Friday, January 30

Good evening. Today’s update is a bit discouraging. The doctors are concerned that Taylor may be having seizures again. She will be alert and fussing, then all of a sudden her body will go limp and her blood pressure will drop considerably. They performed an EEG on her brain today to see if they could tell anything, but in the 20-minute procedure she did not have a spell. So it really didn’t confirm or rule out anything. They have increased the meds to try and control this. I suppose this is why they call it “practicing” medicine. The answers aren’t always right in front of you. I’m confident that Christ is leading the staff in the correct direction, and I just have the strongest feeling that the Lord has his hands in there, mending, molding, and healing the damaged areas.

She also is not sleeping well. They haven’t been able to pinpoint why. It could be the process of expanding her tummy or the medicine combination. Now that she is in Peds, Tammy is sleeping at the hospital with her. So it means both are not getting much sleep. I pray for continued strength for Taylor, Tammy, and Jeff. I know they are all exhausted right now.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

--Philippians: 4:19

God Bless.

Thursday, January 29

Not a lot of change other than I got more information on what was posted yesterday. Taylor is now on the PEDs floor. Which is nice because they have some more privacy. The room in the ICU was rather small and didn’t accommodate guests very well.

The process to expand Taylor’s tummy consists of feeding 30 minutes straight every 3 hours. I believe the basic philosophy is to eat large amounts of food in a small amount of time.

Early next week is when she will head to Duke University Hospital for the gastric tube. She will probably be at Duke for 5-7 days before she moves back to Pitt Memorial in Greenville. She will stay about 1 day in Pediatrics then she will be able to move to the Rehab floor. I can’t stress enough how important it will be to move the Rehab floor. Taylor will need to re-learn how to do several things like sucking, etc.

Jeff has gone back to teaching. He teaches Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. On Wednesday he spends the day at the hospital and Tammy gets a chance to come home and spend time at home. It’s hard for the two of them to be away from each other during the week and they miss each other a great deal. I pray to give them strength and can’t wait for the entire family to be able to sit down together for a meal.

I was talking to a family friend this afternoon about the progress that Taylor has made. We can’t stress how much everyone’s love, support, and Prayers have helped. This has been a true testimonial of the power of Prayer. Thank you for all your support. Taylor has made some much progress, but has such a long road ahead. Everyone will rely on our Faith for strength, but it is such a comfort to know people around the world are standing up with us all and lifting Taylor to the Lord.

God Bless.

Wednesday, January 28

Good evening… I got my update tonight from my sister, who got it from my mom. So I hope I have my info correct.

Today’s update is short and sweet, but full of hope! They are moving Taylor out of the ICU and into the Pediatrics wing. The main goal when she gets to Peds will be to stretch her tummy. This could take a few days to a few weeks. Once they stretch her tummy to the desired state, Taylor will be moved to Duke University Hospital for surgery. They will surgically place a gastric tube in her stomach for feedings. After she recovers from the surgery she will be moved back to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville where she will enter the Rehab wing.

I thank God for the continued progress is Taylor’s recovery. We have been blessed in so many ways.

God Bless.

Tuesday, January 27

Sorry, no update for today. Some pics of Taylor after bath time.





God Bless.

Today's update comes from an email that Tammy sent Lindsey. Also some cute pics of Taylor, it's nice to see her without all the tubes.

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Today has been another peaceful day. Taylor has slept much of the day. Unfortunately, she has her days and nights mixed up. Rehab came in for a consult this morning and said Taylor would definitely be going to their floor as soon as she is ready. In order to go to rehab she has to be stable and strong enough to be off the monitors. They explained that although she will be put to the test, the nurses don't come in as frequently to check on you in the rehab department compared to the ICU. Taylor also seems a little bit more comfortable compared to the last few days. Her eyes don't seem as sad......I've been getting her up and around as much as possible. She really seems to like the bouncy seat. She relaxes her back and tends to fall asleep in it. That's my girl!!!







God Bless.

Sunday, January 25

Not a whole lot to report today, I believe for the most part it was a quiet Sunday for Taylor and company. They did do the echocardiogram and we are still waiting for the official report but during the procedure the Cardiologist was encouraged, as the lining of the heart appeared to be helping to pump blood more efficiently. Of course he still needed to go back and compare to previous images and perform measurements before he can say for sure. They still haven’t increased the heart medicine to the full dosage they would like due to Taylor’s blood pressure being unstable. So once they are able to stabilize her blood pressure they should be able to increase the meds for her heart and God willing we will see a more noticeable difference.

Other than that, Taylor’s day consisted of more physical therapy and being held and loved.

I know we have people all over the world saying Prayers for Taylor every day and we have seen the power of Prayer already. But I love Sunday, I know congregations everywhere raised Taylor up to the Lord in Prayer and it brings so much hope and anticipation for the coming week. God Bless.

Saturday, January 24

Good evening. Let’s get started with Friday’s events. The surgery to insert the Broviac went well, although Taylor was pretty sore afterwards. Which brings us to the latest little miracle. Taylor cried yesterday. Although you would never think to be happy to see a child cry, it was a blessing to hear it from Taylor. Even the doctors found it encouraging.

