Incredible Prayer Warriors!

That is what you all are out there!  I am literally stunned by the day we had today and am shaking my head at the drastic change of events.

The night had been rough with Sivana having soiled herself all over and parts of her crib at 2:00 a.m.  And she was inconsolable for quite some time... shaking and shivering and just looking like all of this was really taking its toll on her.  Hence the desperation in research, hence the desperation of my blog entry and plea for your prayers.

This morning, she was up as usual wanting her bottle.  This has been guzzled down only to be thrown back up again within an hour or two.  But this morning, she drank it AND wanted to eat some food for breakfast!  And more than only two bites!  She had another small bout of diarrhea shortly thereafter but nothing compared to what we'd been experiencing all week.

She had enough energy to stay awake until 8:30 a.m. and then went down for her nap (these last few days, she has had to nap after being up for an hour).  An hour later, she was up and asking for another bottle!  I was starting to thing we'd have one big mess to deal with before too long.  But that bottle stayed down, too!  She wanted to eat a snack and was even being somewhat playful again... a part of her character we have not seen all week.  Even her smile was finally reaching her eyes!  Praise be to God!

At lunch, she ate more food... not much but far more than her usual bite or nothing at all.  Right after lunch it was time to head out to the paediatrician's office.  Once there, they weighed her and took note of her elevated heart rate.  Given that she has only the one kidney now, they want to see her peeing at the very least every six hours.  Well, we were lucky to get one or two pees from her per day for the last few days and by 1:30 this afternoon, she had last peed at 6:00 in the morning when she woke up.  The paediatrician said she thought it would be best for Sivana to go to Children's Emergency for IV rehydration and to test blood levels to ensure the past week did not take a toll on her kidney.

Well, not as easy a task as this meant driving to Isabel's school to pick her up, then drive back out to the country, pack some provisions and drive back out to Children's Hospital.  Finally just before 5:00 pm, we'd gone through triage and Sivana had had another two bottles between those time frames!  Still no vomiting, still no diarrhoea!  Could it be???

When the doctor at Emergency examined her, he was quite happy with her level of alertness, the amount of saliva still in her mouth and her overall condition.  While there, Sivana peed her diaper like we have not seen for seven days!!!  This also made the doctor happy!  (I'll have to try that the next time I'm at a checkup and see if my doctor is as happy about my bodily movements!).

So we were sent home... where Sivana ate a whole bowl of homemade asparagus soup with some bread, drank another bottle, splashed around at bath time and tucked down happily to bed!  I, on the other hand, passed out on the couch from sheer exhaustion and barely noticed any of the commotion that is our home for a good twenty minutes of "escape".

You are incredible prayer warriors and our precious Father has heard your cry out on behalf of our daughter and has laid His healing hand upon her!  The doctor warned we may not be out of the woods just yet, but this day has brought me much needed hope and a sigh of relief that things can indeed get better for our precious Sivana Grace.

From the bottom of my heart to yours, I thank you.  If you could imagine me bowed down with my face to the ground washing your feet with my tears of thanks, that would pretty much summarize the incredible gratitude I feel for the power of your prayers.  May He bless you twice as much as He has blessed our family today!  So much love to all of you out there... Amen!

Desperate for your prayers

Life is barely manageable these last few weeks.  I have to type this at 2:30 in the morning as there just isn't time otherwise.


Ethan began throwing up last week for a couple of days with no diarrhoea only to have Sivana begin throwing up a few days later.  Sivana has been vomiting and having diarrhoea since last Thursday and no matter what we try, we cannot get food to stay in her little body.  She had a fever only on the first day and no fever since but she has lost a few pounds already and we are getting scared.  Very scared.


We are getting desperate for prayers.  I got sick with the bug that Saturday and Anika that Monday.  It is a nasty one that hits hard for a couple of days; however, my fear is now that this is far beyond just a viral flu bug...  Sivana is absolutely terrible for finding the toilet when someone has left the lid up.  Unfortunately, with a three year old and a five year old who are often distracted by getting back to play, flushing the toilet does not always happen, let alone keeping the lid down.  Sivana is our quiet one... so unless you look for her, you will not know she has found a toy cup and has been scooping it in the toilet getting "drinks".  Another fact tugging at the back of my mind is that I had made wraps the week we all got sick and had used alfalfa sprouts (which can be carrier for a deadly strain of e.coli).


So my fear now is that she has some e.coli disease!  A little further research shows that:


"E. coli O157:H7 infection often causes severe, acute hemorrhagic diarrhea (although nonhemorrhagic diarrhea is also possible) and abdominal cramps. Usually little or no fever is present, and the illness resolves in five to ten days. It can also be asymptomatic.  In some people, particularly children under five years of age and the elderly, the infection can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), in which the red blood cells are destroyed and the kidneys fail. About 2–7% of infections lead to this complication. In the United States, HUS is the principal cause of acute kidney failure in children, and most cases of HUS are caused by E. coli O157:H7."


Another update you need to know is that Sivana's ultrasound in December showed that her one left kidney has completely disintegrated (which is good as they no longer have to worry about continued cyst growths) and the right one is enlarged (also good as it is doing all of the work).  Blood and urine analysis also show that whatever kidney function she has, it is working at 100%!!  This is wonderful to report!


HOWEVER


How is all of this taxing her poor little kidney?  We cannot afford to have anything tax her kidney!!


Please, I don't understand why it feels like my children are always the ones targeted by cruel health issues.  I have been desperate for Isabel's sake on so many occasions and feeling all too close to her passing away... particularly the one time I watched the doctor's work on her on the rescucitation table at Children's Emergency!  I have felt desperate for Ethan when he was at his worst... when it felt like a race against time figuring out his allergens... watching him writhe in pain for weeks upon weeks, losing 20% of his body weight and no longer peeing in his diapers for days!


Why do some people have healthy children that barely have to go in for their annual visit while my children battle moments of facing the fragility of their very own existence?  Why?  What have we done that our children suffer health-wise?  Why is it that while the cart in front of me at the checkout stand in the supermarket has a healthy kid smiling back at me despite his cart being filled to the rim with pop tarts, pop, refined flour white breads and other "fake foods" riddled with refined sugars and preservatives, my kids are looking sickly despite our cart being filled to the rim with fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and basic ingredients to make wholesome foods from scratch at home?


It doesn't make sense to me!  Why do I bother with all of this work, all of this research?  


Our paediatrician fit us in for an appointment tomorrow in the afternoon so I pray we can find an answer to what is going on with Sivana.  I have nine weeks to go with this pregnancy and I am already lacking the ability to sleep at night.  I am beginning to feel overwhelmed.

We have been working with our naturopath these last two days using homeopathic remedies and homemade electrolyte solutions but we have seen no benefit to this approach as of yet.  I am just so afraid for Sivana's kidney right now.  These two pictures of Sivana were taken only a few weeks apart but already you can see that she has lost weight.  Even this last one of Sivana was taken a few days ago.


There is much, much more going on but time does not permit me to update you on the many things that are making life feel impossible right now.  This is the most urgent and pressing issue right now and I beg for your prayers!  I pray it is something simple, like just a bug that is running a slightly longer course.  Thank you for pleading on behalf of our baby girl.  And may God almighty have mercy on her and answer our prayers for her to triumph over whatever this is.  In Jesus' precious name... Amen.