6:50 pm:

Right now we are doing a whole lot of waiting for Phoebe. She has been asleep still for most of the day and her mental status has not improved much over all, but we have had some bright spots. Last night in the middle of the night she said very clearly. “I want some milk Mom” and today she asked for her computer but didn’t play with it for long. She also played with stickers with her Mammaw for a few minutes. These are good signs.

She had a blood transfusion today to help her hemoglobin and received platelets as well. Her heart rate climbed back down into the 130’s-140’s after the transfusion and all of her numbers started falling into place, it was beautiful to see. Her sodium is still high, and they are working on bringing that down slowly. She had an abdominal ultrasound today which we have not heard the results on yet and tomorrow she will have a CT of her chest and possibly a lumbar puncture to test for Meningitis.

The doctor was very pleased with the progress she made today and wants to see her continue to wake up a bit more by tomorrow as her electrolytes come more into balance. Her sleepiness is the biggest concern. She just can’t seem to pull out of it although her cognitive abilities don’t seem to be diminished at all. She played with my hair today and said “snuggle me Mom”, and her eyes followed me around the room. That was so good to see and is such an improvement from yesterday.
At this point we are praying for “just an infection”, or “just sepsis” as crazy as that seems. The alternative is a bad MRI that shows tumor regrowth or metastasis of cancer cells throughout her Cerebro-Spinal fluid. Any of these issues could account for her sleepy mental state.

Nathan and I are here together this weekend and my Mom took the boys home with her for some fun in the country. They were excited for a change of pace and it has been so good for Nathan and I to get some together with Phoebe. We have had some tough conversations today about what the different diagnoses’ would mean and some wonderful dialogue about how we see the Lord working through Phoebe’s life right now.

Your theology really gets a work out in a crisis like this, and it has been good to realize that what we believe about God and His goodness has not changed in the midst of all of this, but only been strengthened and  purified. I hope to share in more detail about that in one of these posts, but tonight I am wiped out. The last two days have been pretty intense and I am running on fumes and your prayers. Lots of tears today, and a roller coaster of emotions. Thank you for lifting us up!