I haven’t been able to update, because we’ve been in the hospital with Lúthien, and they have no wi-fi! We saw the doctor on Monday, and the week of antibiotics and breathing treatments had not improved her pneumonia at all. In fact, it was getting worse. We checked into the hospital on Monday, and not only was her pneumonia significantly worse, but she was also diagnosed with a pleural effusion. That’s fluid between the lung and the lining of the lung. They thought that there might be loculations (a fun new word I learned), meaning that the fluid was compartmentalized. Fortunately, it was not. In her case, it was complex fluid, meaning that they couldn’t just draw it off with a needle. (new word #2: empyema.) She’d need surgery. She went to surgery on Wednesday, and it took a bit longer than we expected.

*This paragraph contains some detail. If you’re squeamish, you might skip it!*

The surgeon said that, when they got in there, the infection was worse than they thought. She had a LOT of pus in that effusion, and they had to peel some of the gunk off of the lung lining. It was definitely a good idea to have the surgery. They also inserted a chest tube, to allow the drainage to continue, and a Hickman line (like a central line) which will allow us to take her home and still administer the IV antibiotics that she’ll need for at least 2-3 more weeks.

After surgery, since it was a bit worse than they hoped, she was still on the ventilator and in ICU. They worked so hard to balance her sedation and pain medications, so she could be as comfortable as possible. Her gastric tube came back positive for blood, so they are also treating her with acid reducers. It doesn’t necessarily mean that she has an ulcer, but since she has been under so much stress, and not eating for weeks, they are treating her as though she does.

Today around 3:30 or 4:00, Lúthien was taken off the ventilator!! She’s tired, and sore, but doing pretty well and glad to be able to suck on her pacifier again! She’s sleeping peacefully about an hour later, snuggled up with her baby doll. She’s been talking to us some, though she’s very hoarse. She points out the stars in her room and asks for milk, and to be picked up. She can’t have milk for a few more hours, but when she wakes up, we can hold her again.

I have to brag on the staff at this hospital. Just about every single person that we have encountered has been wonderful. They carefully explain everything and answer all my questions. I’m interested in medicine, and I read a lot, so I understand most of what’s going on, but I have a lot of questions! They let me see her x-rays and explain her monitors, and they are happy to let us be involved in her care.

Kary was off yesterday and today, but will go back to work tomorrow. He stayed last night, and she was still sedated, so we both got some sleep. They held our room back in the Pediatric wing, so we’d take turns in the very comfy recliner in her room, with all the beeps and interruptions, and in her Peds room where the bed is less comfortable, but the interruptions are fewer. There’s also a Ronald McDonald room in the hospital, with free food, books and games. We’ve eaten a few meals there. Nothing fancy – cinnamon rolls, sandwiches, microwave frozen pizza, and granola bars, but we don’t have to buy food at the cafeteria or leave the hospital. We have gotten out some, since she’ll need us more constantly now that she’s awake. Since she was sedated, and there wasn’t much we could do for her, and since we were so comfortable with the care of the nursing staff, we went out to lunch yesterday and had pizza in our room for dinner. We’ve wandered the hospital a bit to keep moving and stave off cabin fever.

One huge blessing during this time is that I haven’t been nearly as sick as I was before. The beginning of pregnancy just doesn’t agree with me, but I’ve been able to eat pretty normally and feel okay despite the lack of sleep and increased stress. That’s good news!

When Lúthien does come home, she’ll still be on IV antibiotics for 2-3 weeks, which we can do with a home health company. That still means we can’t have her in daycare, so we are trying once again to balance work schedules. My boss has been wonderful, and Kary’s boss now realizes that this is serious, and has also been great. (They even went back and retroactively credited him with sick and vacation time from his 3 month probation period, which was certainly not expected!) And our insurance coverage is quite good, so we shouldn’t be broke from the hospital bills. The daycare is putting her at the top of the waiting list, so we don’t have to pay to hold her spot. They can’t guarantee that we can get back in immediately once she is better, but it’s a reasonable compromise. I am considering 2^nd shift work to cut down on her childcare, but don’t have any definite leads yet. I’d appreciate prayers. Kary is also looking for a job that would have better benefit options, which would likely allow me to work only part-time.

We think that she will come out of ICU pretty soon, today or tomorrow, and we’ll go back to our previous room for a few days, and then home. My mom is planning to come for a few days to help, which might allow us both to work a bit more, and my dad might come when she goes home. Other family members on both sides have offered to help, and our church family has been wonderful. They come to visit and pray for us, and would happily bring us anything that we need. Thanks y’all! We’ll be happy when all three of us can get back to worship with you!

I’ll try to update as things progress, or a dear friend is updating some on her blog, since it’s hard for us to get to internet access. Once we’re home, I’ll be able to keep you more up to speed. We definitely appreciate your prayers and kind thoughts. It’s been a tough time, but we really are doing pretty well.

Lúthien has pneumonia. No telling when she'll be well enough to go back to daycare (or sleep through the night!!). She's running high fevers and struggling to breathe. She has a really hard time sleeping, which means we do, too. They're not hospitalizing her for now, to try to let another round of antibiotics do their work.