The Echocardiogram that was to be performed never happened. They wanted to do it before the surgery, but a miscommunication between two hospital shifts ended with no Echocardiogram. So we will have to wait another day, they will do the Echocardiogram tomorrow.

Today Taylor got to spend a lot of time with the Physical Therapist. She worked on her from head to toe. Taylor was pretty relaxed during the whole process due to her meds. The Physical Therapist also added another medicine to Taylor’s cocktail, some sort of muscle relaxant. The therapist worked with Tammy and Jeff as well. Showing them exercises and teaching that in this process less is more, and it should be a slow workup. It is a slow process, but if you trust in the process it will work wonders.

Taylor has truly been blessed to be surrounded by an excellent hospital staff. It is hard to be patient some days, and sometimes the news absolutely crushes you. BUT when you look back at all the progress that has been made so far, you truly realize that God is at work here. We are thankful for every small victory. As many people have posted, HE is providing everything that is needed and Taylor will be healed on HIS time. I thank the Lord for the blessings we all have received through Taylor. May HIS will continue to be done. God Bless.

Friday, January 23

Sorry, no update today... I will post something tomorrow.

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
-- Psalms 27:14

Thursday, January 22

Taylor was up and around a lot today, with plenty of stretching exercises. Tammy and Jeff have both been using the techniques that the physical therapist gave them to help keep Taylor relaxed. I think Jeff relishes the chance to do something. From what I hear, the coach in him has come out and Taylor is his star athlete at the moment. ;-)

Today also was a little disheartening. Tammy asked the nurse about Taylor not crying or not smiling when they talked to her. The nurse told them it was due to the damage to the Temporal and Parietal Lobes. This was the first Tammy and Jeff had heard about this, the Neurologist had only talked about the damage to the Basal Ganglia lobe and Occipital lobes. It appears that the latest MRI showed mild damage to both the Temporal and Parietal Lobes. The news kind of hit everyone hard, as it was unexpected. We keep reminding ourselves that we will encounter many highs and lows before this is over, but sometimes it hits a little harder.

Tomorrow morning is going to be a busy day for Taylor. She will have another echocardiogram on her heart. They haven’t done one since Sunday, so the medicine has had several days to work. We are praying that Taylor’s heart will show improvements. Taylor’s heart is the main thing still keeping Taylor in the ICU. If her heart improves she will be able to move out of the ICU and down to the Rehab clinic on the 1st floor. The Rehab clinic will allow 3 hours of physical therapy, focusing on getting her back to where she should be with movements, eating, muscles, etc. We look forward to this day!

Taylor will also go into surgery at 7:30 in the morning. They are going to remove the central line that is currently in her leg and will be placing a Broviac Catheter. This is a long, hollow tube made of soft, rubber-like material called silicone, with an opening called a lumen. I believe it will threaded through a vein in the upper chest under the left collar bone (the subclavian vein) into the large vein leading directly into the heart. The Broviac catheter can be used to administer medication directly into the bloodstream, blood products can be transfused, and blood labs can be withdrawn without repeatedly inserting a needle through the skin and into a vein. It is intended for “long term” use, meaning it can be left in place for months to years.

With such a big day, may the Lord bless Taylor and family with strength and comfort. Continue to bless the doctors and surgeons and guide them to answers. May Taylor be the tip of your sword and be a testament of your Love. Heal her mind and body and strengthen her heart.

God Bless.

Wednesday, January 21

Just a quick update today. Another blessing for Taylor, they were able to remove the oxygen and one of the remaining nasal tubes. So now Taylor only has the tube that is used for feeding still in her nose. I know this will go a long way in helping to keep Taylor relaxed.

They also told Jeff and Tammy they want them to hold Taylor as much as possible when she is awake. So all three are enjoying that. Tammy said it's a bit awkward with the IV's and such but feels so wonderful. She started crying as she described it as "like holding your child for the first time." She said it was absolutely amazing. They also got to dress Taylor today. She can wear the full body onesies with buttons...not zippers.

The hospital called last night at midnight to ask if they could move her central line to the other leg...I guess it started leaking. They also did another blood transfusion, I believe this is the 4th transfusion they have done.

The Physical Therapist gave them a lot of good exercises to start doing with Taylor. This will help relax her muscles when she tenses up. They also were concerned that she seemed to be lacking the sucking reflex and was not swallowing. It will be very important that she regains the sucking reflex and the swallowing otherwise she will always have to be fed through a tube. So they are going to start working on that. Although the nurse was very encouraged this afternoon and seemed to think she has started swallowing. She also said she was doing better supporting her head when they sat her up. Overall, the nurse said she was definitely doing things in the afternoon that she wasn’t doing in the morning.

They lowered her sedation level, and plan to keep it at the current level for the next month. Taylor has come such a long ways already, and still has such a long ways to go. We all feel so blessed by her progress.

Who would of thought a 4-month-old baby could teach us so much. She is a true testament to the power of Prayer. Please continue to send your love, thoughts, and Prayers. Taylor will continue to fight and show us the true glory of God’s grace.

God Bless.

