Friday April 13 - In the Hospital

An update on how things are going – Danielle was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday and will likely remain there over the weekend.  She has been experiencing increasing abdominal pain and eating has been difficult.  In the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday, her friend Laura took her into the ER with a fever and in a lot of pain.  They started her on fluids, antibiotics, and pain meds and did a CT scan, which showed inflammation in her lower colon, possibly remnants of the multiple antibiotics she was on early in the year.  Initial bloodwork seemed to be ok, and thankfully a C.Diff (Clostridium Difficile) infection was ruled out, although they were keeping her in isolation in case it was a different tummy bug causing all this extra trouble (she is no longer in isolation).  Wednesday afternoon she was moved from the ER to a private room on the ward.  Since then she has been battling continued abdominal pain, intermittent fever and exhaustion, although they are doing their best to keep her comfortable with medication and continued IV fluids to avoid dehydration.  We are waiting on results from blood cultures and other tests.  If her abdominal discomfort does not improve, it is possible she will receive steroids starting on Saturday to reduce inflammation in her colon, and the doctors are investigating if she could be having an autoimmune reaction causing Crohn’s disease or colitis.  The next regularly scheduled chemo in Toronto on Monday will likely be postponed, and she is off the study drug for now to ensure it isn’t complicating matters or causing its own digestive issues.  In any case, they would like to get to the bottom of it and get her in better shape before she goes home again.    

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:10

Please pray for:

*Physical relief from pain and clearing up of inflammation

*Emotional, mental, and spiritual strength for Danielle and Timothy as they navigate this difficult, bumpy road

Reading Martha a story on Thursday evening