Parker's Promise

Kelley Drury Birrell

I'm having the interesting, and not very pleasant experience of re-living two of the most painful periods in my life through my sister, Ashley Drury Swenson. Her sweet 22-month-old son, the one with the traumatic brain injury, has cerebral palsy from the injury and has started having clusters of seizures numbering more than 8-10 an hour. She's in the hospital with him now while the doctors try to figure out where they are coming from and how to get them to stop.

When I visited my sister last week, it was as if I was back with Josh and Rachel when they were that age - Josh because of the seizures and Rachel because of the cerebral palsy. Holding Parker and playing with him and working with him was eerily reminiscent of doing the same things with my kids. Parker's health situation is way more intense than either of my kids were, but it FEELS the same, except that it hurts in a way I didn't expect. Emotions are being brought up that I didn't realize were there because I was so numb going through it the first time. My sister said that she can't really think about it and feel what is going on because she wouldn't be able to handle it, and I understand that. When I went through watching Josh have 3-4 grand-mal seizures a day when he was Parker's age, and being powerless to stop it, I had to shut down emotionally for several years because the pain of watching him suffer was so intense that if I'd thought about it I wouldn't have been able to get through each day.

My heart hurts for my sweet sister and her beautiful family now, and it hurts for myself because of what we went through then. I've always said that I'd never wish this on my worst enemy, and yet now my beloved sister is going through it.

Please pray for them. Please pray that these seizures will not take away the progress that Parker has made already. Before these clusters hit, he was doing things that his MRI said he shouldn't be able to do. He's a fighter. I've watched him work so hard for every little movement. He's happy, and he is incredibly sweet. Please pray that his brain will be protected from damage, and that these seizures will be temporary. Please pray that my sister and her family will be comforted and be able to heal from this pain. And thank God every day for your blessings, please!