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Thursday, February 14, 2008
Yesterday they wanted us to leave and have tried multiple times to push Evie along the road to recovery.
All day yesterday they did breathing treatments to try and open up her airways and get her to expel whatever is causing this cough. Last night they tried Abuterol treatment which initially worked well but over subsequent treatments had less effectiveness.
As I write we are sitting waiting to be taken down for another chest x-ray.
What we know:
1) She has a persistent cough that both respiratory therapists were very concerned with over the last 24 hours.
2) She began running a fever last night at about 101F.
3) She’s continuing to lose weight despite Mandy’s feeling like she’s eating well. (experience with 4 other breast-feeders) She lost 3 ounces in the last 48 hours. The respiratory therapist thinks its probably because she’s burning more calories from the cough and not thriving.
Please be in prayer that the medical staff will be able to identify or treat the symptoms. This cough has seemed to elude everyone since she first came here. All along they have written it off as just a cold though several attempts have been made to identify a viral infection of some kind.
Thank you for your continued prayer and support,
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Great day here – nothing but good new to report!
Evie does not have whooping cough. Yesterday they were finally able to finish the testing and she does not have an infection. Tristan and Britain came down to charleston for the day. This was the first time they were able to be in the room with Evie so it was special for them.
Prayer requests:
1) Pray that her cough gets better. She still has coughing fits. As I write there is a respiratory specialist doing treatments on her. They will continue these every 4 hours for the next day.
2) Yesterday they switched her medication for her arrhythmia. So far this one is working well at keeping here heart rate stable. Pray that it continues to work. We will have to keep her on this for at least one year. At this point it does not appear that the arrhythmia will go away as they had hoped. If it does not go away she may have to have a procedure done on it when she gets older.
3) Yesterday the surgeon took another look at her chest incision. The wound has split open in multiple places and doesn’t seem to be healing, but the good news is that it’s not infected.
At this point they are talking like we may be able to go home in a day or so. Scary but exciting that this part of her recovery is almost over.
C leaves for Ukraine this Friday. Pray that Mandy would have peace of mind as we return home with minor issues that will be Evie’s life for the next year or more. (ie. cardiologist visits, arrhythmia issues, etc.)
Thank you all for your prayers during these very eventful first weeks of little Evangeline’s life.
C,M & E
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
