4-29-09: Pneumonia Treatment Complications

Sarah is still in the hospital being treated for pneumonia. She is taking four different IV medications for the pneumonia. All the IV meds are causing fluid to be retained in her lungs making it difficult for her to maintain good oxygen saturation and keeping her from breathing comfortably.

Sarah's condition has been degrading for the last few days. The doctors believe she is unlikely to survive the pneumonia. They are still actively treating her pneumonia and trying to reduce her fluid retention, but they are not giving Sarah a good prognosis.

Pneumonia can be hard and even deadly for healthy people let alone a four year old girl having gone through what Sarah has. We know the doctors could be right about this complication for Sarah, but continue to pray and have hope for her Sarah's recovery. This is a very hard time for Sarah and our family. Sarah has been working very hard to survive especially as of late and we do not know how much her little body can take. However, the little girl inside her little body is still very strong and she continues to insist on taking care of herself as much as she can. We love her very much.

Sarah's white blood cell count and associated blast count remains in check and at a low level (thanks be to God). We have not made any progress regarding the clinical trial as Sarah is ineligible with her current infection.

Please pray for Sarah's recovery from the pneumonia and fluid retention as well as continue recovery from her cancer.

-Ben

4-27-09: Pneumonia

Sarah is in the hospital with pneumonia. She was admitted last Wednesday due to high billirubin and continued fevers.

The doctors put her on antibiotics and antifungals right away to try and clear it up. The infection is in her left lung and we're told its pretty bad. We are not seeing big improvements yet, but Sarah is also not getting any worse either. We are waiting and praying.

We're all pretty tired, but probably not as wiped out as Sarah.

We'll try and provide a more thorough update Monday or Tuesday.

-Ben