Nathan Campbell

So earlier I had posted a request for prayer for a good friend and her family and I just wasn't ready to say more at that point. I met Caryn at work almost 4 years ago... we both worked night shift at the time. Caryn has been a nurse longer than me, so she taught me a lot in my 1st few years as a NICU nurse. Then we ended up pregnant together and were due a month apart. We had the same OB doc, and always ran into each other in the waiting room at his office. She already had 2 boys at the time, and we were both having girls. I always loved hearing stories of her kiddos because she always seemed like such a great mom and I, of course, was pregnant and cramming on the subject of parenting skills! She was due before me, but Emilia had different schedule in mind when I went into labor before her. Since Emilia was early, I was a bit nervous that she was not quite ready to be here... quite the understatement. When I got to the hospital, I called up to the NICU to see who was working because I wanted a NICU nurse at the delivery (NICU does not usually attend 36 week deliveries). I was so relieved when I found out she was working, and asked her if she would mind coming to my delivery. Talk about mother's intuition, because Emilia was quite naughty, and needed the whole NICU team in the delivery room. Tim was the neonatal nurse practitioner, Lisa, the respiratory therapist, and Caryn was the NICU nurse. Caryn held Emilia before I ever got to...Emilia was 6 days old the 1st time I held her. Twist to the story was that Caryn had her daughter the day before I took Emilia home from the hospital. As Chris and I were leaving the hospital, we stopped by Caryn's room so Catherine and Emilia could have their 1st play date, and they have been friends every since. Her nickname is Claffie, and there have been lots of previous postings in my blog of her and Emilia's play dates.

I could never repay Caryn for taking such great care of my daughter, but now Caryn has a sick child and the only thing I can do is pray, so I hope by posting this, the prayers will be multiplied and her family will find peace and healing. Nathan is her eldest son, now 9 years old and has been diagnosed with T4 cell ALL , (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). I have put a link to his Caring Bridge website under My Blog List: Nathan Campbell. Please keep him in your thoughts... he's such a special and sweet kid. Here's some photos of him last summer at the zoo with my niece, Hannah, and his little brother, Ryan.