Out of ICU

The good news is that we've moved out of ICU into a regular room. Graci's blood pressure and pulse are much better. The echocardiogram was normal (for Grace), so that's a big relief. The bad news is she continues to be extremely lethargic. Her fever has returned so she's back on Tylenol. We can't get her to eat anything, and she's only drinking the smallest amounts of water. She's getting fluid through an IV, but will have to start eating and drinking on her own before they'll discharge her.

Some friends of ours are up here at Primary Children's while their newly adopted 2-year-old is recovering from open heart surgery. This is their 17th child (yes, you read that correctly). Most are adopted, some are biological. I often hear people say, "Nine kids??? How do you do it???" I feel exactly the same way about these sweet people.

While Grace and I are up here, life continues to move on. Baseball practices, Providence Hall fine arts night, meetings with contractors, subcontractors, landscape designers and more are keeping Christi busy and me on the phone. The secret is to enjoy the journey. The Lord knew that I needed lots of practice on this one, so he's given me lots and lots of experiences to enjoy!

Jeremy

Graci Update 2

Another quick update:  Grace has slept all morning. (Wish Jer and I could say that!)  Blood pressure continues to be low but the doctors are more concerned now about her heart rate which has been having a very wide range.  They are trying to get that to stabilize.  An ECHO has been ordered and it will be done right in her PICU room.  Fever is still down.

Thank you so much for all of the prayers and texts.  We know that Heavenly Father is watching over her.  I just want to fast forward til she's home with us and being her usual fabulous self.  (:

--Christianne

Graci Update

Graci is doing better! Her blood pressure is still pretty low, so she is still in the PICU, but the fever has been controlled all night. While she was still at Riverton, they tested for both bacterial infections and viruses. During the night we got the virus results back and it turns out Graci has influenza B. This likely explains all of her symptoms, but they may still do an echocardiogram to rule out any problems or infections around her heart. If she continues to be stable but with the low blood pressure they will likely move her out of ICU into a regular room.

I'll update as soon as I know anything more.

Jeremy

Poor Graci part 2

It's 1:15 a.m.  I just arrived home from the hospital and I'm a little wired right now so I thought I'd give a quick update on Grace.  Jer had it mostly right (we'll forgive him for minor details being as how he learned everything through texts.)  Grace had been sick, as he said, but actually woke up this morning feeling better and went to school.  Just after school let out, I got a phone call from a teacher there saying that she was worried about Graci-- she had her head on a desk and wasn't acting like herself.  I went in the school to pick her up and she was in tears, saying that she was dizzy and didn't feel well.  She could barely walk out to the car.  I got her an appt for an hour later and by the time we got to the doctor, her fever was 103.8.  It wasn't the fever that concerned me so much as how she was acting-- very delirious and unwilling to sit up straight or move.  Strep test was negative and the dr. did a chest x-ray that showed some possible signs of pneumonia.  He was also worried about the way she was acting and her low blood pressure and sent us to the ER.  By the time we got to the ER, Graci was very delirious.  She would go from being in a total daze to lashing out-- which she has NEVER done.  The doctor that treated her there was fantastic and thorough.  He first thought that she was likely septic and possibly had meningitis.  Sadly, Graci's scar tissue from her back surgery made it difficult for them to get any spinal fluid.  They put the needle in three times and couldn't get it.  She was hysterical during that time, screaming in the most pathetically soft voice, "Please stop hurting me!"  It was awful-- especially when it didn't even work.  They started IV fluids and antibiotics and waited for her lab work.  The strange part is that all of her labs were normal.  As her doctor said, "She has everyone baffled."  By 10:00 tonight they finally got her fever down.  While that was of course, good, her other stats started going down too-- her oxygenation and blood pressure.  The doctor had talked throughout the night about possibly transferring her up to Primary Children's in Salt Lake, but hadn't felt an urgency yet.  Apparently her drop in blood pressure did the trick.  They are concerned that she might have endocarditis.  As the doctors here spoke to the doctors there, it was decided that she needed to go on life flight straight to the PICU.  That way, she would be attended by pediatric ICU nurses rather than EMTs on the way up there.   About 15 minutes before she took off on the helicopter, Graci started to come around.  She was talking a little and looking so much better.  She even gave a big goofy grin as I took her picture getting onto the helicopter.  I'll post that later if she's ok with it.  Made me feel so much better to send her off when she was able to do that!  The flight from our hospital to PC is just 7-8 minutes and Jeremy was there waiting for her.  I came home to take care of the 8 cute kids I left here alone all night!  I was so grateful that I had Papa Murphy's pizzas in the fridge-- Taylor was able to cook dinner for everyone and put them all to bed.  Parker cleaned up the kitchen.  What wonderful kids I have.   I wish that Jer and I could both be with Graci, but I am grateful that I have an actual bed to sleep in for a few hours (there are no beds in the PICU and all of the "guest beds" have been taken tonight.)  Now if I can get my mind off of Graci and get some sleep so I can conquer tomorrow!  That girl sure knows how to worry us!  It was such a blessing that I was able to see her smile and respond before I had to say goodbye for the night.  Thanks in advance for prayers her way.  

--Christianne