Wednesday, December 28, 2016

December 27, 2016 -- Update on Virus

Thank you so much everyone for your prayers and encouraging notes for Hope as she battles this virus I mentioned on Christmas Day.  She gave us a scare yesterday morning. . . 


She had a rough night on Sunday night, not sleeping much.  Then around 6 am she began throwing up.  She was able to keep her morning dose of seizure meds down at about 9:10 am, but then got sick again around 10 am.  Between 10:30-11:00 am, she had a bad seizure that lasted for several minutes; we're not sure exactly how long as it was hard to determine what was going on with her.  Trevor was sitting next to her on the couch as she was lying down resting.  Trev's dad was sitting across from her and thankfully had a different view of Hope that allowed him to notice that she was throwing up but not moving and sucking it back in.  Trevor sat her up and she continued to throw up but she was vacant, not responding or moving.  I came running into the room as I heard them discussing and asking Hope if she was having a seizure.  I helped position her in a way that her mouth would empty and used toilet paper to clean away all the emesis.  She continued to remain vacant and although she had eyes open, and seemed like she was even trying to move or respond, it was obvious that something wasn't right.  She was making feeble attempts to cough but just thick stringy mucous came out and her lips and mouth were turning blue.  Her body became limp enough that she slid off the couch as her daddy and I, holding onto either side of her, lifted her back up between us.  We just kept reassuring her and encouraging her to try to cough and breathe.  It was a terrifying few minutes as you don't know if/when it's going to stop.  The seizure finally ended and then she was able to cough and start to clear her airway.

At this point, we knew that she had another 10 hours before she would get another dose of seizure medication.  We were much too frightened and concerned to risk waiting that long, so we discussed our options, and prayed for wisdom.  In the end, we decided it was best to get her home as quickly as possible.  Home would be closer to a hospital that knows her and is best able to treat her if necessary, as well as we had a few doses of her seizure rescue medication, Ativan, at home to give her sublingually or under her tongue (which would be absorbed directly into her bloodstream without concern of further throwing up).  Trev prayed with Hope that we would be able to get her home safely . . . a 40 minute drive.  I sat in the back seat with her in my arms, while Gabi sat in Hope's wheelchair to be close enough to help if needed, as Trev drove.

God was gracious to allow us to get home with no problems.  As soon as we did get home, we gave Hope the dose of Ativan.  She laid in her bed and we stayed at her bedside watching her.  About 2 hours later, she was finally able to fall asleep.  When she awoke around 4 pm, she did get sick again, and spent a good 15 minutes throwing up.  We decided we probably needed to take her into the hospital to make sure that we had a new plan to control her seizures (Ativan works quickly but it's effects only last for about 4 hours).  Hope also was still running a fever and a cough had started, in addition to feeling really crummy with a headache, burning chest, and hurting ribs with breathing.  We were pretty sure it was a virus, but the possibility of something more serious, like pneumonia, was gnawing away at the back of our minds.  We decided to give Hope a bath, and catch a quick shower ourselves before we left for the hospital.

At 5 pm I gave her a pill and she kept it down.  Later at 6 pm, I gave her some acidophilus in one spoon of yogurt.  She kept that down!  We decided to hold off on the hospital for a bit as we continued to sit by her side watching her.  Around 8 pm she tried a few bites of chicken successfully, so we waited and gave her the evening dose of seizure medication at the scheduled 9 pm time.  Again she kept it down!  We were so incredibly thankful for the Lord's grace in this!!!

Her fever climbed through the night, as did her heart rate and her breathing was unusual, so we took turns sitting at her bedside watching her until 2 am when she was fast asleep and had been for a while.  I had told Trev at around 1 am that I thought it was fine for us to go to bed, but he wanted to wait an extra hour before he felt safe to leave her.  I sure love her daddy and how he loves his girlies!!!  We went to bed then, but I set my alarm to wake up every hour or two to check on her and her fever and breathing.  She continued to have a fever but it did go down a bit, instead of continuing to climb, which was a relief.  

She spent most of the day in bed today.  She only ate some more acidophilus in yogurt and some of a banana/raspberry peanut butter yogurt smoothie that I made her.  She has not thrown up any more, and has kept her seizure meds down.  We are praising God that she has not had any more seizures!  She continues to run a fever, and feels crummy with a headache and achy all over.  Also her cough has picked up today, but it is a dry cough and she is not coughing up any phelgm, so we are hopeful that the heaviness in her chest and burning feeling in her chest and ribs is just part of this nasty virus and not a pneumonia.

So that's an update on our girlie!  Thank you again for praying for her!  God definitely had His hand of protection on her yesterday morning during the scare she gave us!  The girls are very disappointed that all the plans we had to be with family from Sunday through Wednesday were cancelled, but we are thankful that we can be where Hope is most comfortable, close to the hospital, and where it's easier for us to care for her, as well as keep all our germs to ourselves!  Gabi continues to be such a blessing in just going along with what is necessary and not complaining. . . she is such a treasure!  And Hope has been super sweet, saying how sorry she is for all the inconvenience of her being sick . . . makes it pretty easy to dote on our sick girlie!  We sure love our girls and feel so blessed to have them in our lives!!!  

Thank you again for your prayers for Hope!  Although she's still quite sick and this virus is pretty harsh, we feel like she's stable and seizures are under control, and so now it's just waiting it out.  Hoping and praying that she is well enough by this coming Sunday for her exciting baptism day, and that she will have time to prepare her heart and testimony to share.  Much love to each one of you, dear ones!!!

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