It has been a little over a year since my only niece was healed completely from a bought of bacterial meningitis. In some respects, it seems much longer than a year, and then in many others it feels like just yesterday. I can remember the feeling of total fear and anxiety when my mom called to tell me that my sister, S, and her husband, R, were on their way to the hospital with Skyler. It wasn't their first trip, but this one sounded different.
Skyler was born just before Christmas in 2003, the same year our father died. It was so bittersweet! and the perfect distraction during that particular year for all of us. We got to spend that holiday in Savannah, GA in a gorgeous beach house loaned to us for the week by a very gracious friend. I had actually flown down for the birth, but missed it by about 6 hours, so it was my second visit at Christmastime. Skyler was the sweetest little thing, absolutely gorgeous in every way imaginable. S and R were the ever-doting, ever-overprotective new parents. It was fun to watch. While there was always that lingering thought, "If only Daddy was here to meet Skyler!" we recognized this as part of God's plan and we rejoiced in the miracle of life after such a devastating loss.
When Skyler was about 1 month old, she developed GIRD, which is a severe form or reflux. While she never required a feeding tube, she was medicated and had a few close calls, close enough to require the only ambulance service on their particular island (Savannah is made up of several islands) to give them their direct phone number in order to save a 911 call. I don't recall how many times they needed to use this number, but the EMT's were quite adamant that they were to use it ANYTIME, even if they weren't sure they needed them. This familiarity between my sister, her husband, their precious baby and these emergency workers might have helped in this more serious situation.
Because of her condition, my sister stalled her return to work by several more months than anticipated. Finally, in July at the age of 7 months, Skyler entered daycare. It was at the that point that she, like many new daycare members, began to be plagued with fevers, ear infections, colds, and upper respiratory ailments. My sister learned quickly how difficult it is to balance two fulltime salaried lives and a baby! It was not easy, but they managed. The afternoon that they got the call about Skyler spiking a very high fever, my brother-in-law offered to go pick up that little darling. He brought her home and did not give her anything for her fever. Just put her to bed. She eventually went into convulsions, at which point he called the ambulance service, who promptly came and rushed her to the hospital.
The diagnosis was not promising. Skyler likely had bacterial meningitis, a case unlike any seen in over 20 years by any of the doctors at the hospital. Upon arriving at the hospital, she was convulsing on only one side of her body, which the doctors felt was a sure sign that there would be at the very least some brain damage or developmental delay. She cried constantly, screaming, wailing, thrashing... it was really heartbreaking. None of us had ever really heard her cry at all. My mom and R's dad flew down to help.
We very quickly started a prayer chain that spread pretty far. We had people praying everywhere, and probably places we didn't know. S and R attend a church in Savannah that has many branches, a different congregation for each island. They had people showing up at the hospital they had never met but who had heard of them through their church and they came to pray with them. Their church ministered to them continually, through prayer, meals (even after months of them when Skyler had GIRD!) and visits. We saw the hand of God in every instance of this ordeal.
Today, Skyler is in ordinary almost-2-year-old. She is tiny, but only in stature! Apparently, she rules the roost. It could have only been a miracle that brought her out of the hospital in less than a week, had her sitting up, eating voraciously and playing within 3 days of her diagnosis. Given little hope from the start, it would be an understatement to say the doctors were surprised. Not a hint of hearing problems, developmental issues and not even the slightest sign of brain damage. Incidentally, in case you are wondering like R was at first, the fact that he didn't give her Tylenol when he brought her home with that 103.5 fever may have saved her life. At least that is what the teaching doctor told his students the following day. I wouldn't recommend you try that at home, but just hearing that relieved a lot of the stress between my sister and her husband.
I love this little girl, and I love what she represents to our family. I felt for her in this miracle what I felt when my father passed away - that God's love for us encompasses all situations, that we can see Him clearly in all circumstances and that His peace surpasses all human understanding. Would this be a much different story had she not survived? Surely. Would that have changed my feeling about God? I don't think so.
An interesting sidenote to this particular story is that my sister is also the recipient of an incredible miracle. As a second grader, my sister came down with Reye's Syndrome. She was quickly whisked away to Yale New Haven hospital where my parents were given a 50/50% chance of survival, and in the case of survival a 70-80% chance she would be brain damaged. My sister was completely cured of this disease after 5 days in a coma with a tube in her skull to relieve building pressure. Not only did she not have brain damage, she is technically a genius! You won't find a record of her stay or her disease at Yale. It's unexplainable to them, so they took her off the books. When she returned 6 months later for follow-up cognitive testing, a 15 year old boy who came in the same night she did with Reye's was still in a coma. As a family, we could never deny the power of prayer and the belief that miracle do happen in our world today.
