Tuesday, Feb 19

I started my Physics class at PCC today. A bit overwhelming, especially considering that I can hardly concentrate on school right now. Oh well...

Anyway, Caitlyn had a rough night at Miller. (Actually, David did. Caitlyn probably slept ok.) They shared a room with a very sick, very miserable toddler boy. He cried most of the night. Poor thing...

Anyway, I have not been to the hospital yet, so here is what David has told me so far:

Caitlyn will be on inhaled steroids (yeah, she'll get buff!!! j/k) for the next 2 or so days. This should open up the airways and help some of the gunk to get loosened up. They don't want it to come out in big clumps that could clog another airway, though, so it'll need to be monitored. She will have regular respiratory therapy including wearing the dreaded "vest." Caitlyn really hates the vest but all the doctors say she needs it, so she'll have to deal with it for the next couple of days. It basically shakes her up real good. Most adults think it would be relaxing (think massage), but it's a little scary for Caitlyn, and it's not exactly comfortable.

After 2 days, they will do another chest x-ray. If it shows improvement, she can come home! She'll be all done with hospitals! If no improvement, she will need to have the bronchoscopy. So, for the time, there is more waiting...

This morning, I heard "Everlasting God" on the radio. I like the song, but it has become familiar and commonplace to me. But today,it got me thinking about what it means that "strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord." What does it mean to wait upon the Lord? Does it mean serving Him, like a waiter? Or does it mean that as we're waiting for God to do something (like answer prayer), that's when He gives us strength? That seemed to make sense to me. I'm still not exactly sure of the context, but I do feel that God has graced us with extra strength, peace, and calm as we continue to simply wait for Him to move. Thanks again, to everyone for your prayers.

I will probably not be home until Thursday, so unless David updates, the next post will be then. We'll have a better idea of what is going on.

Monday, February 18th

Well, Caitlyn left Methodist Hospital today! Not quite what we were hoping for, though... She has been transferred to Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach. After a couple of days without chest x-rays or blood work, we were looking forward to going home, as Caitlyn seemed to be gaining strength and appetite back. Unfortunately, this morning's x-ray showed that the collapsed lung had not improved as expected. The collapsed lung has had the doctors scratching their heads and they felt that the time had come for her to get more specialized care that could not take place at Methodist.

David went with Caitlyn to Long Beach this evening and will, hopefully, be calling me with an update of what's going on. There is a good possibility that she will have a bronchoscopy tomorrow. If so, we'd really appreciate your prayers. She is very nervous about it. We will know, in a short time, what other options for treatment are available, also.

I'm sorry that my postings don't seem very specific or organized. I'm not sure I even understand what's going on. Different doctors and nurses have told me so many different things that I don't know what to believe. But I trust that God is working through all of this to do something great and I rest in that hope.

This has been a difficult two weeks, and we have been carried on the prayers of our family and friends. I almost feel like I can't ask for more help at this point, because people have helped out tremendously. However, we are in a time of need and I was wondering if anyone would be willing to help out with Timmy and Kylie at some point during the next week. I start a new semester at PCC tomorrow (my class is from 8:30 - 12:00 on Tues/Thurs). If anyone could help watch them I would be so grateful. They have been needing some attention lately... (example: Timmy gave Kylie a haircut in the closet the other day. yikes!)

Please call me or David if you'd like to help out with this. Thanks so much!

Saturday

It was a fun day at the hospital as we had lots of visitors and another day of amazing support and encouragement. Caitlyn's Uncle and Auntie surprised us by driving all the way from San Francisco to visit! And we had other relatives that travelled a good distance to see us, too! It was such a blessing. Caitlyn's room is overflowing with gifts, cards, balloons, and flowers. Thanks again, everyone! Thanks to Dave and Shelby, too, for spending time playing with Timmy and Kylie. They have felt a little neglected and they really enjoyed their time with you!

I'm not sure when the thank you notes will eventually be in the mail, but I did want to acknowledge now how blessed our family has been!

