1993. My son Thomas woke up one morning; his eyes were swollen and so were his little hands. His eyelids looked transparent or almost clear. I loaded him up in the car with the diaper bag and his toys. I took him to the emergency room at Martin Memorial Hospital in Stuart, Fl. The emergency room doctor came in and looked at him. He asked me if there was anything different that I had given him to eat like nuts, or if I had done anything differently, like changed laundry detergent. I told the doctor the only thing that was different was the new carpet in the house. The doctor told me that he must be having an allergic reaction to the carpet when he is crawling on the floor. The doctor gave him an antibiotic and told me to go to my family doctor if this did not work. The medication did not work; it really seemed to make it worse. I gave him the medicine everyday at 10:00 a.m for an entire week. His whole body was swollen. When I would touch him my fingerprints would stay on his skin. I knew something was not right. After a week, I took him back to the emergency room. This time they took blood and ran tests. I was a nervous wreck! I paced up and down the hall holding my son; he was crying so hard his face was as red as a Christmas light. I was so scared and upset; he was only eight months old. I remember praying as I paced that floor, asking God to please let my son be alright. We were in that emergency room for eight