Home Again

Mary Graham is back home from her second trip to Children's....praise God. The antibiotics seem to be working and her labs were significantly better this morning. She is not 100%, we continue to pray for healing. The hard thing about these rod infections is that they are difficult to get rid of all together. But we are thankful for today and that she seems to be better.

Also, we are waiting to speak with Dr. Campbell in Philly, it took a while for all the scans to arrive and he is reviewing them now. Hoping and praying for some encouraging news and a plan for her rods and broken ribs.

As always, thank you so much for praying for her...I will keep you posted. The last two weeks have been hard and long. But God has been with us and we have felt His presence. Thank you for lifting us up.

I have just started a Caring Bridge page for updates about Mary Graham. A friend recommended that I do this, since it's hard to check a blog frequently and things change from day to day with her. You can login and get emails when I update. I will post the exact same updates on my blog, so you can always continue to check on her there. We are always so grateful for your support and love!
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/marygrahamsheppard

Children's Take-Two

This morning I took MG to see Dr. Makris at the pulmonary clinic to check her bloodwork, since she has been slowly getting worse since we have been home from the hospital. And I had a feeling that we would be staying....and we are. Her labs showed that she still has an infection in her body. The plan is to start her back on the same antibiotics from last week that seemed to healing her and treat soft tissue infections (such as a rod infection). She is actually on a higher dosage than last week and if she improves the next few days then we can go home on oral antibiotics, which would be much better than a picc line. The doctors still don't know for sure if it is a rod infection, but that seems to be the best guess as of now and the reason she got sick again after being home. Also, we are still waiting on word from Dr. Campbell about her ribs, hoping that we don't have to make a trip up to Philly anytime soon, at least until this infection gets take care of. She has been a trooper today, she is getting use to hospital life, not really, but at least she only cries when someone is messing with her, not just when they walk in the room.

Today I have felt more peace than I have in the last ten days. She is exactly where she needs to be and I believe this is one step closer to healing her. Please pray these antibiotics knock out this infection and for her pain to subside.

We are in the new Children's of AL, last week we were in the older building. It's super nice and a beautiful view, we are on the top floor. Thank you for praying and continuing on this journey with us. Two devotion books I read last night had the same verse and then I heard it in a song today...We praise God for his faithfulness through what has felt like at times walking through the desert.


Psalm 63
"You God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me."

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Pain continues

Please continue to lift up Mary Graham...her pain is very bad right now, keeping her up at night and crying any time we move her. Dr. Campbell in Philly is still waiting to get some of the CT scans, so we will most likely speak with him tomorrow. We are going to see Dr. Makris, our pulmonologist, in the morning to check bloodwork, as many of the doctors are still concerned about a rod infection. Dr. Makris has been a huge blessing in all of this, taking role of being the middle man in all these moving parts.....The waiting and watching her in pain is so hard right now. Please pray for pain to improve and for no sign of infection to show up on the bloodwork. Pray for us to trust that God is in the details and He will move quickly in restoring her. 

We're Home

We are home and so thankful! MG is feeling much better, still battling some pain, mostly on her left side. We will talk with Dr. Campbell in Philly on Monday about her rods. God heard our prayers and we thank you for praying for her and us. Please pray for no infection to return and continued healing.



Decided she didn't like the hospital gowns





Ready to go home!



The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good.....MG is doing much, much better. In fact, she is now back on just motrin and tylenol and that seems to be controlling her pain. She was very happy most of the day, ate more and just seemed more content. She is still very hestitant to move, but we hope that will keep improving. So, since her fevers are down and pain is managed, they say we may go home tomorrow-Praise God.

The Bad.....MG could still have an infection of her rods even though it was not found on the scans. She has gotten better on antibiotics that would treat this type of infection, so the question still remains: is she getting better because of a virus or because the antibiotics treated the infection? Only time will tell, she will remain off antibiotics and if she starts getting sick again, running fever, etc. in 4-5 days that would most likely mean she has a rod infection. Please pray for NO infection to return or for God to just rid her body of any illness and for her to remain healthy. We do not want to go down this road of months of antibiotics and rod removal.

The Ugly....We found out from our orthopedist here that MG has 2-3 broken ribs. The hooks where the veptr rods connect to the ribs have migrated through her little ribs. This was the biggest surprise of the day to say the least, but explains much of her pain. This information will be passed on to Dr. Campbell in Philly tomorrow and we hope to hear from him and see what his plan is for this. Please pray for wisdom and direction for Dr. Campbell in knowing how to best treat this, which may very well include surgery.