Tuesday, January 20

North Carolina got hit with a snowstorm last night, so the Neurologist wasn’t able to make it into the hospital, but Tammy was able to speak to her over the phone about the MRI results. Overall the MRI was not much different from the last time. The basal ganglia area that we have discussed earlier does show damage, which could explain the abnormal arm movements they are calling "chorea." The Neurologist stayed hopeful and continued to say that this could go away on it's own.

The MRI also confirmed that both sides of her occipital lobes were hit, but one side had more damage than the other. The occipital lobes are the center of the visual perception area. The MRI also shows signs of aging, which is normal for this type of injury. The Neurologist is concerned that her sight will be her biggest issue on the neurological end of things. Taylor continues to react to light and that is a good thing, but that might be the only thing she can see. She did emphasize that it is hard to tell what the future holds. We are staying hopeful on our end, and continue to Pray for a full recovery!

Today did bring some uplifting moments, as Tammy and Jeff both got to hold Taylor! I will let these pictures speak for themselves, but as Tammy put it, “Praise the Lord!”





God Bless.

Monday, January 19

Good evening. Just a quick update today, as today turned out to be another restful day for Taylor. We will start with a nice update. The x-ray showed enough improvement in Taylor’s lung that they were able to remove the nasal ventilation tubes. This was a very awkward tube that caused a lot of agitation for Taylor, so we were glad to see it removed and Taylor was able to rest much more comfortably. She still has two small tubes in her nose, one for feeding and I believe the other one removes gastric fluid? It was so nice to be able to look at her beautiful little face without this huge tube. She was also receiving oxygen.

They performed another MRI this afternoon around 3:00ish. We haven’t heard any news from this yet. We are praying that this will show some improvement again.

That’s really it for now. If we hear back on the MRI yet tonight I will post an update. Continue to keep Taylor, Jeff, Tammy, Tanner, and Tate in your thoughts and Prayers. Everyone’s support and love helps everyday.

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
-- Matthew 19:26

God Bless.

Sunday, January 18

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong; they are weak but He is strong.

At Jeff and Tammy’s church this morning, the Pastor gave an update on Taylor. On our trip to the hospital today, my mother shared that on a previous visit to the hospital, the Pastor mentioned how appropriate this song is to Taylor’s situation. It is His strength that will get her through this.

The boys were ecstatic to see Tammy come to the house today. I don’t think they left her side the whole day. The only downside is there is not enough Tammy to go around! Both boys wanted a spot on her lap and her undivided attention! The past two days we have been fortunate enough to see Jeff and Tammy able to make it home and spend some time with the boys in a natural setting. The love in this house is so apparent and it is obvious that the Lord has blessed this home.

The latest x-ray of Taylor’s lungs showed a slight improvement and they are continuing to do the nasal ventilation treatments to continue to help the left lung. They can hear the lung filling with air, so that is a good sign. They also are continuing with percussive treatments to help break up the crud in her lungs. She had several good coughs while we were visiting. They do the percussive treatments every 4 hours and they also suction the fluids out of her lung shortly after. As we were leaving the hospital tonight they were getting ready to do another chest x-ray. God willing, Taylor’s lung will continue to improve each day.

When we arrived at the hospital, they were just finishing another echocardiogram on Taylor’s heart. The Cardiologist stopped back a few hours later and said he is encouraged that she is heading in the right direction even though the progress is slower than he would hope. The heart is still enlarged and not operating correctly, but her vitals continue to improve slightly each day. Her blood pressure was lower, which means her heart is pumping blood more efficiently. Granted, it is still not pumping even near what it should be, but nonetheless, some slight improvement is good to see. Of the two Cardiologists, he admittedly tends to be more optimistic, but we thank God for even the smallest improvements.

Really the best way to describe Taylor’s day today was “restful”. She slept the majority of the day and seemed to get a rest from the endless poking and prodding for tests. We are hoping that Tammy will be able to hold her soon, as I know it would mean so much to both Taylor and Tammy.

Taylor has a big day tomorrow, so a day of rest is perfect. Tomorrow they plan to do another MRI, a consult from the physical therapist; along with the continuous testing and daily battle she has been fighting. We hold strong on our faith that the Lord is giving her just what she needs.

I continue to be impressed with the strength and courage that we have seen from Taylor, Jeff, and Tammy. In every conversation I have heard they continuously thank God for the blessings he has bestowed and have put all faith and trust in Him, that Taylor will recover from this. It’s going to be a long process, but the Lord is providing.

Please continue to stand by our side in Prayers, thoughts, and support. God Bless.

Saturday, January 17

Good evening everyone. Today started out with Jeff coming home to spend some time with Tanner and Tate. The boys were very excited when he walked in the front door. So Mom and Lindsey took off for the hospital while Jeff and I enjoyed the day with the boys. And let me tell you, we played hard.

Overall, Taylor’s day was pretty uneventful. After some initial discomfort, they made some adjustments and Taylor rested peacefully most of the day. Although she was a bit agitated with another nasal tube added. The x-rays of Taylor’s lungs this morning didn’t show much improvement, so they are continuing with the nasal ventilation. I know Taylor will be thankful when they are able to remove these tubes. Also, she is breathing through her nose, which is a good sign. Although, I’m not sure how there is room with the ventilation tubes inserted.

