Subject: Elena update from Noble & Kathy: 10.23.09, Fri (midnight)
Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:40:36 -0400
Here's the latest skinny on Elena:
Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:40:36 -0400
Here's the latest skinny on Elena:
A.) Mon-Thursday: 5th Floor, Cape Fear Valley Hospital, Children's Floor
B.) Thursday night:
i.) Chest Tube inserted & drained 300 cc's of fluid
ii.) Chest Tube Post-op: Respiratory Rate and Heart Rate increased
iii.) Intubated her, put her on a ventilator & admitted her to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
Current skinny:
1. All her vital signs are stable.
2. She is full of piss & vinegar (like her Mom), so the nursing staff has had to keep a watchful eye on her otherwise she'll pull one of her many cords & cables out during one of her baby-flails...this leads to ensuring they've got her on consistent sedatives (which sucks that they've gotta give her all these drugs, but obviously on the other hand, we're very grateful for them also. It sucks even worse seeing the drugs wear off & seeing her grimace in pain or uncomfortableness...that just about rips my heart out...). So, again, I am grateful for the meds she's on.
3. Earlier today, they did have to give her a blood transfusion b/c her hemoglobin and her hematicrit had both dropped a little. (The "hemoglobin" are the things in our cells that carry around the O2...imagine the "hemoglobin" is the businessman and the "O2" is the businessman's briefcase. The "hematicrit" is the rest of the cell--so, the "hematicrit" is like the businessman's suit, tie, socks, underwear, suspenders, etc. or something like that...gee whiz, don't use me as a "Grey's Anatomy" reference on your next medical paper.)
Anyway, they surmised that the drop in hemoglobin & hematicrit was due to the 300 cc's of fluid (sero-sanguinas or "free flowing") that they drained out of her little chest. Also, mixed into that 300 cc's of fluid was a lot of her blood, so b/c of the blood loss, they needed to add more blood in. 300 cc's is around the size of a soda can.
4. The blood transfusion went well. No issues. It was a 4-hr transfusion. At the end, her temp was a little elevated, but evidently that's not necessarily abnormal.
5. An ENT (Ear Nose & Throat) Doc came by today (Fri) and did a bronchoscopy (stuck a teeny weeny camera-fiber-optic-wire w/a little mini-mag-light deal at the end of it down her throat to check out her lungs to see if there were any mucus plugs blocking the lung's ability to fully inflate). He did not find any mucus plugs, but it was pretty inflamed due to the pneumonia.
6. They'll give her another x-ray in the morning to see how she's coming along.
7. Here's the MEDICAL BOTTOM LINE:
a.) All her vital signs are stable. (That's a very good thing.)
b.) They're waiting to see how her body & lung (specifically) reacts to the absence of the fluid build-up. i.e.: full inflateability.
c.) They're also waiting to see the reduction of the amount of pneumonia in the R lung.
d.) She is in ! good han ds. (I've had it confirmed from a number of different friends of mine who have either worked at Cape Fear Hospital or who come from lifetimes of practicing medicine (friends of mine who are Physicians Assistants, Nurses and Medical Doctors) that have either made personal referrals to the specific physicians that are working with Elena and/or have concurred with all the medical evaluations, assessments & decisions that have been made about Elena...based on the minute-to-minute evaluation she has been under.)
8. Here's the latest BOTTOM LINE PRAYER REQUEST(s):
a.) The pneumonia be significantly reduced and/or completely gone in the next day or two and that sooner rather than later Elena's health will be completely restored 100%.
b.) Her R lung will begin fully expanding.
c.) That God would! continu e to grant Elena's medical staff with superior wisdom, knowledge, discernment & understanding on what & when to do what they need to do to assist Elena through this process. Specifically...Dr. Sanchez (Elena's main PICU doc), Dr. Bryant (Elena's surgeon), Dr. Caruso (Elena's radiologist), Dr. Billian (Elena's ENT doc), Deborah (Elena's night time PICU nurse), Candace & Courtney (Elena's daytime PICU nurses), Barbara (Elena's respiratory nurse)...and all the other staff that are involved with her.
d.) That anyone that comes in contact with Elena (and Kathy & me) would absolutely know that without a shadow of a doubt that there is a God who loves them & wants a personal relationship with them and that those people would be blessed & encouraged as a result of that contact with our family.
-----------------------------------------------
Ok...so that's all the facts & medical skinny...now the personal stuff...for the ! warm fuz zy people who give a flip. :-)
I've been totally strong, hard core, emotionally stable & completely unflappable. Haven't shed one tear, cracked one grimace and not one frown, negative thought or doubt has come within a 5-mile radius of me...and if you believe that, I've got some ocean front property to sell you in Kansas!!
Geepers crow...it's been flippin BRUTAL.
One moment I'm as hard as woodpecker lips and then all of a sudden I feel like I just got hit upside the nugget by an emotional Louisville Slugger!
It's not easy seeing your kid look like the inside of a computer...she's got more cables & wires attached to her than my CPU. It just doesn't look right or normal. She almost looks like she's out of a Sci-Fi movie or something...kinda like a "2-yr old Terminator". (Now I will say she knows how to tear up a house like a "Terminator".) :-)
Lemme tell ya something else that's just blows chunks...the ride back home from the hospital this past week with the empty car seat in the back...with total...utter...complete...numbing...loud...obnoxious...awkward...uncomfortable...silence.
...no little 2-yr old baby words or giggles or off-the-wall out-of-nowhere questions...it could have been a month since she last saw "Gammaw" (grandma) and we'll be driving down the road & all-of-a-sudden she'll just bust out a "Where Gammaw go?" or when she's busted out "the wahler (water) song"...where for about 30-min straight she just out-rocked the radio by singing "wahler, wahler, wahler, ohhhh wahler, wahler, wahler, wahler, wahler, ohhhh wahler, wahler, wahler, wahler, ohhhh wahler, wahler, wahler...." and on and on and on...and what I would give to hear that stinkin'! ; annoyi ng "wahler song" now!!!! If I could hear that, it would beat Beethoven's 5th Symphony about now!
