Our Sick Little One

Don't you hate it when kids get sick?

I do, especially when they can't tell you what is wrong... exactly where it hurts...

Please pray for our little Mary Michelle. She has a severe cold, that developed into croup, and now has such thick congestion that she is having a hard time clearing it out of her throat and upper respiratory passages, so much so that we had to take her in to the clinic on Friday night due to her difficulty breathing.

We'd already been to the doctor earlier in the week, and had her on some medications for the croup. Last night they added respiratory therapy which consists of massaging and tapping on her chest and backc to loosen secretions, stimulate the respiratory system in general and cause coughing, plus having her on oxygen for a period of time.

This therapy started last night, and after about 2 hours we were able to return home to try and get some sleep. Then we were back at the clinic for another session first thing this morning (in fact, I picked up the therapist - who is blind and went to French School here in Niamey as a child - to ensure that he'd be able to get to the clinic for her treatment), and will return again this evening as well as having two more sessions tomorrow. At that point, her doctor will re-evaluate depending on how she is doing.

Frankly, we don't mind sharing that this is all quite scary and much more than a little exhausting. No matter how many kids you have, it is frightening to see them not doing well... If we were in the States, she would probably have been hospitalized last night... and then we'd be trusting in the medical system to make our baby better, and I know would feel confident that modern technology and science would soon have our baby back to good health.

Under these present circumstances, we are hoping and praying that this combination of a traditional therapy with oxygen and a few medications added in will do the trick and do so as rapidly as possible. But it makes me realize all the more just how dependant on the Lord we really are, especially in those moments when Mary is struggling to breathe, for every single breath we take. Why is that so easy to forget...?

We are encouraged to say that after her second therapy session, her breathing rate has slowed some, she was able to take deeper breaths, and she seems to be struggling a little less. She is still very congested and she continues to have a difficult time coughing that out because of how thick it is and how tired and weak she is. But we are praying for this same sort of improvement after each of the three additional sessions presently scheduled.

Please pray with us.