The rhythmic movements that Taylor has been doing with her arms were less pronounced again today, and Dr. Birch (the Neurologist) continues to reassure them that she believes this is temporary. However, they do plan to do another MRI on Monday.

One slight concern arose today. Taylor’s hands are periodically clinched in a tight fist, and they are slightly concerned about her hands tightening. They were going to have a Physical Therapist come and look and recommend some therapy that Jeff and Tammy could do with her. They also recommended that they massage her hands when they are talking to her.

Other than that, it sounds like there was a steady stream of visitors today. Taylor is truly blessed to be surrounded by so much love and support.

We will continue to hold tight in our faith and Pray to the Lord to heal Taylor and thank him for all his glory. God Bless.

Friday, January 16

It’s never easy to see a baby in the hospital with IV tubes hooked up and ventilation tubes in her nose, but it felt so good to be able to see Taylor and be able to give Jeff and Tammy a hug! Taylor is such a beautiful child and looked fairly peaceful today. Overall, today was a pretty quiet day. They did another echocardiogram around 2:00ish, as of 5:30 the Cardiologist hadn’t stopped in to discuss the results. Hopefully they will see some sort of improvement in Taylor’s heart.

They are still concerned about the left lung as it has some “crud” in it. They have been periodically suctioning fluids out of it. To help the lung, Taylor was hooked up to a ventilator today that provides pressure support ventilation via a nasal tube. It didn’t look real comfortable but Taylor was a model patient! This treatment applies more pressure when Taylor breathes in to help expand the left lung. Jeff thought this was helping and her breathing was less raspy with less phlegm, so hopefully when they do x-rays tomorrow morning at 4:00 am her lungs will look much better.

The rhythmic arm motions seem to be less vigorous and more periodic. For most of the morning she didn’t do much of the motion, but around 2:00 she started a little bit. But everyone agreed it is much less vigorous. She is still heavily sedated, so it’s hard to say if this is significant or not. Time will tell…

Taylor’s eyesight remains a concern as well. Her eyes are reacting to light and they seemed to look better today. However she still is not tracking movement or appears to not focus. Again, she is heavily sedated, so hopefully this will improve with time.

Lindsey and I were able to grab a quick bite to eat with Jeff and had an interesting conversation. Jeff and Tammy have so much respect and thankfulness for the doctors and nurses, however he said one of the nurses had commented that not all families are like that. Some families treat the nurses real poorly and the nurse couldn’t figure out why that would be. Jeff thinks the difference is faith. The families that are rude and treat the staff poorly most likely have not given their child back to Christ. And falling to put your faith in the Lords hands increases the burden on the families as they feel more pressure and responsibility. Jeff also talked about the comfort that Tammy and Jeff have received from Prayer. They pray not only for Taylor to be healed, but they also spend time thanking the Lord for the blessings they have received. This has been a tough time, but we all have so much to be thankful for.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support and Prayers. God Bless.

Thursday, January 15

Hello Everyone, sorry for the update delay. My sister and I flew to North Carolina yesterday and didn’t actually make it to Richlands until 2:30 this morning.

I didn’t get to talk to Jeff or Tammy yesterday, but according to Mom it sounds like it was a quiet day yesterday. Tammy was able to make it home to see the boys yesterday; she was even able to wake Tate up. The boys loved having her here for the day and would barely leave her side!

Taylor was having trouble resting yesterday; she didn’t close her eyes for some rest until around 2:00 in the afternoon. However, her rhythmic movement of her arms in a bicycling motion seems to be less frequent and we are not sure if that is due to sedation. They are keeping a close eye on her blood pressure. The constant movement of her arms seems to raise it. They are also concerned about some congestion in her left lung. If you recall, the left lung is compressed due to Taylor’s heart. They are doing percussive treatments regularly for this.

That’s really all I have at the moment. We will be heading to the hospital this afternoon, so I hope to have more news this evening.

Thank you to everyone for the support and love you are providing Taylor, Jeff, Tammy and the boys. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and Prayers. God Bless.

Wednesday, January 14

I talked to Tammy this evening, they extubated Taylor this morning at 8:05. I know she was glad to get that tube out of her throat. She responded pretty normal, as she was really raspy at first. They did a breathing treatment of Racemic Epinephrine and that seemed to really help.

Around 11, Taylor started to show signs of what the Neurologist calls "Chorea." Taylor has been vigorously moving her arms in a bicycling movement for a good part of the afternoon. Dr. Birch (the Neurologist) said it could be a result of her coming off the sedatives or a result of possible injury to the basal ganglia area of the brain. She feels like it could be a temporary thing. She even said her own daughter had Chorea until she was 7 months of age and it kind of went away on its own. Once again, this may be an area that we will just have to wait and let Taylor tell us.

According National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website, Chorea is an abnormal voluntary movement disorder, which is caused by over activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the areas of the brain that control movement.

They have given her Valium, Methadone, and Morphine to help keep her comfortable. Taylor’s blood pressure has been slightly elevated today with all the excitement. So they are also going to give her a medication called Clonidine, which lowers blood pressure by decreasing the levels of certain chemicals in the blood. It should also help relax the muscle movements.

