Calling on more PRAYERS

So, our little guys bad night turned into a living nightmare. After recognizing that Lincoln clearly was in pain, the doctor ordered some labs. Everything came back fine. He would continue another set of labs six hours later. The second set of tests were just the beginning of our world turning upside down......again. We were getting SO close to Lincoln coming home!! I received a call from the doctor Thursday morning informing me that the labs confirmed he had a very serious infection. Just to give you an idea of how it took a turn for the worst, his first set of labs showed he had approximately 17,000 white blood cells. By the second round of labs that number had diminished to 3,000. White blood cells are essential for fighting off illnesses. So, at this point the illness was winning. The doctor let me know that they weren't concerned for his life, but that it was a very serious infection and he was very sick. Scott decided to head over to the hospital with his little brother first thing in the morning to give Lincoln a priesthood blessing. When he got there, Lincoln had already started to swell a bit and was red on the right side of his body from head to tummy. I went to the hospital a short time after and noticed he had swollen a great amount. They had been giving him pain killers all through the night to dull the pain. They were thinking it could have been a shunt infection, but weren't certain and were still trying to figure it out. Some more labs came back indicating it was leaning more towards being a shunt infection. They decided right away to have Lincoln transported up to Primary Children's so they could follow the infection more closely and possibly operate. In the meantime, they had started antibiotics to hold whatever he was fighting at bay.The neurosurgeon looked at Lincoln and decided they would most likely operate friday morning. Scott and I arrived at 7:45 am to only find out that we had barely missed the surgeons. They decided he wouldn't need to be the first for surgery and would be third person in line. We were quite disappointed. The swelling had increased even more so and I was getting extremely frustrated. We knew the shunt was part of the cause of the infection and knew it needed to be taken out. I knew I couldn't judge the other cases without knowing what they were, but Lincoln definitely seemed like an emergent case to me. We stuck around to visit with him for awhile then, at 9am, decided to go to the cafeteria for breakfast. As we were getting in the elevator we heard a page for someone with the last name of Brown, but didn't hear the first name. We continued up to the NICU. We ran into our surgeon in the hall and he informed us that Lincoln was being prepared to be taken into surgery right away. He said when he came up to examine him, he decided that this could no longer wait and the others receiving surgery would have to be pushed back. We were VERY happy to hear this. I forgot to add, Lincoln was put back on the ventilator for his ride back up to PCMC. They thought it would be a good idea to do it then since he was being a bit apnic and would have to have it for surgery anyway. The surgery in itself didn't take very long. The surgeon reported back to us that the surgery was a success and they got the shunt completely out. They described to us what we had suspected...there was major infection. Under the shunt itself it was pretty clean, BUT when they pulled the tubing out it had green mucous all over it! That can not be good!! For two weeks he has to be on antibiotics to make sure the infection is clear before they can put another permanent shunt back in. We were hoping they would be able to take him off the vent not long after surgery. Well, that didn't happen. With him being so sick, he may be on the ventilator longer than anticipated. How long will it be?? We don't really know, it will depend on Lincoln and his desire to breath. It will also depend on his health. He has been having great bowel sounds, so they decided to start some feedings. Poor guy only gets 5 ml's of milk every 3 hours for now. Hopefully that will be increased soon.
Today was another hard day for us. I called in this morning to check on him. The nurse informed me they found out what his infection is. The infection is MRSA (HA-staph infection). This is a VERY serious infection. Luckily they caught it and started antibiotics right away. We're not necessarily out of the woods yet, but he has shown response to the medication. His swelling has started going down and his breathing has gotten a little better. He must be on the antibiotics for 21 days. This means until they get multiple clean labs, Lincoln can't get the surgery for his shunt, which puts off his homecoming.
I got extremely worked up on the way to the hospital this morning. I let my thoughts consume me and could only think of the worst....that this could turn fatal. On the 27th of this month, Colten will have been gone for a year. I couldn't imagine loosing two babies in the span of one year. Scott and I were talking in the truck. We agreed that both of our hearts were in our stomachs. There were a few moments of silence between us. I had an overwhelming feeling of calm come over me. I felt so extremely relieved and was even able to smile a little. I then decided to share this little piece of news with Scott. His response took me by surprise. He said that he felt the exact same way at that exact same time. This was such a touching moment for both of us.
Our visit with Lincoln was wonderful. He actually opened his eyes and made eye contact with me a few times. I knew my baby was in there somewhere, just very confused and sleepy. I shed a few tears for him just trying to imagine all he has gone through. A friend brought up something very profound. She made me see that it was no small coincidence that Lincoln was brought into our lives and family. Our Heavenly Father knows all and has a plan for all of us. It is true He will give us no more than we can handle. I KNOW Lincoln will pull out of this and will come home soon.
Thank you for all of your love, support and prayers!! We are truly blessed in many MANY ways!