It's May, and spring took a long time to come this year. It seems to have finally arrived. It was a very tough February for Matt, and thus, us as well. Matt's caregivers gave us a call after Doug and I had spent an evening in Vancouver to celebrate Doug's birthday. They were worried about his breathing and so we went there to see him and take them some medicine. We held him for awhile and checked him over. He had been throwing up and had some respiratory issues, not uncommon for him. He did seem very lethargic, we thought it was because of the throwing up. We gave him some gravol and kissed him goodnight. They said they were comfortable keeping him for the next few days as scheduled. I called the next day and he hadn't improved any, so we brought him home. I watched him carefully and he kept his food down that night. I stayed close beside him the whole next day but he continued to get more and more lethargic. That evening Doug and I drove him into the city to the Children's hospital. They were wonderful and took amazing and careful care of him. The Canuck Place doctor joined us and talked to us about a lot of things. Matt wasn't responding after a few hours and we were starting to be extremely concerned. I wasn't ready to say goodbye. After talking to many doctors it was felt that he may not pull through. That we should spend this time with him and say anything we needed to say. I couldn't say goodbye to my beautiful son. It happened too fast. This is not how it was suppose to happen. There were lots of tears through that night, and my heart was so confused. I have always felt that if God were to take Matt home I would want to be there, and that I wouldn't want him to suffer. He really was sleeping peacefully. But this just seemed so frightening to me. How was I suppose to live without him? By about 3:30 in the morning he started to respond a little, and it was then that I knew he was going to make it. We spent the next few weeks in the hospital. Late nights and lots of set backs. Somehow he pulled through. At one point both of his lungs were so full the xray technicians were calling the ward doctor in a panic about the severity of his pneumonia. We were very pleased (and exhausted) when we were finally able to bring him home.

And now life goes on, for him and us. Same pains, same joys. He doesn't seem to go long without suffering. Will his lungs ever completely heal? How many setbacks will he need to endure? Was this just a taste of what is to come for him?