Another concern from today… As of right now, Taylor is not tracking with her eyes. They had mentioned in the MRI that they saw minor abnormalities on the left side of the brain. Well, it looks as if her occipital lobe may have taken a hit. The occipital lobes are the center of our visual perception system. Due to Taylor being sedated, it’s hard to determine if she can see or not. There are test they can run later, but she will have to be off sedation to really get a good picture of what's going on.

I think everyone was discouraged with the news today and sounded exhausted. It’s hard to stay even keeled and not get too high with the good news and too low when things hit a speed bump. We have to remember that this is going to be a long journey. We just need to continue to have faith that God is going to take care of Taylor.

Please continue to Pray for Taylor, our Prayers will be answered! God Bless.

Tuesday, January 13

There is a certain song that my Grandpa Blasi would always sing that has been residing in my mind this past week… Onward, Christian Soldiers. With so many people standing by Taylor’s side as she fights this battle, this song seems appropriate.

We can sigh a collective breath of relief. The Neurologist has confirmed the MRI results! She also said that if the decision were made that Taylor does need to be put on the transplant donor list, with these results she would be accepted. So that is good news, but we are hoping it doesn’t come to that. The condition of her heart has not changed, but I know our Prayers are still at work.

Other than that, it was a quiet day for the Whitehead clan. They have not taken the respirator out yet because Taylor has some swelling in her throat. They aren’t in a huge hurry with that, so they are going to wait until they get the swelling down. Taylor slept most of the day, which Jeff said was a good thing because Taylor gets agitated with the respirator when she is awake. Plus Taylor needs the rest.

Jeff is planning to go home and spend some time with the boys tomorrow. He misses the boys. He said he really is looking forward to tucking them into bed at night before heading back to the hospital. Something so simple that we take for granted every night.

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
forwarding into battle see his banners go!

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.

God Bless, and keep Taylor in your thoughts and Prayers.

Message from Jeff and Tammy

Jeff and I want to say thank you for your overwhelming love and support. From the large amount of annual leave days that have been provided by our outstanding Onslow County Employees, to the overflowing cash donations from family, friends, and churches everywhere, to the snacks and meals that have been provided......we can't thank you enough. You have touched our hearts in so many ways and have given us strength that we didn't even know we had. The prayers coming in from all over the world have been amazing!!! We know God has a plan for Taylor and is working miracles through her. We ask that you continue to pray for God to touch her heart and give her the strength that she needs to climb this mountain she has ahead of her...We love and appreciate you all! :-)

Jeff and Tammy

Monday, January 12 - Evening Update

Do you believe in miracles?!? This is all preliminary, BUT the attending physician said from what he and the radiologist could see, the MRI indicated only minor abnormalities in Taylor’s brain! We still have to wait for the Neurologist to give the official word, but the news looks good so far. They aren’t sure what to make of the minor abnormalities and said those could mean nothing as well. The strange thing is that the abnormalities are only on the left side, if they were caused by the lack of oxygen it should show on both sides. The doctor said he could not explain the difference in results from the CAT Scan and the EEG to what they are now seeing in the MRI. I think I can explain… Can you say The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit?

It was just last night when the Neurologist didn’t think they would do an MRI until next week; in fact, Tammy started the day out by going home to see the boys. They were very excited to see her! Little did Tammy know that it was going to be such a big day for Taylor.

Apparently, her wakefulness and her frustration with the breathing tube, made them decide to do it while she was still incubated. They sedated her because she is fussing with the tubes. Then before they could begin the MRI, they sedated her again because she was still too alert and fussing.

To add to the events of the day, they started weaning Taylor off of the respirator, and they hope they can pull it out yet tonight. She is breathing over it, and they don’t want her to become dependent on it. Since she wants to pull at the tubes and they want her to be more alert, they are hoping to do this tonight. Obviously, being able to remove the respirator is a significant step, but it will also allow them to try some different treatments for Taylor’s heart.

Which brings us to Taylor’s heart. She has so many battles to still fight. With all the good news and things to be thankful for, Taylor’s heart is still struggling. Taylor’s heart is not responding to the meds and the doctors have been preparing Jeff and Tammy for the possibility that they may need to seriously pursue a heart transplant and put Taylor on the donor list. Which makes today’s MRI results even more crucial as acceptance to the donor list is also dependent on adequate brain function. Please continue to pray; with Christ’s love Taylor will overcome this as well.

I had a feeling something big would happen this week. It feels like every church in the nation was praying with us to lift Taylor up to Christ. Please continue to Pray with us, Taylor still has a long battle ahead but we are confident with the cross of Jesus leading the way, Taylor will be victorious. God Bless.

Monday, January 12 - Morning

I received a text from Jeff this morning. They are going to do an MRI on Taylor today. She will be heavily sedated and still on support with a host of nurses and a doctor on hand just in case complications arise. I pray for the MRI to reveal some good news!

Also, below are some snippets from an email Tammy sent my wife. Thought I would share it with you all.

“We are all leaning on each other for support right now. Really the only thing that we want and need is for everyone to continue to pray for her.”

“I wish I could tell you something concrete that we need, because I know everybody wants to help. However, if they just continue to pray....that is better than anything in this world.”

“Creating that blog has lifted our spirits so much!!! We are so encouraged with all the comments people have left. It is just so inspiring and I LOVE the scriptures!”