Pray for us as we try to take a hard look at some things and make wise, but difficult, decisions. Thanks!

You should know that I am frustrated and upset before you read this, in case I sound overly grumpy.

I got a call from the daycare yesterday about 11am. Lúthien was, again, running a fever. Sure enough, she has her 3rd ear infection since June 1. We have an appointment with an ENT today to consider ear tubes. I hate the idea of someone cutting into her tiny eardrums. We're both musicians, and even the possibililty of serious hearing loss is a scary one for us. (Odd that I would consider adopting a profoundly deaf child, but it's different when your child is fine, and then something goes wrong.) I know that the risks are minor, that this a common surgery, but I don't care. I hate the idea of giving such a tiny body anesthesia, and of her pain and confusion during recovery. (How long is that, by the way? Are we talking hospital or home for recovery?) I don't even know for sure if they'll decide to do the tubes, but I suspect they will. And I suspect it's the right decision. From other moms I've heard from, this "minor" surgery can mean a huge improvement. This constant sickness, infection, pain and screaming can't be good. (She barely slept last night, which means we barely slept.) Despite all that, I still hate it. At least I know and trust this ENT. I saw him for some voice troubles almost a year ago. He had known me for all of 5 minutes, and while threading a tube down my nose into my throat, he's asking if I'm a Christian. Then he did a procedure pro bono, because Kary lost his job the day before that appointment. I like him, and I trust him, and so does my doctor. That will help immensely.

In other news, I am incredibly sick with pregnancy. That's normal for me, I guess. I'm in the lucky 1-2% of women who have hyperemesis gravidarum. (That's latin for "puking your guts out while pregnant.") It's not morning sickness. It's more like food poisoning...for weeks. I throw up several times a day, and I spend most of the rest of the time concentrating VERY hard on not throwing up. The resulting dehydration and malnutrition can lead to all kinds of complications, but I've managed to avoid those things so far. I lost 20 pounds with Lúthien, and I've already lost 7 pounds in just a few weeks. (No great loss on my body, but not the timing or the method I'd prefer for losing weight!) Last time, Reglan was a miracle drug. This time, not so much. If it continues to be this bad, we'll try Zofran. (These are drugs that they use on chemo patients to help with their nausea if that gives you a clue.) I'd rather avoid drugs entirely, but that's just not very practical. I still have to live my life, go to work, take care of my little girl.

Between all of Luthy's sicknesses lately, and my sickness now, I've missed more days of work than I've worked in the last month. Never mind that we pay for childcare whether or not she is home sick. (I understand that, by the way. It's just painful when your paycheck is dwindling because you are out of sick time, and still have to stay home, and your paying someone else to do what you most want to do.) My boss is, thankfully, pretty nice about it, but I can tell he's getting annoyed. (At least I can still get all of my work done. Frankly, I don't have to be in the office very long to do that. There's just not that much.) We're trying to figure out what our options are. It doesn't look like I'll be feeling much better over the next month or so. Lúthien will likely need surgery, and the dentist just told Kary that his wisdom teeth need to come out NOW! (They are in serious decay, and potentially a real problem if left alone even for a short time.) Kary has NO sick time. (Although he got a good review at work and will get a slight raise!) I am out of sick time. How does this work exactly?

And what's the point of me even working a job?

Kary has been wanting to build a computer for the longest time. I told him I wanted to learn more about hardware. Lo and behold, he ordered all the parts, and I put it together! (With a lot of his helpful guidance!) It's working just great, and we are enjoying it! He got a case that looks like it has alien eyes. (I think it looks like a flower.) Even the power button is a little alien head. He let me help narrow down the choices, but he liked the power supply and a couple of other features better in this one than the one I liked best. Oh well! It's his toy.

My new toys came on Saturday! Good old Elder Derek drove his truck all around town picking up various appliances. A very good friend who has taken care of us in our marriage more than once, from the day she played piano at the wedding (and even before!) knew we were looking for a good deal on a used washer/dryer. Thinking that "free" might be the best deal out there, she held onto ones that someone she knew was getting rid of! We now have new-to-us washer and dryer. They work wonderfully! (The old ones we had were purchased for $50 each when we got married 6 years ago. Hard to complain that they lasted as long as they did!)

THEN, as if that weren't enough, Derek took another trip to pick up our BRAND NEW DISHWASHER!! We've been looking for a while, and that morning I happened to find (yeah, right. It was totally a God thing.) a dishwasher with all the features that I wanted, including a pretty silver color, for $100 less than the ones we had pretty much decided on. Yippee! My old dishwasher leaked all over the floor every time we used it. Well, after spending about 6 hours installing it on Sunday, Kary discovered that the leak had nothing to do with the dishwasher, and everything to do with a 3-feet section of old copper pipe. He bought a new piece of hose, and it's all hooked up! Runs like a dream, no puddles on the floor, and cleans the dishes a LOT better than the old salvaged dishwasher.

So, we now have 3 new or new-ish appliances (with an oven/range still to come) and a garage that houses at least 4 or 5 old ones. Garage sale, you think?