My Son in Intermediate Care

On 10 October 2024, my 3 year old son was admitted in intermediate care because of pneumonia, fast breathing and high fever. He had no strength to support himself or move.

When the doctors checked him, immediately they connected him with an external ventilator and an NGT for feeding. They stopped his oral intake temporarily to avoid food entering his lungs accidently because of his chest infection.

It was my first time to see my son enter this state. I wanted to support him. I wanted to stop the nurses from inserting the tube through his nose. I wanted to give him a break from the oxygen support machine. But remembering how weak and tired he was from his fast breathing, I didn’t.

Nothing I could do except holding and comforting him, holding his little hands and assuring him that everything will be fine.

Although the time period spent in the intermediate care was short, it sends an important message: You are actually powerless. You can’t bring good or prevent harm. Anything can happen to you in any moment. Your life, health and death, you can’t control or keep. It is all in the hands of our only one God.