To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
Thank you, for coming to the website. God does work miracles, one of them lives in our home. We will remember God's Grace twice a day when we give medication to Parker and know that he is with us because of God's love and the sacrifice of Rebecca Donnelly (please see her picture on the website).
A month ago we were getting ready for the Memorial Day weekend. I remember that weekend snuck up on us. Josh and I commented on the fact that it was already a month that had passed since big brother, Cameron and little Parker celebrated their birthdays together.
May 20th, we celebrated with family and friends as my sister, Mears, was married. Parker was in many pictures and he was fine that weekend. The following weekend, Memorial Day, Parker took on a yellowish tint to his skin but had no fever and was still very bubbly, happy and active. That week we took him to the pediatrician’s office. They told us to take the wait and see approach. By the following Monday, June 5th his coloring had darkened. Our pediatrician urgently recommended us go to the Vanderbilt Children’s ER. That day Parker underwent a battery of tests from ultrasounds, blood draws and many, many medical evaluations. He was admitted that night; I stayed with him while Josh took care of Cameron. Parker, except for his color and the occasional rightfully warranted screaming from all the needles, was still very playful, wiggly and loving. The next day while waiting for orders to come through from the team of residents and attending physicians, it was actually hard to keep Parker entertained, he wanted to run and be outside.
On Tuesday June 6th we were released from Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital at 6:00 p.m. Hepatitis A, B, C, and D were all ruled out along with Leukemia and mononucleosis. Through out all this Parker received no medications. We were told to monitor him and watch for a fever or if he turned lethargic. At that point, he showed none of these symptoms.
That week Josh and I both worked while my mom, who is a wonderful help, took Parker repeatedly to our Pediatrician to monitor his bilirubin, liver function, enzymes and blood levels. My son was becoming a human pin cushion and it was torturing my husband and me. Why were we getting no answers? At one point I thought his stool was getting more normal and then his billirbin started to drop, which gave us hope that the arrows where pointing in the right direction. That was Monday of this past week, June 12th. Two days later on Wednesday we had a 9:00 a.m. appointment with more Vanderbilt doctors but this time with the Hematology department. That was the painful day that Josh and I heard for the first time the possibility of a liver transplant. Words can not describe what a parent feels at that moment. But, we do know that sweet little baby Parker, the Lord has wonderful plans for you here on earth.
That night, we were to fly on the Vanderbilt plane to St. Louis to Children’s Hospital, to get more tests and talk to the head of the liver transplant unit. Parker was deemed stable enough to make the five hour car ride instead. At four in the morning on June 15th Parker, my mom, my sister, Terri, who is a pediatrician, and I drove to St. Louis.
Through out all this Josh and I have had such a wonderful and overwhelming out pouring of love, support, prayers and at times, tears with so many people in our lives. We have marveled at how truly blessed we are to have such wonderful friends, co workers and family. The prayers are working our dear loved ones, please keep them coming.
The morning we got to St. Louis Children’s Hospital I knew we found a place were we could have hope with true miracles. Parker was diagnosed almost immediately with acute liver necrosis and the hospital acted with urgency and professionalism. The nurses and staff have all been so kind and gentle with our precious baby boy. Test upon test have been ordered, conversation after conversation with concern and respect to keep Josh and I informed. It’s all been amazing and truly hopeful. My family, Josh and I feel we could not be at a better institution and we are grateful to the Vanderbilt doctor who recognized that Parker needed more care. SLCH has one of the nations leading liver transplant teams in the country. This year alone they have performed at least 40 to 50 liver transplants. However, they have said that they only have 4-5 acute necrosis liver diagnosis per year. They said that is more rare; yet it seems to be more prevalent in this age group.
I am the Lord, the God of every person on earth. Nothing is impossible for me.
OH! What a day!!!! After being very introspective this morning, I went to work while Josh was at the hospital at 7:15AM for ultrasound and biopsy surgery. He was a the hospital with Gail and Nancy all day until around 5. The good news is that God answers prayers and this was a small scare. Parker has some slight infection in his bile ducts and he will go back onto a drug that will thin his bile duct fluid (he was on it previously before the numbers starting rising) and will be on an antibiotic for about a month to rid him of infection. NO ADDITIONAL STINT AND NO REJECTION!!!!!! Good news...
Josh will travel home tomorrow with Parker. After leaving the hospital he decided to take Parker (although tired and sore from the surgery) to a Cardinals baseball game for some father-son bonding. They deserved it after spending all day in the hospital. I hope my boys have a good time tonight as I am in Atlanta and will travel home tomorrow. Cameron went to school today and to football sports camp tonight before going to his 2nd friend's house for a sleep over. Thanks for my Brentwood friends, Nikki and Molly, for helping out with my baby, Cameron.
Thank you to all who have prayed and thought of us today. I go to sleep tonight knowing that I will be back with all my 3 babies tomorrow night and we will, again, be healthy and a family. All the best to those reading tonight - thanks for thinking of us, praying for us, and staying a part of our family. We are truely blessed with so many that love us that it is beyond mental comprehension when I try to wrap my head around the love.
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