As you can tell, everyone’s love and support is being felt and your words of encouragement and Prayers are helping to lift the family up. It’s comforting to know that while Jeff and Tammy can not hold Taylor in their arms, she is held in God’s arms, and I feel a miracle is just around the corner! God Bless.

Sunday, January 11

Taylor is 4 months old today! Overall, it seemed to be a quiet day. Taylor was more awake and moving her hands and feet. When you touched her she reacted like every other baby would. The doctors and nurses seemed please with this.

The Neurologist stopped in to discuss the CAT Scan; she really didn’t provide any additional information that Jeff and Tammy didn’t already know. She did state that they really need to do an MRI to get a better idea of the damage, but they will have to wait until Taylor is more stable. Hopefully in the next week or so. She did give Taylor a physical and tested her reflexes and was pleased with the results.

Both Cardiologists came in again today. They didn’t really have any news; they believe the condition of her heart remains the same. One of the Cardiologists is going to compare the latest images to the original ones in hopes that they might see a very slight change.

Talking to my Dad, he said Taylor looked good today, her color looked better and she gained a little weight (very little, but we will take it). They were able to give her baby milk through the gastrointestinal tube today, and they have moved some IVs around. Today she didn’t have any IVs in her hands, so they could put a finger in her hand and she would kind of grasp it.

Going into this week it’s hard to say what to expect. God willing, we will receive news of constant improvement and it would be great to hear that her heart is responding to the medicines. I know churches all over the world said Prayers for Taylor today. We thank everyone for the support, comforting words, and the Prayers. God Bless.

Saturday, January 10

Good evening.

Let’s start with some good news. After sleeping the majority of the day Taylor decided to wake up and provide a highlight for the day. She moved both arms and legs and was fairly agitated by all the IV tubes and respirator. They finally had to sedate her more because the tubes were bothering her so much. I think Jeff and Tammy were glad to see their baby awake and alert. She has pretty much slept the last three days since the load dose of meds to control her seizures. The comfort of her responding was a much-needed lift.

One thing to note here… The nurses have assured Jeff and Tammy that Taylor can hear them, even when she is heavily sedated. So everyone that visits spends the time stroking her head while they either talk to her or sing her songs. I’ve heard rumor that Jeff’s dad sang, “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog” so many times they finally had to ban him from that song. He has since switched to “You Are My Sunshine”. :-)

One area of discouragement from today, the Cardiologist visited again and voiced some disappointment that Taylor’s heart doesn’t seem to be responding to the medicines. Her vitals are still up, but apparently the valves are not pumping as hard as they should and her heart is still enlarged. They are going to continue to monitor this situation. I’m confident all our prayers will turn this into a positive very soon.

At the time I received this update, the Neurologist still has not discussed with Jeff and Tammy the results of the CAT scan.

On the bright side though, her vitals are looking good and the feedings through the gastrointestinal tube is working. They should be able to start using this to deliver meds as well. So hopefully they can start reducing the number of IVs that are currently in Taylor as they have a higher risk of infection.

To finish up this post, I was asked to let everyone know that Jeff and Tammy have been reading through the Prayers and kind comments that you all have been posting to the blog. They find them very uplifting. Overall, they are remaining strong and keeping a positive outlook. And above all, leaning on their faith during this trying time. Continue to keep Taylor and the family in your thoughts and Prayers. God is at work here and our Prayers are being answered. God Bless.

Friday, January 9

Hello everyone.

Jeff was able to come home today and spend some time with boys in a normal setting. As young as the boys are, this is difficult for them as well. Keep them in your Prayers.

Last night at midnight they took Taylor down for a Cat Scan. For starters, it was a good sign that Taylor was stable enough to be able to do this. For the first time they were able to take her off the respirator, although they still had to manually provide assistance.

From my last update, Jeff and Tammy were still waiting for the neurologist to give them an official report. But the attending physician was able to give a preliminary report. According to the attending physician, the Cat Scan showed that the damage to Taylor’s brain may be more global than the EEG originally indicated. At this point we need to keep in mind this was not the opinion of the expert, and they stressed that the prognosis is hard to determine, as babies are more resilient than adults. The power of Prayer can go along way in a remarkable progress!

The cardiologist also reported that the EKG is showing that Taylor’s heart is remaining constant. No improvement, but no bad news either. Overall, Taylor’s vitals remain steady.

Some possible good news is that they think they can start feeding through the gastrointestinal tube. This is significant because if she can handle foods this way, they can start doing medicine this way as well. This would reduce risk of infection that could occur through an IV.

Some more good news. The tests show that the med load they gave Taylor seems to be working. She has not had any more brain seizures. Praise God. On the downside, the meds are keeping Taylor heavily sedated and she has slept the most part of the last 48 hours. Rest is good for Taylor, but I think everyone took comfort in having Taylor awake and alert. We pray that the meds are giving her what she needs and the Lord is providing her with the care she needs.

Talking to my parents, a real positive of this whole experience is the presence of God. This whole trial has been a testament to Christ. Jeff and Tammy’s faith has been inspirational, they hold strong that God is controlling this outcome and have found comfort in their faith. Hope and Faith is keeping our families and friends strong. Praise the Lord.