So, that is the day in a nutshell. God is at work and already gave us some answers we had been searching for. I have faith that He is not finished and we are praying for complete restoration for Mary Graham. Even with these complications with these veptr rods (and we knew eventually there would be some), we know they have helped MG so much already, and pray that we can continue on this journey with hope that God will guide us and be with us every step, just like he already has.

In the confusion and weariness of this week and all we have faced with MG, your support and prayers have meant so much. And we know the Lord has not forsaken us.....Please continue to lift her up.

"Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33

A plan

I wish I could say we had a plan, but as of right now the doctors are doing their best to come up with one. As of right now, there is no clear evidence of where the infection is located....from her MRI, ct, ultrasound and bloodwork. If they knew for sure it was a rod infection, the treatment would be 6-9 months of antibiotics and they dont want to just assume that and start her on that treatment. Also, one doctor suggested her rods could have come loose. She is getting better, and is happier this morning. So we are thankful for that. However, we dont know if she is getting better because of antibiotics or just getting better herself. Most likely they are going to take her off of antibiotics and see if she spikes a fever or gets worse and that way they will know if the antibiotics are helping. They will also be talking more in depth with Dr. Campbell this morning and get his expert opinion too. MG's case in very unique, it has seemed that is the story of her life, so finding the right answers is confusing, even for the doctors. Pray that God will guide them to the best plan for MG.

We're growing more weary and just frustrated...but we know that God is in all the details. Pray for clarity and answers and just healing for her. Also, patience and rest in Him who is not surprised by any of this.

It takes a village

Today Mary Graham had her MRI, which happened this morning, so that was an answer to prayer that we didn't have wait all day. It went very smooth and she recovered great. They said she woke up and said "I want my passy." we also had the same nurse anesthetist that have had many times and who loves MG. The MRI did not show any infection, which was what they thought could be a possibility, mainly since she has already been on antibiotics for three days. So, now what? Even though no infection showed up on the mri, the doctors still believe the infection involves her rods. This is where it gets complicated in finding the best way to treat an infection. Well, the doctors are talking to Dr. Campbell and infectious disease to figure out the next step. She has improved a little the last few days, but got a fever today and is still battling pain, especially when we move her. We just want her to start feeling better so we can all go home soon.

I was thinking about that phrase, "it take a village to raise a child".... But in our case it seems like it should say "it takes a village to care for the Sheppards." I just want to say, that over the last 17 months, the love of Christ has been poured out on us. It wasn't more than an hour after being admitted to the hospital than others were asking how they could help with kids, food, etc. I'm always so humbled at the way you all serve us so much, so thank you. And thank you mostly for your commitment to pray for Mary Graham through all her ups and downs. I look forward to the day she understands more and can see how much God loves her through His people. But actually, I think she already understands a little.

Please continue to lift her up. Pray for healing of the infection and that the doctors would have wisdom and insight into how to treat her best. Pray for great improvement, no fevers and no pain, that has been the most difficult to deal with, her pain. We always, always covet your prayers. One friend texted me this morning and said, "I don't know what God is doing in all of this, but He is good and He loves you and MG" I couldn't have said it better.

Update on MG

Today has been up and down....Mary Graham slept well last night, although is still experiencing pain throughout the day, especially when we move her. Her abdominal ultrasound was normal and all the cultures and viruses they tested for have come back negative. Also, her inflammatory markers have gone down from Sunday and she has kept her fever down for over 24 hours. These are all good things, but still no answers to where her infection is located. The doctors still want to investigate a rod infection. So, she will have an MRI tomorrow, which I was just informed that inpatients go last....so it could be in the afternoon and not sure how long it will take.

Please pray for safety and her breathing during the MRI and a smooth procedure. Also, pray that if they find an infection it is early and can be treated with antibiotics, not surgery. The hardest part of this is that even though she has had a little improvement she is still hurting a lot. Pray for complete healing and trust in God as we walk yet another trial with MG. Pray for God to move quickly in restoring her health, as she was doing so well up until Sunday.

Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement.....your support is always a blessing. I will update when I can tomorrow.

You just never know...

So, you just never know what each day may bring....to make a long story short, MG started running fever, having diarrhea  and pain saturday afternoon so we came to the ER on Sunday morning. Well, that turned into a whole lot more. Her white blood count and inflammatory markers were very high and so she has some form of infection. They are now trying to figure it out. They believe it could be in her rods, even after already doing a CT and ultrasound. Now we are scheduled to have an MRI on wed morning. She has been up and down, but has seemed to improve some today and is on antibiotics and fluids. Please pray for her and for her healing. Pray that it's not an infection of her rods and that she continues to improve. If it is an infection of her rods, it's a whole other can of worms in having to try and get rid of it and can involve removal of rods.

Thanks for all you prayers, hoping for good night and better day. Trusting in God and trying to just take it one day at a time.