Friday, April 30, 2010

Fantabulous Fever-Free Friday

A cardiovascular pediatric ICU nurse left the following comment today on our blog, and I thought that someone out there might need to read this as a "pro" evaluates what is happening with Chrissie and validates that she's nothing short of God's miraculous hand:

"You do not know me, but I am a CVICU [cardiovascular ICU] nurse at a pedi ospi [pediatric hospital] and came across your blog on another blog asking for prayers for your sweet Chrissie. Understanding everything that you have written from a medical perspective, understanding everything about ECMO and TPA [the risky drug used to dissolve the clot] and hemorrhage...I am here to tell you that your sweet daughter's life is a miracle! Praise Him, who has breathed the breath of life into her little lungs once again. HE is right there with Chrissie, all of the time. Every time a doctor or nurse says "that can't be," Chrissie shows them: "then you don't know my great and powerful God!!  Sending you love, encouragement, and big heart prayers from fellow cardiac people in Dallas!!!! "  ~Libby


Praises to report on this Fantabulous Friday:
  • Chrissie has remained fever-free all day today!  (We are awaiting several cultures to determine if there's any infection/bacteria anywhere, but so far, no more fever.)
  • Chrissie has remained off of a powerful drug since mid-day called Epinephrine (I think...they call it "Epi"); it's the drug that works similar to adrenaline, that tells her heart to beat more rapidly.  Chrissies' heart rate has stayed above 99 (or higher) all day, on its own!!!  She also doesn't even have her pacemaker hooked up and she's been staying in perfect "sinus" rythm all by herself!  (With God, ALL things are possible!)
  • Nurse Steven (who adores Chrissie and takes excellent care of her; his nephew has had 3 open-heart surgeries) "washed" the back of Chrissie's hair.  The back portion of Chrissie's head/hair had laid in pools of blood for days, then it dried, and it was in horrendous condition.  Her hair was matted in dried blood that was worse than when we accidentally put a fluffy stuffed animal into the dryer and it mattes into a melted, tangled mess.  I didn't know how we'd ever get it all out, but today Steven worked so lovingly on Chrissie's head and hair, scrubbing it and soaking it with hydrogen peroxide and an antiseptic shampoo/wash until he was able to comb out all of the dried blood.  And he did all of this while I was napping!!! :-)  Thank you, Steven!
  • Chrissie has had 2 bowel movements already!  They started the intestinal tube feedings yesterday, and she is tolerating them well.  Her intestinal tract has processed the food and eliminated it via a "poopy"...twice!  This is huge!  (And, Steven changed her first poopy diaper for me while I rested...thank you Steven!)  The night nurse changed the second diaper with me by Chrissie's side (it's tricky moving her because her sternum is still sawed in two and stapled into position...OUCH!), so I talked to Chrissie while the nurse changed her diaper.  Chrissie cried, but I think she was crying because she was so embarrassed to be wearing a diaper!  She's a BIG girl, not a baby!!!  I assured her that it was OK and it was a GOOD thing that we were celebrating her poopy diaper and SO proud of her!
  • Chrissie's sats have all stayed in an acceptable range.  Lungs are having a hard time, but Chrissie's still bossing them.  It's hard to boss disobedience away though, especially when the lungs are so ornery! Respiratory therapist had to go up on the oscillator (specialized ventilator that puffs air down Chrissie's throat/airway and into her lungs) in order to get oxygen sats where they want them, but they still have lots of room to play with it incase things go downhill.  They've been giving Chrissie an asthma type of medicine to open her airways, and they've been suctioning out lots of yucky stuff from her airway/lungs throughout the day.  Not sure if that's good or bad, but it is what it is.  There's been some old blood coming out of her lungs, but tonight looked like there could be some fresh blood.  That would not be good.  Pray for Chrissie's lungs!!!
  • Mommy got to take several naps today while Chrissie rested.  Today is the first day I've been able to nap.  I was exhausted, and so grateful for my 2 big naps today!!!
  • Dr. Porisch emailed me and she and the medical heart mission team are all safe in Iraq.  I was SOOOO happy to hear from her!  Please pray for their team to accomplish much for God's glory and be safe and healthy, etc.  I think they are returning May 9.
  • Dr. Porisch requests your prayers for Chrissie's lungs to heal and for no infection anywhere in Chrissie's body.  She and her entire team are praying as well.  Gotta love how God works.  We are so blessed by Dr. Porisch.  More than she'll ever know.  (Love ya Dr. P!)
  • God has blessed us with a wonderful plan to help reunite our family while Chrissie is hospitalized and Mommy stays in San Antonio every day and night by Chrissie's side.  A total stranger who is now a friend :-) has paid for our family's camper to stay at a local campground near Seaworld.  Our kiddos will be coming to SA every weekend to have fun family time.  My mom (Chrissie's Nana) will be staying by Chrissie's side all day Saturday so that the rest of our family can hang out and go to Seaworld and enjoy being with one another.  Nana will be spoiling Chrissie in the hospital with lots of attention and stories while I get spoiled by the love of my other 5 precious children.  Perfect!  So excited to love on my other kiddos.  I miss them so much!
  • So many of you have inquired about helping our family.  Many of you have offered to give financially to help offset the medical costs we'll be facing as well as the crazy living expenses of having us at the hospital all of the time.  My husband has been gone from work for 2 weeks, but hopes to return to work part-time next week.  In an effort to make things easy for you to donate to us (instead of having to always figure out what to tell you), I decided to just bite the pride bullet and put a donation badge on our blog (look over on the right sidebar for the "Chip In" badge).  All you have to do is click on it (where it says "Chip In") and it should take you to a donation page that will go directly to our Paypal account to be utilized for all of Chrissie's hospitalization expenses as well as the additional expenses our family is incuring during this time.
  • So many of you are providing meals for our family both at home and at the hospital!  THANK YOU!  We are so very blessed by all of you who are loving on us and showing how the body of Christ works to lift one another up and serve one another with joy.  We are humbled by your outpourings and offerings.  Thank you!  Some of you who are in the SA area have asked how to "sign up" to bring a meal to us, and the same stranger (now friend, Cristie) who paid for our campground site (and also was organizing a fundraising effort for our family as well as trying to set up a trust account until I decided to just do the "Chip In" donation via Paypal route) also put together a Care Calendar site specifically designed to provide meals for us at the hospital and to our family while we're camping together on the weekends.  If you'd like to sign up to provide a meal in SA (for us at the hospital or for our family while "camping" in SA), please email Cristie at cmartine@satx.rr.com and let her know your name, location, how you know us and she'll give you the login info for our hospital care calendar.  If you'd like to sign up to provide a meal for our family during the week back at our ranch in Wimberley, please email Brenda at monkeysmomx3@yahoo.com and let her know who you are so she can give you the ranch care calendar login info.
  • Our princess is resting soundly and I'm going to sleep soon, too.  It's been a fantabulous Friday, and we are most GRATEFUL for your faithful prayers. 
Be sure to thank God for His many blessings He has so graciously bestowed upon us!  Praise Him from Whom all blessings flow!
PS  Someone asked about getting a special bed for Chrissie that will rotate her automatically, but it's not an option while she's connected to the oscillator/ventilator because of the tube running down her throat.  It has to be adjusted manually when/if we move Chrissie as it must be kept in a perfect position in her throat, which messes up if Chrissie is moved, even an inch in any direction.  Chrissie is sleeping on sheepskin and foam "egg crates" to help eliminate pressure sores, etc. Thanks for your suggestions, and if/when Chrissie gets off the vent, this will be a possibility! :-)




