The Halls of Insanity: A new meaning to "tough little bird"

It was a Mother's Day I'll never forget. I think that was Layla's plan. It was a well executed plan at that. This year, Layla decided to get sick for Mother's Day. What turned out to be really, really sick.
We think Layla may have aspirated (i.e. sucked some stuff that doesn't belong into her lungs) sometime on the 8th. She was admitted to the hospital on the 9th, for what looked like a small pneumonia. She was treated with antibiotics and received breathing treatments and chest pt. However, this time seemed different. She was having difficulty breathing, very labored, and couldn't keep her oxygen levels up. In the early hours of Friday (14th) morning, she was rushed to the PICU.

Getting phone calls in the middle of the night is just not a good thing. John called me (I was home with Sean and Addie) to tell me that she was not doing well and would be admitted to the PICU. We arrived around 2:00 am. The doctor met with us in what I now call the "bad news room". The prognosis was not good. Her lungs were fully whited out and they had a very difficult time intubating her. She was on a ventilator. We were told the first 24-48 hours were critical. If she made it through that, then her odds would improve. As you can imagine, this was devastating. Sean and Addie were with us and Sean heard, and processed, every word the doctor said. We finally got to see her around 3:30 am. She did not look good and did not look like our Layla bird. She was puffy and blue and had tubes and wires everywhere. They let Sean come in and see her, and we will forever be grateful for that.

One thing I never wish on anyone is having to call your family at 3:30 am and tell them that they need to get to the hospital asap. It's just not fun so avoid it if at all possible. But what an awesome family we have; within 12 hours of those inital phone calls, parents had arrived from Kentucky and Texas and John's brother and his family were driving up from Houston. The outpouring of support was incredible. We had many visitors that Friday, many I am not sure I will remember. It was a difficult time, and that is putting it mildly.

John and I didn't leave the hospital for those critical 48 hours. She was put on an oscillating ventilator which in my mind is somewhat like blowing up an air mattress but with short, quick puffs of air. If you pull away your air source, the mattress deflates. Same thing with Layla's lungs. In those first days, she didn't have much tolerance for anything: medications, suctioning, etc. But little by little, she began making improvements. Medicines were weaned down, air settings were turned down so she could work harder, and xrays showed little bits of improvement every day.

I will spare you al the details and emotions of the weekend, but will skip to the events of today and say that today was a glorious day. She was taken off the oscillating ventilator and put back on the mechanical ventilator. I know it's strange because she's still on life support, but this was a MAJOR step in the right direction. They also put in a chest tube to drain off some fluid (a good thing) so that her lungs could expand better. Her sweet little heart is now pumping better. Previously the right side was enlarged due to having to work so hard. She's back on her feeds and is pooping (it's amazing what I get excited over now!).

She still has a very long road to recovery but John just let me kwow that it seems like she's beginning to breathe on her own a little. Who would have ever thought that a little girl without a brain could overcome such a nasty infection (which was a pseudomonas infection; nasty little opportunist). We have been absolutely overwhelemed by the outpouring of love and support given to us by not only family and friends, but people who have never met Layla, let alone us. She is our little missionary. She will bring every soul she can touch closer to Him.

Please continue to pray for our little bird. She is such a strong and brave fighter but we know that she could not have come nearly as far as she has if it weren't for the power of prayer. I will try my best to keep the blog updated with the new and wonderful changes.

I am so glad I got this picture but it will forever break my heart just as you can see Sean's breaking here. This was taken after she was intubated in the PICU and we got to see her. (14 May 10)