As many of you know already, Alexa has been hospitalized since last week Thursday (1-31). That Tuesday, she had woken up during the late evening with a sudden high fever. We kept an eye on her on Wednesday, but by Thursday morning she was only a shadow of her former self, continuous high fever, and, what worried us the most, her breathing had become very strange. She took very short, shallow breaths and sort of coughed the air out with every exhaling. So I took her in to see a pediatrician, who diagnosed her with pneumonia and said that she needed to go to a children's hospital to be treated.
So we went home, I had a short conference with David over the phone, we packed a bag with clothes for two days, and Opa took us to Bad Kreuznach, a town about 30 minutes away, the nearest hospital with a children's ward.
Long story short: Alexa contracted bacterial pneumonia in her right lung, and, after two days of treatment, did not improve much. They then ordered an ultrasound of her chest, where they discovered a significant amount of fluid buildup on the outside of her right lung, which is a complication of pneumonia. We were transferred to intensive care, and her condition was treated by inserting two tubes between her ribs between her pleural membranes (outside of her lung) to drain the fluid, thereby allowing her right lung to fully inflate again. All in all, they drained about 600ml of fluid ... that's about two-thirds of a quart!! No wonder the litle girl couldn't breathe!
Just today, after two or three days with these tubes in her side, they were finally removed and another ultrasound showed that there is only a minor amount of fluid remaining.
Just in time for Papa's birthday today, Alexa had her first good day in a week and a half. She has made a remarkable turnaround compared to the last few days, where she still had high fevers, no appetite, and no energy. Today, she sat up on her own, ate two decent meals and had energy to chatter and play. She couldn't have given Papa a better gift! :)
We have had countless people tell us they were/are praying for Alexa, and that has been a great source of encouragement. Lots of nurses comment on how sweet and cooperative Alexa is, and it seems they've all come to enjoy sticking their head in to see how she's doing. Most of all, though, it's been amazing how quick and unanticipated her turnaround has been. We're still in intensive care, and even yesterday the doctors weren't fully able to paint a picture of what the next few days would look like. What a reminder this experience has been of the amazing abilities of the medical community, but at the same time of their limitations as well. They can't make real predictions, they seemingly can't identify the type of bacteria that has caused this bout with pneumonia, their second drain tube didn't work the way they had hoped, etc. In contrast, God, who created Alexa and who invented lungs in the first place, is not limited by anything. He can heal in an instant, raise little girls from the dead (Jairus' daughter), and answers prayer. We are not entirely out of the woods, but are so encouraged by Alexa's improvement today. (It's really hard to describe in a blog without writing a novel and including all the tiny ups and bigger downs, parental concerns, having to leave your baby with strangers (albeit those who are trying to help) and feeling utterly helpless myself, all while having your supportive husband and the girls' concerned Papa thousands of miles away.) Please keep praying for her, and for travel logistics since we most likely won't be able to return in early March as we had planned. The doctors say that the changing air pressures while flying would be dangerous to her lungs' healing process and recommend changing out tickets to early April. We haven't made any definitive decisions yet. Mainly, please pray for Alexa's complete healing, with no remaining scar tissue in or around her lungs, or a propensity to contract more respiratory illnesses in the future.
Sweet baby girl on the second day in the hospital.
Taking a nap in Mama's bed.
During one of the several ultrasounds (before she had her tubes put in)
The amount of liquid they extracted through the first of two tubes. (The second ended up yielding almost the same amount.) Mind-boggling that that all fit into her little chest!
After the first of two procedures (spaced a day apart, thankfully).
Our room in the ICU. The advantage of being in ICU is that we have a room to ourselves, which wasn't the case the first couple of days.
During a brief moment of energy: Alexa sitting up on her own and playing with a cellphone. Moments like this warm my heart after seeing her lying in a bed for a full week, a mere shell of the little personality she was before.
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