June Meyer

Friends and Family, 
I would like to start by thanking everyone for all the love and support since last Friday morning … it has been an extremely difficult and emotional 5 days for Jill and John.  All the texts, calls, emails, thoughts and prayers have been overwhelming and have helped them (and all of the Meyer and Spitzfaden family) 
maintain strength during this difficult time as they continue to pray for June’s full recovery.


Last Wednesday (8-2-17), June started having some mild sickness type symptoms … some low grade fevers, mild vomiting etc.  Over the next 24 hours, the symptoms worsened a bit and things seemed to fall in the “kid flu” category.  On Thursday, a visit to her pediatrician resulted in guidance on fever management and dehydration prevention, but Thursday evening things progressed a bit more with continued fevers, more lethargy and labored breathing.  Jill was up with June most of the night Thursday and into Friday morning.  Early Friday morning June became more lethargic and began looking more ill with continued 
vomiting.  Jill rushed June to the Missouri Baptist Emergency Department where ER doctors worked quickly to stabilize low blood pressure and high fever.  A breathing tube was inserted in the ER and she was quickly transported to Children’s Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for further management.


Once in the ICU, doctors and nurses rushed to June’s bedside as they worked to stabilize her with IV fluids and blood pressure elevating medications.  Her fever got as high as 105 degrees within the first hour at Children’s Hospital and the intensive care doctors told Jill and John this was a “life threatening 
situation”.  At that time meningitis was at the top of the diagnosis list, but tests had yet to confirm.  She was stabilized Friday afternoon but doctors did not yet have a firm diagnosis and June was, for lack of a better term, in a coma.   


Since Friday (8-4-17), June’s vital signs have stabilized as the numerous physicians continued to work on finding the cause of her illness.  The lumbar 
puncture (spinal tap) came back negative thus ruling out meningitis as a possible diagnosis.  Other scans, blood tests, and an extensive panel of possible 
infectious causes (i.e. viruses, bacteria etc.) did not define a specific cause of her illness.    After a lengthy meeting with doctors from several specialties, it was agreed that June’s current condition is likely a result of an initial potent viral infection that may never be identified. 


Again, our family has been so touched by the tremendous outpouring of love and support.  As anyone reading this entry can imagine, seeing a wonderful couple like Jill and John suffer so much over the last several days has been beyond painful.  It gives me great comfort knowing they have such caring people to support them through June’s recovery.