As far as Caitlyn's pneumonia goes, she no longer is having daily x-rays or blood tests. They are watching for the fever to not return, making sure her appetite is increasing and that she's walking around. Her "breathing sounds" are increasing which means that, hopefully, on the day we go home, the chest x-ray will show some improvement. If it doesn't, they will be monitoring her progress for a few weeks. If, after that time, she still isn't clear, they may have to do a bronchoscopy. We'll see.

We're trying to just be patient with all the "waiting and seeing." It's been frustrating to not have any conclusive test results. The doctors still are not completely sure what caused the infection (possibly more than one organism.) They are also running some tests just to be sure her immune system is functioning well. They don't seem to agree when she will be able to go home, although they all have seen significant improvement in the past two days.

We are thanking the Lord for watching over Caitlyn and asking Him what He's trying to teach us through it all. He has shown His goodness and faithfulness by providing us strength, rest, and support. He is a good God! :)

Friday, February 15

Caitlyn had a good day yesterday and is feeling even better today. Her appetite is slowing coming back. (She looks so skinny right now!) The doctors want her to be fever free for 48-72 hours before going home so it sounds like Monday will likely be the earliest she can leave. Her fever this morning was only 101.5 (much lower than in the past) and she only had the one fever all day yesterday. Her blood test are showing a good deal of improvement as well. The doctor said she's "turned the corner" but they are being cautious to not letting her go home too early. It has been a very complicated case. The infectious disease specialist thinks that she actually has a "walking pneumonia" which is caused by the mycoplasm pneumoniae bacteria for all you academic people out there. Usually, walking pneumonia is very mild or even undiagnosed because people think they just have a cough and cold. So, it's puzzling why Caitlyn got so sick from it. But the treatment seems to be working, so at this point, they're thinking that this was the bug.

Chest x-rays did not come back when I was last at the hospital so I don't know if there was improvement with the collapsed lung. They seem to think she has a "mucous plug" in there that just doesn't want to be coughed out. (I know, sounds really gross.) She's supposed to be drinking lots of fluid and staying out of bed as much as possible. We take walks around the hospital several times a day and started climbing the stairs, too.

Caitlyn continues to have respiratory therapy. She's had some very animated and quirky therapists! You can ask her about that if you want... :)

Thanks again, for all of your prayers. We have a huge network of friends and family praying for and thinking about us. It's amazing to think that our family is being covered in prayer from San Francisco to San Diego, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Santa Barbara, and even beyond! God has been so good to us and we are so blessed by you!

Here are some pictures of Caitlyn at the hospital. She doesn't even look sick. She's doing so well. I'll update again tomorrow! Thanks for checking in! :)

Wednesday Update

Caitlyn seems to be happier today and her fevers are becoming a little more spread out. (The Tylenol and Motrin seem to last a little longer between fevers.) She has been doing lots of respiratory exercises and "percussion" therapy. (think: bongos.) The discovery of a TV with Playstation and VCR helped distract her from her discomfort this morning. I would say today seemed like a pretty good day.

Medically speaking, though, things could be a lot better. Her x-rays have not been showing much improvement. Despite the findings yesterday that the collapsed lung seemed to be inflating better, the radiologist said that actually, it might have just been that the angle the x-ray was taken at made it appear to have improved, but it really hadn't changed. Either that or she has regressed since yesterday. She had a CT scan this afternoon, but unfortunately, it didn't provide the doctors with much new information.

We saw an infectious disease specialist today. He'll be exploring other possible explanations for the pneumonia.

It's been a bit frustrating that the doctors are stumped and can't figure out what's wrong with Caitlyn. However, I feel at peace about it because I know God likes to work out the things that are impossible for us to work out on our own. I trust He is working something good through this and I know He taking care of her.

Sorry this is going to be short, but I am wiped out and need some rest. Please keep checking back to see what's up!

By the way, though, I really wanted to thank everyone for their amazing support and love throughout all of this! Our family has experienced such an outpouring, it's impossible to describe! Caitlyn has been so lifted up and blessed by the visits, gifts, flowers, and prayers. We really wish we could express our gratitude, but words don't do it. Thanks so much!

I'll put some pictures up soon.