URGENT: PLEASE PRAY!

UPDATE! 5:30 PM Jan. 26
Staci is healing, although very slowly. She is still having a difficult time keeping food down, and she is very weak. A sinus infection is making it difficult for her to breathe. She has decided to change from a general practitioner to an internal medicine doctor...and the doctor she is seeing interned at Indiana University Hospital with a liver specialty! Her appointment with him is tomorrow. I will keep you posted on what HE tells her she can do to further along the healing process. I know she still covets and appreciates every prayer...even the two minute ones!
 
UPDATE! 11:30 A.M.. Jan. 16
Staci is home! Staci was released from the hospital today with the only "marching orders" being that she see her family doctor within a week. WOW! Thank you so much dear friends for all your prayers, well wishes and encouraging words! PRAYER WORKS!


I will leave this final update on my blog as a testimony to the healing power of God and praying people! 


Back to my regularly scheduled life! (and my technical difficulties) ARGH!


UPDATE! 11:30 P.M. Jan. 15
Staci is already out of ICU and in a regular room! Her doctors want to see how she does through the night...other than a rebound migraine from coming off all the drugs, she's doing great. Please pray for her to have a good night's restful sleep!




UPDATE! 10:09 A.M. Jan. 14
 Staci is fully alert and off the ventilator! She is speaking (in a whisper) but will be sitting up in a chair before the day's over! My sister Peggy said, "What a difference a night makes!" The doctors are amazed...it was like someone flipped a switch and BAM! We've got Staci again! HALLELUJAH! Dear friends, thank you SO MUCH for your prayers, and for your continued prayers for her ongoing healing. She may be taken off the feeding tube tomorrow (if she can pass the swallow test) and they may have her walking the halls...Peg said Staci is very emotional and SO GRATEFUL to be alive. The nursing staff has stopped by to talk with her...she's the talk of the ICU! I am printing out your sweet prayers and comments and taking them to her tomorrow. I know both she, Peg and Tim will all be deeply touched by your thoughtfulness!

 
UPDATE! 10:07 AM Jan. 13
Just spoke to Peg...Staci's being prepped for a CT scan. The doctors keep thinking they're missing something because of her persistent low grade fever. In a very brief text message tonight Peg told me the doctor said there was infection "around her kidneys" . I don't know if there's an easy treatment for that, if the wide spectrum of antibiotics didn't address THAT particular kind of infection or what...Peg said she was going to bed early and would talk to me tomorrow. I'll let you know more then. 3 specific things to pray for: Discernment and wisdom for the doctors. Healing for Staci. Peace for Peg, Tim and Dylan. I am staying up all night in a prayer vigil for them...and I will be leaving to go to Indy tomorrow. I guess you could pray for traveling mercies for me since I'll be driving with very little sleep under my belt! Thanks dear ones!

 UPDATE! 10:07 pm Jan. 12
Just spoke to Peg...Staci's still trying to wake up off the medications. Doctors do not know why it's taking her so long...they want her out of ICU and off the ventilator tube for fear of infection or worse. She has to be fully awake and able to respond to simple commands, i.e. swallow, squeeze my hand, etc. Her doctor was hoping she'd be taken off today but he was not satisfied that she was ready...they are hoping to have her off by this weekend. I will probably making a trip to Indy again this weekend...I can hardly stand being HERE when she is THERE and in so much distress! Please pray that Staci will wake up to full alertness and be able to be extubated in the next day or two. I am printing out all of your sweet comments and taking them to Peg to read as encouragement, and to show Staci once she wakes up, so she can see how many people from all over the world are praying and believing on her behalf! THANK YOU dear friends!

UPDATE! 10:07 AM Jan. 10
Just spoke to Peg...Staci's pneumonia is getting worse ... the doctors can't figure out why since she has been on a constant flow of antibiotics since she got to the hospital. They believe because her liver was initially compromised the meds are taking longer to filter through her body. However, additional fluid seems to be coming from somewhere and doctors do not know where or how that is happening. No removal of the ventilator until they figure out why she is still retaining so much fluid. She also has symptoms of drop foot now (a condition caused by being bedfast). Her fever is still gone so that's a good thing. However the infection remains. She had a team of about 30 excellent doctors, nurses, residents and interns attending today...they are compiling all info in hope of finding an answer.

Please pray for the doctors to have wisdom and insight, and for Peg, Tim and the family to maintain their faith and a positive attitude. Also, please pray that Staci will be healed completely!  Thank you all for your kind prayers and comments. I'm going to print them out and send them to Staci's mom so she can read them out loud to Staci.

 UPDATE! 10:07 PM Jan. 9 
Just spoke to Peg...Staci's pneumonia is still very present in both lungs. The fever is gone but the infection is still quite severe. The pulmonary doc says no taking her off the ventilator for at least a day or two...her lungs just can't handle it. Peg and Tim are both taking another week of vacation so they are not adding financial woes to their already numerous problems. Please keep praying...


UPDATE! 8:07 PM Jan. 8

Well, much to my dismay (and that of the rest of the family I'm sure) Staci was not taken off the ventilator today. Hubby Dear and I were hoping to see Staci sitting up and talking and out of ICU before we left to come back home, but finances and work dictated that we come back home today. 

