Saturday, July 05, 2008

Prayers... prayers... prayers...

Sorry I haven't been around this week... life has been a tad crazy! Kali's buddy Karena was admitted to Hendrick Hospital on Wednesday and care flighted to Cook's on Thursday. Keep her family in your prayers... she had strep last Sunday and Tuesday night was very disoriented. Her parents (Kayla and Shane) took her to see Dr. Wylie on Wednesday morning and he admitted her immediately. By the middle of the afternoon she was completely unresponsive and we were all quite scared. They did many tests and labeled it encephalitis and sent her off to Cook's. At Cook's they have agreed that it is encephalitis, but cannot find the cause. As of right now, they suspect the strep virus went array and caused the inflammation in her brain. Because the swelling in her brain was in her frontal lobe, she has been silent since Wednesday. (This is not normal for Karena!) Friday was the first day that she opened her eyes and seemed alert... Today she said a few words. A friend and I are going up tomorrow as it is killing us to sit here and wait, but please keep everyone in your prayers. The dr's told Shane that they felt like they could be looking at a 2 wk stay at Cook's!

On a side note, we have learned much about encephalitis and I would just like to encourage all of you to be quite careful when playing with kittens/cats that you don't know or swimming in a lake as both of these are carriers of viruses that cause encephalitis. In fact, kittens carry the herpes virus and a single scratch can cause all of what Karena has experienced this week! The lake/pond/river can carry ameba's that cause encephalitis! EWW! I'm trying not to be completely grossed out, but it is difficult when you see your child's best buddy almost comatose in the hospital bed.

Another side note... Karena is the first child that I have met that can keep up with Kali and has never complained that Kali was too rough... Kali and Karena both attack life in full force and can often be found rolling around in the floor wrestling with each other... this is part of what has been so difficult for everyone on the sidelines... the child that is never still or quiet cannot move or talk. I'm hoping that when Kali walks into the room tomorrow there is a different Karena laying there... the one who tries to jump right out of the bed and attack her! :)

Anyway, thanks for the prayers...

1 comment:

Amy said...

That's so scary!! We will keep ya'll in our prayer!