Everyone wants to know what they can do, how they can help. At this point what Taylor needs is for all of us to keep her in our thoughts and to continuously pray for a full recovery. With the grace of God, Taylor will be a testament to the power of Prayer. Please continue to Pray, spread the word of Taylor’s story and Taylor will be victorious. From the comments that we have received, Christ is definitely at work here. Thank you for all the kind words and Prayers. Continue to praise the Lord, which is how we will help Taylor. God bless.

Thursday, January 8

Apparently it was a pretty quiet day for everyone today. Which may be what everyone needed! Taylor was more heavily sedated than normal today. They gave her a triple dose (load dose) of the meds needed to control the brain seizures. This will more quickly build up her system. The result was that Taylor slept most the day and didn’t open her eyes or move during the day. Although Jeff said she moved a little after my parents left.

Two Cardiologists stopped in today and both were pleased with the progress. She is still on a respirator, but her blood pressure and heart rate continues to improve. The numbers are what they think they should be at the moment and what they are looking for is gradual improvement everyday. They did another echocardiogram last night and didn’t see much change. Her blood pressure did drop last night, but they think it was due to the balance of her meds. They adjusted those and everything bounced back. They will do another echocardiogram tomorrow.

Continue to keep Taylor in your thoughts and Prayers. She has a long battle, but she is a fighter and with God’s grace she will win! God Bless.

Wednesday, January 07 – Evening Update

From the conversations I’ve had with everyone I think the key word from today is Optimism. I was able to touch base with Jeff and both my parents, and Lindsey talked to Tammy for a bit. Everyone seems very upbeat and optimistic. The fact that they can take comfort in the fact that Taylor is in the Lord’s hands has everyone confident that Taylor is going to pull through.

The consensus seems to be that Taylor looks much better today. Much of the swelling has gone down and she looks much more like the Taylor we all remember and love. She is still in the ICU/critical condition and fighting with every ounce she has, but there were definitely some signs of hope. The doctors say she is still very sick and we have a long way to go yet, but her vitals are up from the previous day!

Taylor also lifted her left arm once and moved it again a second time. We are not sure what that means, but it’s got to be good news, right? The act seemed to make the nurses happy for everyone and brought a smile and hope to the family.

Today they received a consultation on the EEG results. The EEG did indicate damage to the basal ganglia area. From what I can tell from a quick web search, the basal ganglia are located deep within the cerebral hemispheres in the telencephalon region of the brain. The functions of this area are cognition and motor functions. At this point the degree of the damage is still not known, and the doctor stressed that ultimately Taylor will tell us over time. Infants are so resilient and we pray that god will mend pathways or create new ones. Tests also show that Taylor was having some small brain seizures that were not visible while you watched her. My understanding is that originally the doctors were not going to test for seizures as they didn’t think it was a possibility. Thanks to everyone’s prayers I think we saw the Lord’s divine intervention as the doctors changed their minds and did run the test. Now they are able to give Taylor medicine to stop the seizures and limit any further damage they may cause.

It also appears that Taylor’s left lung is not collapsed after all. It would now appear that the lung does not have room to fill as Taylor’s heart is currently enlarged which limits the room available for the lung. Hopefully as Taylor recovers the lung will regain the room needed to operate correctly.

Now that it is determined that Taylor does not have RSV, Jeff and Tammy can be housed at the Ronald McDonald House nearby the hospital which was some more good news. The hospital is not close to home, so Jeff and Tammy had been staying in a hotel nearby. This will provide a nice location nearby for the family to rest.

Jeff and Tammy’s co-workers and fellow educators in Onslow County have really stepped up to help the family. As I had posted earlier, Tammy had already used up her sick days and Jeff is getting close as well. Thanks to the generosity of the teachers in the Onslow County School District they have one less thing to be concerned with at the moment. Teachers from over 30 schools in the district have donated sick days for Tammy and Jeff to use! This is a huge weight off of Tammy and Jeff’s shoulders and our family cannot thank you all enough!

By God’s grace, Jeff and Tammy have seen extraordinary generosity from all over. When I talked to Jeff this evening, he expressed his sincere gratitude for everyone’s kind thoughts and most importantly all the Prayers. Everyday brings ups and downs and it is a constant emotional rollercoaster, but they are leaning heavily on their faith and ask that everyone continue to think of Taylor and keep her in your Prayers.

With God all things are possible...

Wed. Jan 7 - Morning update

Just a quick update.

They got the results back from the Echocardiogram they performed yesterday on Taylor’s heart. It showed some slight improvement, and also seemed to answer some other questions. Apparently a sac of fluid or something is on the heart which indicates that the heart issues are due to a virus and they think her heart was fine when she was born. So now the doctors think that the RSV positive test may have been a false negative and that everything was caused by a virus attacking Taylor’s heart. The doctors seemed to take this as good news, and perhaps after Taylor beats this virus her heart has a chance to heal itself. We will take any good news!

Also, apparently it was the Sonogram results last night that showed indications of a brain injury and not the EEG. Although the Doctor said the Sonogram showed enough that he/she was fairly certain the EEG would show the same thing. We are praying that the EEG will come back with better news.

Jeff and Tammy are remaining positive.

Tuesday, Jan 6 Update

Just got an update from Mom and Dad.

