Paxton grabbed Susanne's finger for the first time last night since his surgery. It warmed her heart to know that even though he didn't have his eyes open, he knew that his parents were there.
Today, Chief had to leave early in the morning to head back home. The rest of the gang went to the hospital to visit with the bug. They did their normal routine of alternating turns with who would sit with Paxton.
Susanne and Scott were excited to see that Paxton was trying to open his eyes a little bit today. He was still heavily sedated and intubated so if he started to look the least bit agitated or too awake, then the nurse would give him more medication. Susanne and Scott could see that he was more uncomfortable. This was probably because the amount of pain medications he was being given was being adjusted so that he could start the process of slowly waking up by the time the doctors were ready to wean him off of the ventilator. It was so difficult to see him get out of sorts, especially since they could not hold him to comfort him.
Scott always reminded Susanne of a story he once heard in reference to suffering. In the story, a bear was minding his own business walking in the woods and then out of nowhere he got stuck in a trap. A hunter came along and saw the bear and felt horrible. Out of sympathy, the hunter wanted to attempt to free the bear from his situation. In order to free the bear from the trap, the hunter had to press the bear’s foot deeper into the trap in order to release the tension in the spring. The bear wasn't able to understand why the hunter was causing him more pain. The bear assumed that the hunter was cruel and that he intentionally wanted to hurt him. The bear just couldn’t understand that the hunter was actually trying to help him. He couldn't see past what he was going through in the moment. Suffering, in general, was usually like that. Susanne and Scott discovered that they could even apply this story to their entire journey thus far with Paxton. The thing to remember was that suffering was almost always temporary, although in the moment it felt otherwise. That was where faith came in. Just a little faith would go a long way and eventually the reason for the suffering would reveal itself.
Everyone left the hospital in time for them to go to the grocery store before dinner. Gigi and Poppy had wanted to buy Susanne some food that would tide her over while she stayed in the hospital with Paxton after they left Boston. They were always so thoughtful.
After a successful trip, they all went to dinner. They originally sought out a Mexican restaurant because that was always Susanne and Scott's first choice. The place that they found seemed like a good idea until the waiter couldn't even tell them what a fajita was or what it came with. He was also uncomfortable with Susanne's dietary restrictions and didn't seem confident that he knew what she meant when she requested her meal to be dairy and soy free. They all made the executive decision that it was best to leave and go somewhere else. Luckily, they found a local bar and grill just down the road that was perfect. Susanne ended up getting some dairy and soy free fajitas and they were delicious. Also, Poppy got to try Stella Artois for the first time and even went home with a souvenir beer glass.
Once again, Susanne and Scott made their final visit in with Paxton before heading back to the house for bed. It was confirmed that tomorrow would be the day to try taking him off of the ventilator. They would all be saying some extra prayers before bed.
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