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...