4 comments:

Chandra said...

Praise the Lord for Fantabulous Friday!!! Praise Him for answered prayers!

Praying for Chrissie tonight, may the forward steps continue.
Praying for the mommy tonight, may she get much needed rest.
Praying for health for the family so they can enjoy family time soon.

Thank you Heavenly Father for all the love You have shown this family.

Laurel said...

Praising the Lord with you tonight.

Praying that you and the family have a wonderful time at SeaWorld tomorrow.


Laurel :)

Erin Richardson said...

Praise the Lord, Lorraine. What incredible, fantabulous news!!!!! I wanted you to know that my 12 year old son, Wes, is praying mightily for Chrissie and is asking daily about how she is doing. He feels very connected to her (as does my 6-year old daughter) because they remember me telling them about Barbara a year ago, and begging me to adopt her! For some time, I thought about how wonderful it would be to have her in our family, but since we knew we'd be in Serbia for at least a year, it didn't make sense (since she needed to get to the states for surgery). God hand-picked you all to be her family, and we are so pleased and gratified here to see that she is in such amazing hands!!!! Let's keep the miracles coming, and thanks to you for keeping us all updated as to how she's doing. Please tell her that Miss Erin and Wesley, Eli, Graham and Virginia love her very much!!!!

Unknown said...

WOW!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU JESUS!

God is so faithful!

I'm thrilled for you all :-)

What an awesome report to wake up to!

I'm so blessed by your story and faith!!!!

Love you all,
Jill

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