Taylor is still in critical condition and her left lung is still collapsed. She is also running a fever now, which usually indicates an infection. The Doctors are busy trying to figure out what is causing this. They had her on an antibacterial medicine already but have moved her to something broader. They also performed an Echocardiogram this morning, this uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart. They haven’t gotten an update on this yet.

This morning they did a Sonogram on her brain and based off the results the Doctor ordered an EEG (Electroencephalogram; Brain wave test). Yesterday they said they were told it was too early to do any tests to determine brain activity due to Taylor being heavily sedated. So we aren’t sure why they decided to do these tests...

As I was typing this post I received a call from Dad and a text from Jeff. The initial tests show that Taylor may have suffered a significant brain injury from when she stopped breathing for 10 minutes. I’m praying that the key word here is “initial tests” and perhaps the fact that she is heavily sedated impacted the tests.

On a brighter note, the fluids in her lungs seems to be clearer, and this is a good sign And her pulse is stronger.

Jeff is asking for us to pray for a miracle.

Tuesday. January 6

(Lindsey- wrote this 1-6-09)
I talked to Mom this morning. No new news at the moment. Just that her left lung has collapsed, she is breathing 60% on her own now instead of %50 but her heart was weaker yesterday then the day before. They are going to do another X-ray today to see what the lungs are doing. They also increased some of her heart meds to try to help with the 2 leaky valves so they will be evaluating that today to see if the change helped. It will still be a couple days before they can check on her brain activity. Tammy's sister is watching the boys today so that Mom and Dad can go to the hospital. Mom said they would call if they had anymore news. There were a lot of people there yesterday to support them. Mom said Taylor didn't look as good last night as she did the first night they saw her but everyone is trying to keep good spirits and just pray as much as we can.

A group of friends from Jeff and Tammy’s schools stopped by the hospital. They are all trying to transfer some unused sick days to Jeff and Tammy. Tammy had already used up her sick days and Jeff probably doesn’t have many left by now either. I think they were relieved by this token of help.

Hoping to get an update this evening.

Monday, January 5

I got more details from Dad this morning. Jeff and Tammy were back at the hospital and Mom and Dad were getting ready to join them. Overall, Dad was impressed by the hospital the night before. To see Taylor, you must put scrubs on and wash really well before you are allowed to see her. It is a very controlled environment right now.

Dad described tubes going into her all over the place. She is heavily medicated so she wouldn’t fuss with the tubes and is in no pain. Dad said she was making a sucking motion with her lips like she had a pacifier or something.

The Doctors told Jeff this morning that they are making some progress on some fronts. The problem is that they have so many fronts to tackle. Dad did have a few more details on what we have learned so far. The hole in the heart apparently stems from birth. Something about this being common and it usually seals itself by 6 weeks. For some reason Taylor hasn’t. The arteries around her heart are also swollen, which caused the IV fluids not to distribute correctly. They think a virus may have caused that. And on top of that, two of the heart valves are leaking. They told Jeff yesterday that this would make her a strong candidate for a heart transplant. But they haven’t said anything more about that, so hopefully the diagnosis has improved.

The Beginning -- Sunday January 4

We received a call from Donna this morning on Taylor's update. She had been in the hospital earlier in December for about a week, but we they were able to come home for Christmas and we were all hoping everyone was getting back to good health.

Saturday (Jan 3) they were back in the hospital as Taylor has not been getting any better and her breathing was much labored. I believe at this time, the tests finally came back positive with RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus).

Jeff called Donna early Sunday morning (January 4) and said Taylor had stopped breathing for 10 min. From what I understand, Jeff was with Taylor when she was literally grasping for breathe. Although they were already in the hospital, it took nearly 10 minutes for the hospital personnel to get her breathing again.

Taylor was placed in an incubator and later was attempting to breath on her own. In addition to her breathing issues, that afternoon they also diagnosed that she has something wrong with her heart. Dick and Donna flew to North Carolina on Sunday and arrived at the hospital around 11:00 at night. They were able to see Taylor and Dad said she looked like an Angel sleeping. They actually told Jeff and Tammy to go home and get some sleep, which was a good sign since the original outlook was that she may not make it through the night.

The hospital is about 2 hours from where Jeff and Tammy live so they checked into a motel nearby and tried to get some sleep. Neither had slept since Friday night. Our parents got to Jeff and Tammy’s house around 1:00 am and let their good friend Angela go home. She had been watching the boys.

Please Pray for Taylor

The Whitehead family would like to thank everyone for having Taylor Whitehead and Jeff, Tammy, and family in their thoughts and prayers. It seems everyone we know is thinking and praying for Taylor to make a full recovery and we are all looking forward to seeing her back home. We cannot thank everyone enough for their concern, kind thoughts and words, and above all the Prayers.

It is such a helpless feeling to be here in Iowa while our family is struggling so far away. So this blog is our little effort to keep everyone updated. So many people have emailed to see how everyone is doing and to offer a word of encouragement. We thought the best and timely way to update everyone on Taylor's progress would be to create this simple blog. As we get news, we will post it here. Please feel free to pass this on to others that know Jeff and Tammy. The more prayers for Taylor the sooner she will recover.