Speaking the Truth in Love?!?
This is Mimi, she is 3 weeks old and has Down’s Syndrome. She arrived 9 days ago on death’s door. Mimi was unable to breastfeed for 2 days due to profound sepsis (ie: way bad infection), her blood pressure basically undetectable, oxygen saturation was around 50% (should be >90%) and she basically looked dead. After attempting to place an IV numerous times (to give fluids and antibiotics) we resorted to giving intramuscular shots of antibiotics and accepting the fact her IV fluids were going into subcutaneous tissue rather than vessels (that isn’t good!!).
Mimi’s father flat out told me he was sure she would pass soon and wanted to bring her home so she could die in peace. He believes in God’s sovereignty and as a result wondered why we should even try. Yet he brought her to the hospital.
We argued.
He said, “God is sovereign. He is control of whether or not she will live or die.”
I said, “You’re right. God is sovereign. So, why don’t you take her and go lie down in the middle of the road with your baby on your chest and trust that God’s sovereignty will protect you from one of the semis coming and rolling over you both.”
He agreed to ‘give’ it one day. He would allow his baby to stay in the hospital. Mom had no breastmilk, so we placed a tube from her nose to her stomach. We began small formula feeds and we were able to continue to give her antibiotics.
The next day, the father agreed to one more day. Mimi looked like she was going to die. She had so much swelling in her face, neck, and arms.
The following day, she started to turn the corner. She was still on formula feeds, but attempted (kind of) to nurse. Over the next week, she slowly improved. She required minimal oxygen.
Today, through tears, the dad thanked me. He said he had no belief that she would live, but he saw in me hope. He said he saw that I believed and so he was giving God a chance to work through my faith.
Praise God that He is working through our faith. Today, as I explained to this family that their daughter would live, but that she also has Down’s Syndrome, this dad said that he wanted his daughter to be a soldier for Christ. We think she already is!
Sometimes when we don’t have enough faith, God helps us to see it through another.
The LAME will WALK!!
This is little Misiel. He came in two weeks ago with Guillain Barre Syndrome, which is basically a paralysis that starts in your legs and moves upwards. It develops slowly over days and you can become completely paralyzed. It is a post-infectious nerve dysfunction where the patient will still have sensation, but is unable to move. Just imagine your 4 year old, within the matter of one week going from running around to not being able to walk and then so weak he is unable to cough or even breathe. As the result of this, he had a pretty bad aspiration pneumonia, and because of the paralysis, he was having trouble fighting it.
After he was admitted, we made him NPO (nothing to eat or drink) for 2 days to wait for his respiratory status to stabilize and for the surgeons to place a feeding tube. It was so sad to see a little boy so hungry, but unable to eat or drink. I wanted to feed him through an NG tube, but he was on nasal CPAP (breathing machine) so that wasn’t possible either. He was terrified and hungry. He cried for 2 days.
I came home and told Jewels, “IF we can keep him alive over these next 2 weeks, then he has a chance.”
When we took him to the OR, his oxygen saturation dropped drastically. Thankfully our surgeon did a phenomenal job of placing the G tube under local anesthesia so his respiratory status wasn’t compromised.
The next day, we started G-Tube feeds, which he promptly threw up. That made me feel great about the fact I had made him NPO for 2 days! After some medications to help his gut start moving again, he was able to tolerate feeds.
So tomorrow is two weeks. His lungs sound great. He will come off his antibiotics. He will be on full G-Tube feeds and off of his IV fluids…and if that’s not enough…
TODAY, HE MOVED HIS RIGHT LEG!!!
Please pray COMPLETE healing over little Misiel’s body.
Tamernesh~beauty from ashes.
Seven weeks ago.
A mom came into SCH with a terrible head injury. We sent her to another hospital 2 hours north for a CT scan to see the extent of the damage. By the time she returned to the hospital, she was beginning to die. She needed to be taken immediately into the OR to have an emergency C-Section to try and save her baby. She was only 32 weeks gestation.
Thankfully the baby’s lungs were well-enough developed that by His Grace, she has grown from 2 pounds to almost 4 pounds over the past seven weeks. She will be going home to her father’s family after she gains a bit more weight.
This was a tragic story of life and death so intertwined. But His grace has brought beauty from these ashes.
Please pray for her little life. Please pray for her family for their loss and their miracle, Tamernesh.
~Dave