Katelyn's Journey: A day of rest?

Sunday, June 22, 2008

A day of rest?

Thank you for your prayers regarding Katelyn going to high school group at church today. She received an excited greeting from many she hadn't seen for awhile and had a wonderful time. She's also regained a little side to side head movement today.

She is enjoying a visit with her Grandma, Uncle and cousins today and looks forward to floating in the pool.

We have set up a yahoo group called katelynsjourney for an online meal calendar for those that haven't received this invite go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group.katelynsjourney. This continues to be a HUGE help and blessing.

Jeannette has officially stepped down from her job temporarily and will miss seeing everyone but it is necessary at this time.

Robert and Becca will be leaving on Thurs. for a 4 day camping trip in Tahoe we had planned and Katelyn looks forward to her Aunt coming to spend those 4 days with her and her mom.

Please pray for renewed spirits and faith for all of us.

3 comments:

bekkajaz said...: I just happened on your blog tonight ( or led of the Lord to it ) . I firmly believe that Jesus is the same yesterday , today and forever ; therefore He is still healing bodies today as He did in the past and will in the future . I will be praying for Katelyn , and the family.
In Christ's love
Becky R.; June 22, 2008 at 9:40 PM
Unknown said...: Hello Katelyn, Jeannette, Robert and Bec!

First let me say to Jeannette that you have done an awesome job with this blog! It’s been great keeping up with you all now that Kate’s out of the hospital. Please know that you have my prayers and best wishes in mind each and every day.

Let me also say that I’m glad to see that Katelyn’s smile is a great as ever! You don’t see many people whose face lights up so brightly as yours does when they smile. That is a fantastic gift because you make others smile too.

I’ll be keeping in touch through your blog so take care all!

Much love and admiration,

TC; June 23, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Unknown said...: My young friend,
You have been in my thoughts alot this summer and I am glad to see that you have been making progress. I was gone with my family to Yellowstone these past few weeks and we had a great time. You keep working hard and I hope to see you back in a classroom helping to remind teachers that it is because of students like you we like this job.
Take care,
Your old friend
ps This is my first blog - whatever that means.; August 2, 2008 at 4:46 PM

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How it all began...

In Febrary, Katelyn first developed a severe unknown allergic reaction that caused her eyes to be swollen shut for over a week with orbital cellulitus and her whole body to itch. She was on high doses of antibiotics and steriods to clear up this contidition.

Next, in April she came down with a very bad flu virus that caused her to loose a lot of weight in a short amount of time. Katelyn ended up in the hospital due to dehydration and the inability to keep any food or liquids down. She underwent many tests and evaluations. At one point, she had lost more than 15 pounds. After 3-4 days of testing, it was finally determined that she had SMA syndrome, which is a small intestinal blockage. A feeding tube needed to be placed past the blockage before they could begin tube feedings.

Unfortunately, there were many complications involved in this process. They had to do feedings through her IV until the tube moved to the right location and multiple times they had to move her IV as her veins kept giving out. Eventually, they got the ND tube placed and after 2 weeks in the hospital we got to go home on home feedings until the blockage cleared and she could begin eating on her own again.

We started having complications almost immediately after going home. Her system struggled with the change in formula we went home on and the change in medications. Also, her feeding tube became clogged and required a trip back to UC Davis to have it cleared. After only 4 days, we were back in ER as her GI system developed complications. We were released for home treatment but the next week ahead brought further problems.

The following weekend, we were back at the ER due to the tube being clogged again (apparantly this isn't unusual). This time they brought in the Intervention Radiology team to pull the old tube and replace it with a new one. They choose to sudate her for the procedure this time. Again, there were complications arising from the medications and when she finally pulled out of the sedation she had lost all her muscle control. Her body had finally been through one too many traumas and shut down.

Katelyn was admitted again and we spent the next 2 1/2 weeks in the hospital in the rehab program. The one success while we were there was that she slowly began eating and the feeding tube was finally removed and done with.

Katelyn was released on May 29th in time to attend her 8th grade Graduation the following day. She was still completely dependant with no muscle control but she wanted to attend her graduation anyways. Strapped into her wheelchair, she wore a huge smile and accepeted her diploma.

Katelyn is now home and with the aid of a hospital bed downstairs, we are able to care for her here. She continues to have rehab therapy locally with a therapist she likes and has worked with in the past. Her progress is slow but the prognosis is for full recovery but it could be weeks or months, they just don't know.

Katelyn's Journey

Sunday, June 22, 2008

A day of rest?

3 comments:

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