Monday, February 11, 2008
Psalm 25:16
“My eyes are ever on the Lord…turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted;
The troubles of my heart have multiplied!”
Evie’s persistent cough had become more severe and led the doctors Friday to run more tests to rule out RSV and Pertussis (“whooping cough”)…both highly contagious and dangerous viral infections…especially acute in infants. The RSV results thankfully came back negative, but the lab will not process the Pertussis culture until Monday, so we are left to wait and wonder…and pray!
It is easy to become overwhelmed by the plethora of information the internet offers and the temptation to self diagnose. However, we know that our God is bigger than the statistics. He who can calm the wind and the waves can certainly see us through this storm and we feel that peace when we choose to look to Him rather than the situation!!
They made the decision to move us to a regular recovery room upstairs out of ICU on Friday afternoon. Part of this (we feel) is precautionary to prevent the spread of infection throughout the ICU if Evie were contagious. Regardless, it is great to have our own space without a dozen other patient’s monitors beeping and blinking and alarming around us…and up here we get to hold her whenever we want!! Our room has a cot which allows Mandy to spend the night with Evie. We’re in a “quarantine” room and our attending doctors and nurses wear masks, plastic gowns and gloves when they come in the room as “precautions”…a bit reminiscent of ET. 🙁
The heart arrhythmia remains the most prominent concern. Evie had three bad episodes yesterday with her heart rate spiking at 220 bpm. lasting as long as an hour and a half. “Natural” methods to break the arrhythmia (such as pulling the baby’s feet above her head or placing a bag of ice across her face) to “shock” her heart back into a normal rate proved futile. Medication was given to stop the short circuit and regain the natural rhythm. While the doctors assure us that these are not uncommon events for a post-op heart patient, its very disconcerting for us! They are trying a second medication that we hope will stabilize her rhythm and eliminate the episodes.
On a brighter note, Tristan, Abi, Britain and Izzy spent a couple hours at the hospital yesterday where there is a terrific atrium with fantastic play equipment…a play kitchen and doctors office…cars & blocks…arts & crafts…video games…library and such. Had a great time playing as a family. The kids left this morning in 2’s to go to different grandparents houses for the week…probably harder on me than on them:-) We’re missing stability of our family being together and a “normal” routine…….though Im not even sure what that looks like anymore!
I stand in awe at the Lords sweet presence throughout a storm that I would never have thought I would sustain. This is not a trial I would have chosen, yet there has been such a bitter-sweetness in seeing the m
Pray:
-that the arrythmic episodes would subside
-that the pertussis results would come back negative and that she would quickly heal from whatever is causing the cough
-for our family as we’re apart this week