I'm so looking forward to having this little sweetie and her "Emo Seepers" come stay at my house for Christmas. She is such a visual reminder to each of us that God is so faithful and His love for us and for Skyler is immense.
Skyler was born just before Christmas in 2003, the same year our father died. It was so bittersweet! and the perfect distraction during that particular year for all of us. We got to spend that holiday in Savannah, GA in a gorgeous beach house loaned to us for the week by a very gracious friend. I had actually flown down for the birth, but missed it by about 6 hours, so it was my second visit at Christmastime. Skyler was the sweetest little thing, absolutely gorgeous in every way imaginable. S and R were the ever-doting, ever-overprotective new parents. It was fun to watch. While there was always that lingering thought, "If only Daddy was here to meet Skyler!" we recognized this as part of God's plan and we rejoiced in the miracle of life after such a devastating loss.
When Skyler was about 1 month old, she developed GIRD, which is a severe form or reflux. While she never required a feeding tube, she was medicated and had a few close calls, close enough to require the only ambulance service on their particular island (Savannah is made up of several islands) to give them their direct phone number in order to save a 911 call. I don't recall how many times they needed to use this number, but the EMT's were quite adamant that they were to use it ANYTIME, even if they weren't sure they needed them. This familiarity between my sister, her husband, their precious baby and these emergency workers might have helped in this more serious situation.
Because of her condition, my sister stalled her return to work by several more months than anticipated. Finally, in July at the age of 7 months, Skyler entered daycare. It was at the that point that she, like many new daycare members, began to be plagued with fevers, ear infections, colds, and upper respiratory ailments. My sister learned quickly how difficult it is to balance two fulltime salaried lives and a baby! It was not easy, but they managed. The afternoon that they got the call about Skyler spiking a very high fever, my brother-in-law offered to go pick up that little darling. He brought her home and did not give her anything for her fever. Just put her to bed. She eventually went into convulsions, at which point he called the ambulance service, who promptly came and rushed her to the hospital.
The diagnosis was not promising. Skyler likely had bacterial meningitis, a case unlike any seen in over 20 years by any of the doctors at the hospital. Upon arriving at the hospital, she was convulsing on only one side of her body, which the doctors felt was a sure sign that there would be at the very least some brain damage or developmental delay. She cried constantly, screaming, wailing, thrashing... it was really heartbreaking. None of us had ever really heard her cry at all. My mom and R's dad flew down to help.
We very quickly started a prayer chain that spread pretty far. We had people praying everywhere, and probably places we didn't know. S and R attend a church in Savannah that has many branches, a different congregation for each island. They had people showing up at the hospital they had never met but who had heard of them through their church and they came to pray with them. Their church ministered to them continually, through prayer, meals (even after months of them when Skyler had GIRD!) and visits. We saw the hand of God in every instance of this ordeal.
Today, Skyler is in ordinary almost-2-year-old. She is tiny, but only in stature! Apparently, she rules the roost. It could have only been a miracle that brought her out of the hospital in less than a week, had her sitting up, eating voraciously and playing within 3 days of her diagnosis. Given little hope from the start, it would be an understatement to say the doctors were surprised. Not a hint of hearing problems, developmental issues and not even the slightest sign of brain damage. Incidentally, in case you are wondering like R was at first, the fact that he didn't give her Tylenol when he brought her home with that 103.5 fever may have saved her life. At least that is what the teaching doctor told his students the following day. I wouldn't recommend you try that at home, but just hearing that relieved a lot of the stress between my sister and her husband.
I love this little girl, and I love what she represents to our family. I felt for her in this miracle what I felt when my father passed away - that God's love for us encompasses all situations, that we can see Him clearly in all circumstances and that His peace surpasses all human understanding. Would this be a much different story had she not survived? Surely. Would that have changed my feeling about God? I don't think so.
An interesting sidenote to this particular story is that my sister is also the recipient of an incredible miracle. As a second grader, my sister came down with Reye's Syndrome. She was quickly whisked away to Yale New Haven hospital where my parents were given a 50/50% chance of survival, and in the case of survival a 70-80% chance she would be brain damaged. My sister was completely cured of this disease after 5 days in a coma with a tube in her skull to relieve building pressure. Not only did she not have brain damage, she is technically a genius! You won't find a record of her stay or her disease at Yale. It's unexplainable to them, so they took her off the books. When she returned 6 months later for follow-up cognitive testing, a 15 year old boy who came in the same night she did with Reye's was still in a coma. As a family, we could never deny the power of prayer and the belief that miracle do happen in our world today.
I'm so looking forward to having this little sweetie and her "Emo Seepers" come stay at my house for Christmas. She is such a visual reminder to each of us that God is so faithful and His love for us and for Skyler is immense.
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I had some readers of my blog leave comments that they were praying too - people that I and R and S had never met either...
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