Audrey’s Visit to the Hospital

I think it was providential that our night didn’t go as planned last week. You see Audrey has been sick. It all started February 6 when she had her first fever. Thinking it was something that would pass, we weren’t too concerned about it but then when a week passed and she was still not better and she was staying in bed all the time, we thought it might be pneumonia. We took her to the doctor and they said, “Yes, something is going on in her chest.”  Prescribing her antibiotics we then went home and thought she would be better soon.

She wasn’t. No energy, no appetite along with a fever.

We missed our flight and then took her in for a few other tests. One she tested negative for and the other test showed she had elevated white blood cells as well as being anemic. Our doctor recommended we start iron supplements as well as finishing out 10 days of antibiotics.

After the weekend passed we took her in for more tests. When one came back with abnormal results, our doctor said she felt like this was beyond her and she recommended we see a specialist. Down to Phoenix Children’s Hospital we went. We arrived on a Monday night at 9:00p.m. in the emergency room and was absolutely shocked at how many were there. The waiting area was full and there were 20-30 people standing in line ahead of us waiting to be checked in. Babies crying, kids wrapped in blankets stretched out on benches sleeping, people wearing masks over their mouths… it was pretty shocking for me being my first time in a situation like that.

We arrived at 9 p.m. but it wasn’t until 1:40 a.m. that we actually went behind doors and got a bed in the ER. It was 5:15 a.m. before we were taken to a private room for the night. We were exhausted.

(Trust me. I wasn’t up taking pictures at 5 in the morning. This was another day.)

Our Audrey.

Over the days that we were there, they took about 13 vials of blood to be sent to their lab for testing.

Audrey thought she was living it up because she could order anything off the menu and that included Froot Loops which she had every single morning she was there.

Such a  deprived child, I tell you, since we never have them in our pantry.

Sweet friends came to visit bearing gifts to cheer up the patient.

Then… the second night at the hospital we awakened at midnight to be told we were going to be moved to another section of the hospital because another patient needed our room. What?! It took me awhile to process that due to the sleep induced fogginess going on in my brain.

So at 1 a.m. we found ourselves being taken to another room, Audrey being rolled along while in her bed and me following.

The view from the window let me see the new fire department being built and I thought it rather humorous that the firemen were sitting around a fire pit right there in the Phoenix valley, no less. You wouldn’t think it was that cold, but I guess it was.

Because Audrey was considered infectious, doctors and nurses always gowned up and put on a mask before entering. This also meant Audrey was not allowed to leave the room.

One day she played Hospital Trivia which was live on the TV and you could call in and they would ask you a question. After the game was over they went to all the participants and gave them prizes if they had answered correctly.

We were so blessed while we were there by all the prayers that went up in Audrey’s behalf. Although the doctors still don’t know what is going on with her, there are 2 tests she did test positive for but they are doing further testing to see if it really is a problem with her and then they are doing 2 other tests to see if possibly she contracted something from our goat herd. We won’t know those results till sometime this week.

So we were able to come home because they’ve taken all the blood they need for their tests.

Audrey still is running a fever pretty much all day long, she’s very tired and is spending most of her days in bed. Just in the last month she has lost 12 pounds. We know that God knows just exactly what is going on but we would sure appreciate your continued prayers.