The doctor felt the pneumonia in the lower lobes of Staci's lungs still has her respiratory system too compromised to allow her to breathe without a great deal of effort. She is able to breathe on her own for a few hours at a time, but the ventilator remains for back up. Her fever has finally gone down but the "waking up" remains a difficult thing both for Staci to live and family to watch. 


Please continue to pray for Staci and for her mom, dad and husband, all of whom have been at the hospital with her non-stop for over a week. They are all sleeping in the ICU waiting rooms, which offers hour long catnaps at best.



UPDATE! 2:07 PM Jan. 7

Staci has been taken off all medication and they are waiting for her to wake up to see if she can breathe well enough to be taken off the ventilator. Problem with this scenario: 1. Staci will come up swinging when she realizes she has a) a feeding tube and b) a catheter. So far, she is  alert enough to struggle a bit, cough, and slips right back into "sleep mode." They are hoping she could have the ventilator tube out by tonight in favor of her being put back on a CPap machine instead. We shall see...

Meanwhile, she is getting good nourishment via the feeding tube (through her nose...) and her high fever is starting to come down...only a tenth of a degree at a time...but it IS coming down.

Most of what's going on with Staci at this point is reflex and automatic body reactions to what's being done.

We were going to  leave today, but decided to stay another day in hope that Staci will be taken off the ventilator. We shall see. The Colts play tomorrow so the downtown area will be bedlam ... we wanted to get out before the party started, but alas, we will be here in the thick of it.

That's all I know for now. As long as Stace is in ICU, I'd say her condition remains life threatening...keep prayers coming!

UPDATE! 12:05 P.M. Jan. 6

Update on Staci: Greetings, dear friends!  Sorry I have been away for an entire day without the ability to report...Staci has been moved back to ICU after doctors decided she needed to be put on a ventilator in order for her oxygen levels to be kept at livable levels. Her fever spiked and now she is on 7 bottles of medicine while the ventilator is doing the breathing for her. As of last night, her fever is coming down, and her color looks better than it has since she arrived. LOTS of scary things going on...trying to be supportive to both my sister and her husband, as well as Dylan, Staci's husband. He's walking around like a zombie..a sleep deprived, broken hearted zombie. Please keep him in your prayers as well.

The doctors have ruled out liver problems and autoimmune. SO that's good news. Still unsure of where the infection and the severe respiratory problems are coming from. Lots of good doctors still trying to find answers. I'll try to update you again at the end of the day. Not sure I'll be coming home this weekend unless doctors can give us some definitive information. Thanks for holding us all in prayer.

UPDATE! 8:30 PM Jan. 4
Update on Staci: The only additional information gained today is that the team of doctors have discovered that Staci has a life threatening case of pneumonia. They also mentioned autoimmune disease...that it seems her body is fighting against itself. Somehow. She's still running a fever, has a rash that appears and disappears, and was whisked away for a CT scan just a few minutes ago. We are all as baffled as the doctors seem to be...Liver damage was due to a 6 gram dose of Tylenol. Yes, it's THAT BAD for your liver...or, at least for Staci's. Please keep praying.

UPDATE!  5:20 A.M. Jan. 4 

I feel like I'm living in an episode of "House"...Staci has a team of diagnostic specialists trying to figure out what's wrong with her...have spent hours getting background history. They told us they will be running about 20 tests today. Please pray for Staci to have strength to endure the testing...she does ok for a bit and then crashes...please pray for wisdom for the doctors and stamina for Staci.

UPDATE!  2:19 P.M. Jan. 3 
Bud, Webster and I are heading to Indy as soon as Bud gets off work and gets home. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. More info, updates and (hopefully) good news from the hospital!


UPDATE!  6:58 A.M. Jan. 3
Prayer warrior friends, you're amazing! Peg just called and said the Dr. told her that it looks like Staci's elevated levels are dropping...things seem to be reversing for the moment! YAY! KEEP PRAYING! More info as it arrives!


Dear friends in blogdom,

I am afraid I have an urgent prayer request to share with you...(10:26 pm Jan. 2)

I just got call from my sister Peggy...(who lives near Fort Wayne, Indiana) her girl, Staci, (25) was taken by ambulance to the Liver Transplant hospital in Indianapolis. Over the course of 4 days, she has gone from having what she thought was a sinus infection, to thinking it was the flu, to going to the ER...then thinking it was a gall bladder problem, to a liver specialist finally suspecting some radical strain of hepatitis. She has never done IV drugs, and she doesn't drink, but her liver is damaged due to whatever this is. Peg is scared to death, and Staci's blood oxygen levels are only 70 or so. She's in intensive care and I may have to go up to be with them tomorrow. PLEASE MOBILIZE EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO WILL PRAY! 

(My beautiful niece Staci and her dad Tim and my sister (her mom) Peggy)

Peg will know tests results tomorrow. PLEASE PLEASE pray! When Staci was sick about 8 years ago, they thought she was having an asthma attack and it ended up landing her in ICU at death's door. They never did figure out what was wrong with her that time.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks, dear friends!
Paula Clare