And then to walk into the house after just leaving the hospital...with all the toys all over the place...and her little books and blocks and trucks and baby dolls...with no one playing with any of them. Just sitting there motionless...still strewn on the floor. And motionless' near & dear friend...silence. It sucks.
...no one to "rocka rocka" at night. (Elena likes one of us to "rock" her in the rocking chair & sing her some songs before putting her to bed. She'll say "Daddy rocka rocka?" or "Mommy rocka rocka?")
...no one to sing "A-B-D-E" ( It's the A-B-C Song.) or the "Twinkle Tar" song (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) (Both of those areElena's favorite Top 40 Hits she likes us to sing to her before putting her to! bed.)&n bsp;
...no one to sing her favorite Top 40 Spanish Lullabies to from her 6'1" Latino iPod (me) (coming to stores near you...or not...unless I'm visiting you sometime in the near future!) :-) (Now...Kath & I actually DO sing her all those songs when were there bedside in the PICU...just not at home...yet.)
It's pretty much been an emotional roller coaster the past week...literally 24-7.
Anyway...I could go on & on....
Here's the deal.
This sucks.
But, it IS an opportunity for us:
1. To depend on God. For His strength is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
2. To increase our faith.
3. To realize just how valuable our little kid is to us. (as if we didn't already...)
4. To draw closer to each other as a couple.
5. To realize how unbelievably amazing our friends & family are. (as if we didn't already...)
6. To interact with more people that we may not have otherwise interacted with and can, therefore, be a blessing, light, encouragement, witness and blessing to.
But, did I say this still SUCKED?
I just wanted to end with this...
It is so hard to put into words...to attempt to describe how you all have made us feel. Your love, encouragement, prayers, positive faith-filled thoughts, advice and admonition have just been so incredibly humbling & powerful for us. We have relied on God and God through all of you SO much...times when I/we wanted to just lose it; we've received that encouraging text or email or voice mail that strengthens us, to continue on, to pray one more prayer, to know that Elena will be alright. Your words & prayers make the cold machines; the whirling, beeping, illuminating gizmos much more tolerable.
To say "Thank You" to all of you just seems so, so, so small an attempt at conveying how much we appreciate each & everyone of you & how grateful to God we are of you.
So, in my incredibly meager attempt...
Thank you.
We love you.
We appreciate you.
Thank you for standing in the gap w/us that the Lord & Elena have won this fight.
Sincerely,
Noble
P.S. For those of you with Facebook accounts...I've posted some of her hospital pics on there.
(Now...Mommy's turn...keep reading.)
------------------------------
Thank you for taking such great care of me!My name is Elena and I love owls! I’m only 2, but I can already read and do math. My purpose in life is to be a World-Changer. I am a strong girl and I am very deeply loved. The words above are a little sign that I made to go over Elena’s bed in the ICU. I wanted the people caring for her to know her as a special little girl, not just another sick kid. And, yes, she really is learning to read and do math! Thought I’d give an update from me, as Noble has kept everybody updated on all the specifics from the medical side of things.Honestly, I have been reeling. I go from being sick to my stomach with anguish for my little girl to moments of calm and faith. I have prayed no fancy prayers, just the groans from a mother’s heart. Often, I have no words and have completely relied on the intercession of friends and family, as well as the Holy Spirit. I never thought I’d see my baby sedated, on a ventilator and fighting for her life. God says interesting things sometimes, and I have to tell y! ou about one of them. Right after they wheeled her into the ICU, we had to leave as they were getting her all hooked up. I went back to our hospital room and fell to my knees sobbing out to God. Here’s what He said, “Well, did you think it was going to be easy raising a World-Changer?” This caught me completely off-guard as it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. I’ll give you a quick background.Before we had Elena, we prayed and asked God to send us the next World-Changers. Whenever God needs to get something done, He does it though a person – He sends a baby. We know that this world is in desperate need of World-Changers and we specifically asked that they be sent to us and we would raise them as such. And we really meant it. God takes vows seriously, and so have we. Well, our enemy, Satan, takes them seriously, too. He tried early to end her life. In my second month of pregnancy, I hemorrhaged badly and rushed to the ER, fearing we had lost her. Against all odds, when they finally did the ultrasound, there she was, heart beating just as strongly as could be. Not a single night has gone by where I haven’t prayed for wisdom in how to raise her to be exactly who God has for her to be, dedicating her all over again to His purposes, praying that we would find her purpose at a young age and praying for her protection.So, today, as I’m sitting by her bed, I asked her, “W! ho are y ou?” I wonder at what God has planned for her. ! I believ e this is an attack directly related to her purpose. God told me that wimpy moms don’t raise World-Changers and I needed to gird up and fight. Well, He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I pulled out my Bible and looked up the verses He had given me about Elena specifically the month before she was conceived. I bawled my eyes out and praised God when I read the first one b/c it’s a promise of LIFE!! Here they are, I’m going to do a slight paraphrase:“I asked you for life, and you gave it to me – length of days, for ever and ever.” Ps. 21:4“I will proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn – for He has done it.” Ps. 22:31“Your descendants will be known among the nations and your offspring among the peoples. All who see you will acknowledge that you are a people the Lord has blessed.” Is. 61:9These and so many other promises have been oxygen to my soul. We continue to wait and pray – and can never tell you how much all of you have meant to us. Truly, we have been carried by the prayers of the saints. Thank you doesn’t even begin to say it. --Kathy ("Mommy")
No comments:
Post a Comment