A History of Numbers

10 was the number of weeks she was old when she had a heart attack.

5 was the number of days she was given to live.

90 was the number of other kids they believed ever to be diagnosed with the rare genetic disease, Generalized Arterial Calcification in Infants.

100 was the number of days she spent in the Cleveland Clinic PICU fighting for her life.

Thousands were the number of people contacting us letting us know they were praying for her healing.

3 is the number of teeth she lost as a little one from not having the strength to hold herself up as she relearned how to crawl after all the fractures throughout her body. (She just lost number 4 this past week!)

5 is the number of boxes of boost she was drinking daily because she didn't want/know how to eat food.

14 is the number of meds she was on at one time, some of them 3 times a day.

1 is the number of spinal taps they attempted to alleviate the pressure of the pseudo tumor in her head.

13 is the number of the percent of her ejection fraction (how much blood her heart was pumping out per pump). 60-70% is the number of a normal person's ejection fraction.

20 is the number of the percent of her heart that was deemed irreparably damaged (dead). And eventually this number (they predicted) would begin swallowing up the healthier portions of the heart.

Hundreds is the number of times she threw up entire feeds. In her bed. In the living room. In church. Into bowls. On the ground. Once all over my head, during a meeting for church.

1.5 million is the number (approximate) of our total medical expenses from the 100 day stay at the hospital.

2 is the number of weeks we had to go without holding her as her life lay in the balance in a hospital bed.

36:26 is the number of the chapter and verse of the most important Bible verse of her life, from the book of Ezekiel: "I will put my Spirit within you and I will make your heart of stone into a heart of flesh."

2 is the number of meds she is on now. It's also the total number of milliliters she is taking of these meds (infant doses!). She's also taking them orally for the first time.

5 is the number of trips to the buffet she took at Shoneys two nights ago. Eggs. Mac and Cheese. Donuts. Peas. Cheese. Chicken. You name it.

30 is the number of minutes she had to endure of sodium thiosulfate every day. It was hell. Made her convulsively sick.

300 is the number of weeks (2105 days...50,529 hours...3,031,784 minutes) that Chaia has had some type of IV, NG tube, or G tube intruding in her body. She has had only 10 weeks of her life without the intrusiveness of some type of tube.

0 is the number of tubes she has attached to her as of today!

6 is the number of years this little lady has been alive as July 1 is her birthday!

The days of her story as well as each of ours are numbered. Trust the Better Author to tell the Better Story.

And make today count!