Thank you

I want to thank each and every one who prays for Jodie and for your special prayers this week.

She has been doing so well that this was really such a shock, but I can still remember what her nurse told me that very first night at the Med - "you are in for the biggest roller coaster ride of your life" and how true were those words. The one thing that makes this ride (or journey, as we call it) easier, is knowing that God is with us and that makes the scary part so much easier.

Thank you again for all the kindness and prayers for Jodie and our family.

love to all,
Nancy

Jodie is home!

Dr. Moses discharged Jodie from the hospital this afternoon and she is back home. All tests, xrays and scans were okay and showed no signs of infection or any other problems.

She was cutting up when the nurse came and told us she could leave - she started kicking the covers and moving her legs - I told her she needed to stop or she was going to moon us all and she laughed out loud at us again and kept laughing. She was obviously ready to be released and get back to all things familiar and cozy at home. I think if we had waited much longer, she might have gotten up and walked out herself (which would have suited us just fine)!

She just had a shower and is looking better and feeling so much better being home!

Thank you all for your prayers - they were surely felt and helped Jodie recover quickly and get back home where she is happy!

Please continue to pray for Jodie. Prayer Works!!

Tuesday update on Jodie

Thank you for all your prayers, thoughts and concern for Jodie! It really means so much.

Jodie was moved to a room on the regular floor about 2pm today. She's in room 477 at GLH.

Our prayers were answered and she had a good night and a good morning :) Jodie ate good at supper last night. She was sleeping when I first saw her this morning so I brushed her hair and put on some chapstick. She opened her eyes after a little while and smiled at me. Her mouth was very dry so the nurse brought her ice cream and I fed it to her and she ate the whole cup! He ordered her some more to have with lunch and she didn't eat much lunch but ate most of the ice cream. She had another chest xray earlier today.

All her tests so far have come back good and on the recent chest xray earlier today, it didn't show signs of pneumonia. Dr. Moses came by around 4pm this afternoon and said all blood work, lab work and xrays have looked normal and her white count is back down so they don't seem alarmed to an infection anymore. She has not run a fever today. We're waiting to get final results back from spinal tests tomorrow.

She had a good afternoon and was smiling and laughing with us (she even laughed out loud a couple of times). She had a lot of visitors and calls and was happy to see everyone. Gayle and Jennifer brought her lots of bright balloons that lightened up the room and our grandmother brought some gardenias from her garden that smell wonderful so it was a little more cozy for her.

Later this afternoon (after Dr. Moses left) she held her stomach and moaned out loud and just started to not look as bright-eyed as earlier and her eyes were watery and red. I asked her if she was hurting and she moaned yes and I asked her to point to where she hurt and she pointed to her stomach. Betty Holeman came to visit not long after that, and she asked her to point at what hurt, and again she pointed to her stomach. I alerted the nurses and they paged Dr. Moses. He ordered some medicine for nausea (coming off all the antibiotics can make anyone sick!) and he also ordered another CT scan and an abdomen and pelvic xray - which they did all of those tonight. They also did another round of blood work tonight. We should know something from all these tests in the morning. We hope it's just some gas pains that she's having.

She's feeling a little better now and ate some donut holes and more ice cream tonight (that girl LOVES ice cream!).

Please pray that all the tests turn out good and that her stomach will feel better. If she has a good day tomorrow and all tests are good, then she might get to come home!

I'll keep you posted and update as I know something tomorrow. Please continue to pray for Jodie. PRAYER WORKS!

Status Update

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers for Jodie. She was looking better tonight and smiling at us, although she is still groggy coming off all that medicine - and still running low fever. Her nurse said she didn't eat much at lunch - her tongue is probably still sore and she may not have much appetite - but I made a special request for her some ice cream and they were going to order her some. She smiled real big when I told her they were getting her some ice cream!

The MRI is re-scheduled until tomorrow after they get go ahead from doctor in Jackson b/c of her baclofen pump that is internal.

I pray she has a good night and a good morning.

Thanks again for your prayers.
Prayer Works!

Urgent Prayer Request

Jodie was taken to Greenwood-Leflore Hospital by ambulance last night around 8pm after suffering a bad seizure. She has never had a seizure like this before or as long (45 minutes) or been as bad as last night. (she's only had one other seizure since her accident that was mild and more of a "zoning out" tensing of her body and muscles) - last night was scary. She bit her tongue, which caused some bleeding but luckily the neighbor across the street is a nurse and she came over and assisted until the paramedics arrived.

Once we arrived at the hospital, they gave her medicine that stopped the seizure and it was pretty strong so it pretty much wiped her out - which was good because she was worn out. She was also burning up with fever.

They ran lots of tests and all her vitals were good - good heartrate, blood pressure, breathing okay. But her fever was high - 103.7! Her white blood count was also a little high so they were alerted to an infection somewhere. We spent the rest of the night going through more tests, a CT scan, chest Xray and upper body scan. They also called in the neurosurgeon and he pulled some spinal fluid from her shunt and was able to run some tests from that. All preliminary tests have come back normal but the doctor talked to Mama this morning and something did show up on the chest xray that they think may be the early stages of pneumonia in her left lung. They have her on a heavy dose of antibiotics and medicine to prevent another seizure and to help attack whatever caused her fever.

They admitted her into ICU around 2am this morning so they could keep a close eye on her. She's not critical - the doctors determined that was the best place to observe her (which we were grateful for, too, knowing that she would have around-the-clock care and observation).

She is scheduled to have an MRI at some point this afternoon, and as soon as I know results, I'll try to post. The neurologists is supposed to see her this afternoon.

Mama is out of town and can't get a flight back in until tomorrow. So the doctors and I are on the phone with her regularly keeping her updated.

Since Jodie is in ICU, we are only able to see her during visiting hours. I was with her this morning and she was awake and aware. The strong medicines were starting to wear off, so she was becoming more alert and even smiled at us :) The nurses in the ER had a hard time getting an IV and line last night, so her left arm is pretty bruised and obviously hurts her. I asked her if it hurt and she said "uh-huh" very deeply and ragged. She is very tired - her poor little eyes kept drooping but we kept talking to her so she'd know we were there. When Geneva (her sitter) came in, Jodie immediately started to raise her weak left arm to hug her so that was a great sign! She even cut her tired eyes at me when I told her to close her mouth! :) Her nurse said that the doctor ordered a regular diet so she was scheduled to have solid food at lunch - so that should put some spunk in her this afternoon.

We ask that you pray for Jodie today and that the doctors will determine the cause of the fever and infection and get it under control and please pray that she doesn't endure another seizure. Hopefully, the medicines and antibiotics are helping to take care of that now. Pray for the doctors that read her tests and are overseeing her care. Please pray for Mama to stay calm and that she has a safe flight back home.

I just wanted to send a quick update to let everyone know what's going on and I will try to post again as I know more. The doctor is supposed to call Mama and let us know preliminary results from the MRI. I have to leave now to go back to the hospital. Please pray for Jodie.

PRAYER WORKS!

God's blessings to all,
Jennifer

JEREMIAH 29:11