Evening

It is great to hear from so many people and to receive so much support. Thanks to you all.

I don't know what to post tonight. Maggie will continue to be critical for a while as we wait for her lungs to heal. Is she stable? Relatively so. It can change in a moment though. The course of recovery from this type of illness is rocky. It is especially dangerous for Maggie because she is so very sick, on the most advanced breathing machine. The typical ups and downs that are expected are scary because there is only so much wiggle room when you are this sick.

We are hopeful that there will be signs of turning a corner soon. There was a little bit more encouraging talk around us today, but it is always tempered with the reality of having to be on the oscillator--that alone suggests that Maggie is very ill.

We are desperate for a quiet night and for a good day tomorrow. But we are learning to expect bumps in the road.

We'll take it moment to moment as that seems to be the only way.

Please continue to say your prayers for Maggie.

More updates.

We have been told that Maggie is stable again. But she's "one of the sickest kids in the whole hospital." Still extremely critical. We are seeing a combination of scary things and yet some that are more encouraging.

Maggie has been flipped onto her belly to try to change things up for her lungs.

It is humbling to know how many people are following along and offering support.

Pray

Maggie's body is still fine...her lungs are not doing well. Doctor just came in and they are not giving up.

More prayers

Please pray hard again for Maggie. She worsened overnight. She needs your prayers.

Evening update

This has been a much different day than yesterday. For one, it has gone much more quickly. Yesterday seemed like an eternity, and I remember looking at the clock, seeing 1:45, and thinking that there must be a mistake. We were only halfway through the day.

Part of the strange part of the day today is that not a whole lot has changed. Maggie has essentially stayed at the same ventilator setting all day. We don't know though if that is okay or if she should be improving. It's a little unsettling. Her blood pressure has been good today, her urine output and other vitals okay. So, maybe this day has been successful. But we just don't feel secure yet. Maggie had a new set of doctors and nurses today and since this is the first time they've seen her, several of them reminded us of how serious this is. As if we hadn't realized it yet.

She started getting more swelled today, so they started lasix, and I think that's helped a little bit. She also received a blood transfusion, which isn't a big deal for us as Maggie has had many of those during her treatment for leukemia.

Our faith is being tested. Yesterday, she really began stabilizing and improving once Whitney decided that we were going to read some scripture to her and pray. It was an amazing moment. God can be present in our lives for months and years but it isn't often so obvious. It was a life defining moment and we have marked it as the beginning of great things for Maggie.

Stable today may be okay, but we want to see progress. We pray that she makes a turn that everyone here will see and recognize and be encouraged by.

We are still in desperate need of prayers for Maggie's healing.

Still Critical

Maggie is relatively close to how she was last evening. Not a lot of big changes. We are getting more information about what we're up against, which is at times unnerving. Her chest x-ray shows significant "hazing" in both lungs. They believe that she has ARDS, or Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. This is the inflammation that happens to the lungs, essentially an injury to the lungs. This is dangerous, just as the infection is. But it is a necessary and expected part of the recovery process. You get worse before you get better. The organism that is causing this is still unknown. And, they may not ever know. They've made a few adjustments to the medicines to cover a wide range of infections--viral, bacterial, and fungal.

Another warning that we have been getting several times over is how long this recovery could take--we've been told that it will be several weeks, up to a month, or more. If they offered us a 4 week recovery (or 20 weeks for that matter) that she will survive, we'd sign up in less than an instant. There are still no guarantees that she will make it. But we can handle an extended recovery; if that's what it takes, that's fine. We also know that the course of this kind of illness is that it fluctuates a lot. We will have good moments, followed by scary ones, and hopefully more good ones. We want, at the least, steady progress.

We feel blessed to still have Maggie, but still praying for the miracle to continue. It is not close to being over. Thanks for the overwhelming support and interest.

Brief update.

Maggie had a stable night--continues to be about where we were the second half of yesterday. They are managing to drop her a bit on her blood pressure medicine and her oxygen and CO2 balance is okay.

We got some rest and sleep, too.

Today is another big day.