Day 7

Well folks, she is neutropenic. This is what is supposed to happen. We were hoping to be spared the nasty side of effects of it all, but she has been in severe pain and cannot swallow. She just had a dose of Dilaudid that helped with the pain so she could eat, and just threw it all up. She is pretty miserable. Please keep praying that these nasty side effects will go away. This is also the time that dormant viral, bacterial and fungal infections can rear up. Pray against these in the Name of Jesus. We are still trying to regulate her BP and immunosuppressant drug. We have not had a very good day with nurses either. All these things we lift up to Jesus and give Him control.

Tracy, the girls, and I went to visit a house that a local church bought and lets a family use from the Children's Inn. I was excited about this prospect until I toured it today. It is old, so comes with issues like improper stove venting, window air conditioners that needs replaced, and a moldy basement. One of the bedrooms had water damage. They are fixing the stove venting, and I think getting at least one new window air conditioner. There is nothing they can do about the moldy, smelly basement or the water damage in the bedroom. Under normal circumstances with someone with a good immune system, this would be great. I'm afraid that for Karly it would cause issues. I will be talking with our team about it to see what they think. I also visited an off campus house that is part of the Children's Inn which would be great. Because of different pros and cons, it is difficult to pick what we should do, but I'm leaning toward the off campus Inn house rather than the church house because of breathing issues. Please pray over the weekend that God's plan for our living circumstances be revealed very clearly and that everyone would be on the same page with this. Also, we have put out the word that a car would be an advantage for when she is able to get out of the house, plus just getting to and from the grocery and hospital. We are looking for a borrowed car for about 3 months. We wouldn't put very many miles on it, and we can park it at either location safely(garage at Inn house and church parking lot at church house). If you know of someone willing to let us borrow a car close to Bethesda, MD, please let me know.

Also, I have not been able to get onto the hospital Internet connection for 3 days. Zach hasn't been on for more like 5-6 days. IT hasn't been very helpful yet. Please pray that we can get back on. Doing all the things I need to do from a phone or the library computer is more difficult.

These are the current issues. More inconvenient than life-threatening, but Jesus cares about them all.
Thanks for lifting up our concerns to our Heavenly Father.
Love,
Mom