Audrey Beth's Condition

dordtrecht5 · #1 (**permalink**) 02-21-2008, 04:19 PM

Hello all,

I wanted to take a few moments and ask those of you who have been involved in prayer for our family, especially our daughter Audrey, to give you an update concerning prayer requests.

Over the past few days Audrey has not been doing so well. About five days ago, they were able to extubate (take the respirator tube out) her and she was able to breathe on her own. She seemed to be doing well, responding very well, showing a lot of signs of improvement, and they even gave her some table food. She showed some signs of low sodium levels, which they were able to treat. Her bowel, liver and pancreas functions have been on the upside as well.

With all of this said, they were able to move her from ICU to an intermediate floor. We were elated with this, in that she was going along very well. Getting to an intermediate care floor is a huge step in recovery. As you may remember, Audrey developed what is known as Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD). If you don't remember, basically this a the reverse of a typical transplant rejection. The typical rejection is the body of the host (transplant patient) rejecting the graft (transplanted organ). With GVHD, the graft (transplanted organ) goes through a process of rejecting the host (transplant patient). She is still showing some of the signs of the GVHD with red skin and blotchy marks. The "marks" that they use to determine the amount of GVHD is in the body is through blood pathology. She shows signs of improvement with the GVHD as the percentage of graft t-cells are diminishing. The percentage of graft t-cells, as opposed to host t-cells should be 99% host t-cells. The current percentage is about 80% host t-cells. So she does have a ways to go in consideration to this.

Yesterday, however, Audrey had a seizure. They were able to establish an airway and keep her breathing. As you may imagine, this is very stressful and emotional to all of us. This is the first time that she has ever had any seizure. Brigitte, my wife, is feeling tremendously guilty for not being there when this took place, in that she was getting her hair cut. I was at home resting, because I have not been feeling well. They immediately did a CT Scan, with the results showing that there were no signs of brain damage or injury. They followed this with several more diagnostic procedures showing that the cause of the seizure was most likely related to low sodium levels.

This morning, Brigitte thought that she had another seizure. However, the neurologist concluded that what was observed was in fact not a seizure. She (the neurologist) did do another CT Scan and an EEG. Though the EEG is proving that she has not had anymore seizure activity, the second CT Scan now shows that the "white matter" in the scan proves there is brain injury. The "brain injury" could be anything from infection to damage caused from the seizure, she is not able to tell. So, the doctor ordered an MRI, the results are pending at this moment.

I am not really sure what else I could write at this point. My hope is that through this information you may know how to pray for Audrey.

There are many things that we go through as Christians. Many people "suffer" in a greater degree than others in times of tribulation. However this may be, there is always a need for those who trust in Christ to lean upon the body of Christ for prayer. Furthermore, there is much more need for us to lean on the Word of God, trusting that the providence of God will see us through our situations. It is my opinion that people who may, in other people's eyes, go through a less significant tribulation do not feel the significance of this need. My personal testimony speaks to the fact that these lesser significant fires usually just seem to burn the bottoms our feet, instead of the "greater" times burning everything, including our lungs. Since we tend to try to work it out by ourselves, and demand answers from those who seem to be in control, we don't always allow the Word to minister to us; nor, the prayers of righteous people "be effectual." In regards to this thought it is also necessary to encourage those who are finding their way in Christianity to be difficult. As Christians we do not take on the mindset of taking into consideration the simplicity, or downplay the significance, of the situation. Whatever the situation, we lean on the prayers from our brethren; we take up the Word of God; we pray earnestly ourselves; and, we fight the good fight of faith. Ephesians 6:11-18 is probably applicable to these type of situations

Blessings,
Dallas Crist
dordtrecht5@mac.com
http://web.mac.com/dordtrecht5