Christopher's Miracle Story: Anger management

Being in the hospital is scary and sad!

So...clearly, Christopher had some anger issues that he needed some help with. None of my "mom speak" was working, so they brought in the professionals. Christopher was definitely a candidate for anger management. It's true that frustration and anger are a normal part of dealing with chronic illness, and with children it can be a particularly tricky and delicate situation. Children have limited life experience and knowledge. Their ability to understand what is happening to them is also limited, and this often leads to feelings of intense fear and distress. It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination then to understand just why this often leads to angry, tearful, and emotional outbursts.

It was a good thing for that nurse that Christopher didn't happen to have one of those things handy when she pushed the Morphine into his IV!

Kicking the nurse definitely qualified as an "angry, emotional outburst." Christopher was very sorry about what he had done. He was embarrassed and really didn't understand exactly why he had done it in the first place. Through big tears, he kept telling me that he liked his nurse and didn't mean to do it. I told him that being in the hospital is a really scary thing, and that they have special "talking doctors" at the hospital to help kids talk about what it's like to be in the hospital.

Help me, Doc! Why did I kick the nurse?

Christopher's "talking doctor" turned out to be a very sweet and caring young woman. She came to his hospital room with toys, stuffed animals, and games in tow. She spent quite a bit of time just talking with us and getting to know Christopher. She showed him some of the things she had brought with her, and they played some cards while she explained some of the things they had going on at the hospital for kids to do.

She told him about "hospital school." She explained that they had a real school with real teachers, and that you could go there to work on some of your assignments from school. There were lots of other kids there too that you could talk to, or you could read books from the school library. The teachers often had lots of fun arts and crafts projects that you could do too.

"Hospital school???"

She offered to take us on a tour, so we gathered up Christopher's IV pole and off we went. "Hospital School" was actually one big room packed with books, toys, and kids. It was a busy place with teachers teaching and patients learning. I could definitely see how you could distract yourself from reality here, but Christopher was not so impressed. He shrugged his little shoulders, squeezed my hand tight, and said he wanted to go. He whispered in my ear that he didn't want to go to school there. He just wanted to do his assignments with me in his hospital room. The "talking doctor" noticed Christopher's apprehension, and told him that he didn't have to come to "hospital school." It was a choice, and he could choose to do his homework in his hospital room too.

His eyes lit up when she said the word choice. He didn't know he had any. It had seemed like all of his choices had been taken away, and here she was telling him that he still had control over some things. He grabbed on to that idea with both hands and held on tight. He was tired of feeling helpless and scared. It wasn't a lot, but it was something.

Next she took us on a tour of the video room. You had lots of choices there too. You could choose to watch a movie, play video games, or meet new friends. Christopher asked if he could watch movies or play video games in his room too, and he was delighted to find out that the answer was yes. That was a choice too.

We returned to Christopher's personal corner of the hospital, his room. The "talking doctor" brought in a Nintendo for Christopher to use, along with an assortment of games. He forgot all about his troubles as his little fingers began feverishly working the game controller.

Before she left, she said that she wanted to show him one more thing. That's when she pulled a huge velcro target out of "her bag of tricks." She handed him several palm size bean bags, and told him that he could throw them at the target whenever he was feeling mad. They "practiced" several times, and then she asked him if she could come back the next day with her special "therapy dog." Christopher loved the idea of having a dog visit him at the hospital, and told her to come back. He wasn't going to get to go home anyway.

You get free choices too.

The "talking doctor" visited Christopher several times a day. She even went with us when he had to have ultrasounds, X-rays, and surgery. She was a bright light in a dark place. When she was off helping other kids, Christopher and I passed the time working on his homework, playing video games, and watching movies...well, ONE movie.

At six years of age it's perfectly okay to watch the same movie repeatedly. Christopher usually went through movie phases. During his hospital stay he was in his Sandlot

The "talking doctor" helped make life at the hospital much easier, but the thing that really made a huge impact was Christopher's school. God showed us exactly why He had picked me up by the back of the neck that day. He showed us exactly how some of His plans would play out right before our very eyes. He brought the "cloud of Christian witnesses" right to Christopher's hospital room. Our school came around us and lifted us up in incredible ways through cards, letters, and visits to the hospital. The principal, teachers, and students took turns visiting Christopher at the hospital. They brought little gifts, letters, and cards to encourage him and to let him know how much he was loved. They even brought HUGE banners made by each high school class to decorate the walls of his room. By the time it was all said and done, his room was filled to the brim with the evidence of God's plans and handiwork carried out by the loving souls of our little Christian school.

Being in the hospital wasn't easy, but it was made easier by the amazing hospital staff and loving school family who worked hard to make a bad situation a little better. Christopher was still sad and scared sometimes, but he never kicked the nurse again. He found ways to vent his anger and distract himself from his unfortunate circumstances. To his surprise, he even managed to make some new friends who liked to watch Sandlot and play Nintendo too.

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can pray like this: