Friday Mercies

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Thank you for your prayers for our family. For the first time in a long time we were really afraid for Elizabeth. She was a very sick cookie. Praise God that after a really rough 24 hours, two strong IV antibiotics and some Tylenol, Elizabeth is doing much better this evening. She's chatting up a storm, asking the nurses for games, reminding mom, "You have to order my food!" and generally charming the part of the world that's revolving around her right now. Her blood cultures have come back positive, so we know she's got a blood infection and will now just wait for her cultures to give us more information about which bug it is. Based on early information, it's probable that it's Strep Pneumonia again and therefore likely that she'll be in the hospital for another 10-14 day course of antibiotics.

In case you've been counting, this is her 3rd case of strep pneumo in 2 years and 2nd case in 2 months! It's most likely due to the fact that her spleen is not functioning properly due to her portal hypertension which is caused by her clot in her liver (portal vein thrombosis). That leaves her at increased risk of developing an infection that most healthy people with typical immune systems fight of without knowing it. After my sleepless night last night, Matt is taking over tonight and we'll have "family day" at the hospital tomorrow.

In the middle of all this, we are praising God for his mercies:

*This didn't happen while my mom was alone with the girls and we were on our trip!

*Someone invented a more painless procedure for drawing blood and placing IVs...it really was much easier with a little shot of lidocane

*Earlier this week I'd arranged a babysitter for the girls for Friday morning, so even though E's sickness was unexpected, Matt didn't have to take time off of work

*Elizabeth got sick on Thursday, after Matt's 3 toughest work days, and before a 3 day weekend...childcare issues are delayed for a few more days!

*We have two friends who are on rotations at Children's Hospital right now, and it was so lovely to see their familiar faces in the middle of all the craziness last night and this morning. Familiar Drs and Nurses are nice, but friends are better.

*My grandmother in California, had surgery for colon cancer this morning and appears to have come through safely

*Elizabeth's symptoms were enough to get us on "contact precautions" and moved to an isolation room...Yay! No roomates! (though our roomate last night was a total peach, and we were the noisy ones for sure)

*Dr. Pepper is a satisfactory short-term substitute for no sleep

*Panera Bread Co. broccoli cheese soup for lunch, hand-delivered by my handsome husband...yum.

*The gift shop had restocked little plush Dora the Explorer dolls so E has a buddy in her hospital bed.

*Emily made a delicious dinner tonight...such comfort food

*Our roommate last night was admitted for complications arising from anorexia. She's 12. Elizabeth is 3 and her feeding disorder is well on it's way to being history. She EATS and grows (albiet slowly) and has a happy relationship with food.

*God truly is good, all the time.