This blog post is part of a series that I began for telling our story. You can read the first post here.
Well, I took a break for Easter – Holy Week is crazy busy for us, as it is for all churchworkers. Then we had a busy week after Easter, preparing for an event at church and getting ready for vacation. Then we had a week of vacation, then a week back at work catching up. So I’m finally back after four weeks away! I really meant to get back to this, but as you can imagine, this is emotionally heavy stuff for me. Sometimes when I stop blogging, starting again becomes really difficult. But I’m here!
From this point forward, I’m going to be sharing the text of posts as they were written at the time. Some will come from this blog; others, from our CaringBridge site. I may from time to time write my own reflections after re-reading, but mostly I will just be sharing words as they were written. So much of this journey for me is revisiting what happened, and realizing just how difficult the journey was for us. And now, seeing how far we’ve come since that time.
From CaringBridge, written by my sister Allison, on April 22. There are a few posts to share, so each time it’s a new post I will switch from italics to regular print:
Late Thursday night the doctors said that Samantha has gone into septic shock. Her heart rate and bloop pressure were just not stable.
Stephanie and Travis decided to baptize Samantha last night and she received her Christian baptism around 10:15, April 21.
Please pray for the miracle of healing to take place. These next few hours are ciritical to her survivial. Thank you!
If you aren’t sure what words to say, I have written a prayer here as well.
Dear Heavenly Father,
You are the great and mighty physician. Samantha is Your precious child. We cry out to you that you would heal her Lord and let us here on earth continue to hold her. She is such a precious gift – we thank and praise You for her life. We thank and praise You for the doctors and nurses who have been caring for her. We ask that You place Your healing hand on Samantha. Be with the doctors and nurses that care for her – give them wisdom and knowledge. Please wrap Your loving arms around Stephanie and Travis. Let them feel Your peace that passes all understanding – to know that You too love Samantha Renee Pittock. We thank and praise You for hearing us! In the mighty, healing name of Jesus ~Amen!
Last night they added an arterial line to help monitor her heart rate and blood pressure – as of this morning they are both stable – Praise the Lord!
I know many are anxious for an update – and the great news is that there isn’t much of one to give right now – she is still okay, still stable. I talked with Stephanie and Travis briefly, they are doing okay. Keep the prayers coming – we know that God hears them and He answers prayer – thank you all for taking the time to approach His throne of grace on Samantha’s behalf!
The doctors have confirmed that the bacteria is type group b strep which is NOT resistant to antibiotics – praise the Lord!!!! This also allows them to give her antibiotics that specifically target that. She had an EEG this morning and will have an MRI this afternoon. Thanks for the continued prayers!
Sam is back from the MRI and the results of the EEG were in. It showed that she is having brain seizures, which they weren’t surprised about. They put her on an anti-seizure medication. The results of the MRI (preliminary) should be back in the next couple hours.
Samantha’s temp was low when she came back and they are working to warm her up. Otherwise she still seems to be holding her own on the rest of her vitals. She is still on life-support but she is a fighter!
Difficult News
The MRI results were not very good. It showed significant brain damage bilaterally and in particular to the thalamus. The reason the bilateral is significant is that both sides of the brain are affected which will make it much more difficult for her to compinsate as she grows. They aren’t sure if she will ever be able to come off the ventilator.
This is not the news that we expected or hoped for – but our Lord is the Great Physician and He can still perform miracles of healing on little Samantha’s body. So we will take one day at a time and keep praying for healing, strength and peace for precious little Samantha.
God of glory, on this night we cry out to You with heavy hearts. We come before Your throne of grace and pray healing for dear sweet Samantha. She is Your child, she is a gift from You and we ask that You place Your healing hands upon her. Bless her parents with strength for each day. Lord have Mercy! In Your Holy Name we pray, Amen.
Next post coming tomorrow.
Blooming Joy! 