Update on Lily

5-14-08 - Swing on over to Lily's family blog and see some pictures along with my sister's thanks for all who prayed and helped. We had a great time in Gatlinburg this last weekend and Lily only had 1 short seizure the whole weekend! It was wonderful to see her enjoy hiking and swimming in the resort's pool.

***The Latest on 5-8-08 9pm. ~ Lily is on her way home! Apparently she hasn't had a seizure since 11:30 today, so they are sending her home.

I emailed friends and family yesterday to ask for prayer as we took my niece, Lily, to the Children's Hospital. As many of you already know, Lily has a seizure disorder, which is mostly kept under control with medication. Some of you may remember when we told you about Lily's website, put together by a generous friend.

There have been times in her life, such as two years ago, when the seizures are too numerous to deal with at home. This happened again yesterday. After a viral illness that we all had, Lily had an increase in seizures. Finally it got to the point where she needed some extra medication and oversight at the hospital.

So my mother and I accompanied my sister and Lily to the hospital yesterday. We arrived around 1:30pm. The funny thing was that Lily was in rare form on the way up there. She was constantly cracking jokes and obviously very alert and attentive to many details. One nice thing about her getting older is that she can call for help when she needs it. When we were loading up the car, she began having one and said, "Uh Oh, Aunt Lisa!" So I was able to get to her and hold her, preventing her from falling over. The down side is she shows more fear and frustration with her condition than she used to and she asks more questions about it now.

We sat in the emergency room for hours when Lori told us they were about to take them to a room so we should go on home. She wanted to snuggle in with Lily and get some sleep. We left at 6pm, expecting they were going to be taken up any minute. They were finally in a regular room and had an IV with the needed medication started at 9pm! Of course, you have to allow room for other urgent emergencies when you go to the hospital but almost eight hours seems a bit much.

The good news is that the seizures are decreasing and they had a pretty good night's sleep and they've been napping a lot today. Lori said the medication is making Lily groggy and a little unstable on her feet, but it is doing the intended work of getting the seizures under control. We don't know yet when they will be coming back home. Possibly tonight or tomorrow. I think the plan is to send her home with the extra medication and she will be kept on that for the next month.

I will update here in order to cut down on separate emails. Thanks for everyone's prayers and other help! To those of you who have called or emailed offers of help, I will let you know if a need arises. And I won't be shy because I'm not asking for myself.