Thursday, August 21, 2008

Thankful

This is a perfect post for Thankful Thursday. I could even say for me it's a thankful, grateful, indebted, appreciative Thursday. I am still a little in awe of what God did today for Madeline. It really is a miracle, that exceeds my wildest thoughts. I didn't dare to hope it would turn out this well.

Basically, yesterday I spoke with a nurse who told me I had no option but to give Madeline the medicine we were pretty certain she would be allergic to and just go to the ER when she started to have reaction. I searched and searched online last night for an alternative, but found nothing useful. Troy and I felt so ill-equipped and lost. We felt our only option was to drive first thing in the morning to a reputable ER and give her first dose of medicine near by.

We prayed for wisdom and that God would direct our steps and keep His hand over Madeline and went to bed. I believed He would, even though my mind wondered what He would possibly do in the middle of the night to change our circumstances.

This morning I was checking my email and must have searched Google with some combination of words I hadn't tried last night. The first website I opened described multiple antibiotic allergies. It said what I had felt all along: "Multiple antibiotic allergies can be scary. If you are allergic to one antibiotic, you have 10 times the risk of an allergic reaction to another antibiotic." It also described drug challenge testing, in which case a minute amount of the antibiotic is given under a physician's supervision and the amount is gradually increased. After a certain point is reached, if there is no reaction, it may be safely assumed that the patient can take the antibiotic. The physician must be present during the test to treat any life-threatening reaction that might occur.

This seemed much more reasonable to me. So I called the emergency number for her Dr., to be sure I wouldn't be transferred to a nurse again, and asked him about this procedure. He said he didn't think they would be able to accommodate us in the office, but we might be able to do it in the ER. He said to just meet him in the office at 9 since he was on his way there (I think he's only in the office 1 day a week). This was exactly when we should have been driving to the other hospital.

I took this as a sign that God was "directing our steps." When he met with Madeline, he said he could only do this if the one compound pharmacy in town would create the right dosages of antibiotic, but he didn't think they would. After a phone call - you guessed it! - he said they had agreed to and we would begin the 1 1/2 hour process in his office as soon as I picked up the prescription.

At this point, I started to believe that God was going to do something really special for Madeline today! The Dr. was ready to start the antibiotic desensitization, as he called it. As best as I can understand, it means by starting with extremely small doses of the antibiotic and slowly increasing the dose, the "allergy" systems of the body develop a sort of tolerance to the drug and do not react to it. The goal being that Madeline would eventually be able to take a full dose without further reaction. I had never even heard of this before this morning, but was really excited that it might work.

I purchased 5 doses of different strengths of the medication. Madeline and I sat in his office, as each dose was administered, with 15 minutes between each dose. She was quite content with all the attention, a dvd and some snacks. She was monitored by the Dr. and nurse throughout the procedure and had NO reaction!!!! Unbelievable.

We were sent home with our original prescription, she is able to take a normal dose now. (We also have a prescription for 3 epi-pens, which we have desired to have on hand for quite some time.) But apparently if she stops taking the drug, the desensitization does not last, and we cannot just start it up again at any time. We will return in 2 weeks for another culture of the infection. This is an incredible answer to one of our prayers (that she would not be allergic to the antibiotic)!

What we need to continue to pray is that THIS antibiotic effectively kills THIS particular strain of bacteria. The Dr. did tell us that if this one does not work, the only next option for a child her age is hospitalization (in-patient care and IV drugs), which lasts days.

God has provided a miracle today, and we believe He will provide another. We won't know for about 3 weeks (2 weeks + 6 days for the culture results), so we have all that time to pray for her healing and ask God to do another miracle.

Thank you for all of you who have forwarded our request on to other friends and left me encouraging messages today. I feel like an army got together on Madeline's behalf and I am so blessed.

Lots of love,

8 comments:

Jenileigh said...

Praise GOD! Hallelujah!!

Father God I thank-you for hearing and answering the cries of your children. I thank-you for guided the steps of this family and for protecting Madeline from any allergic reaction. Father God I ask that You continue to intervene and that You heal Madeline's body from all infection, all strep and all bacteria that is foreign and does not belong. I speak to it and command it to go in the mighty name of Jesus Christ!!

Father we love You and we see that You are our Deliverer, You are our Redeemer and only You answer our prayers. We give You all the praise honor and glory. Continue to persue us and draw us near to You. In Jesus name I do pray. Amen.

Rebecca, thank-you for stopping by my place. I am so glad the Lord has crossed our paths. I look forward to getting to know you. Hugs dear sister in Christ.

Laurie Ann said...

Rebecca, I'm so thankful you stopped by! Thanks for the congrats for Ethan - he has cousins named Eli and Evan already so Jenn claimed Ethan before anyone else could use it, LOL! I am part of a huge blessing, indeed!

I am in awe of what God did for your sweet girl! This is wonderful news. We will pray that the infection will go away and that this method of administering the antibiotics she may need in the future for other things will continue to work well! God is awesome and is to be praised, indeed!

Denise said...

Praise God, my prayers continue for your dear family.

june said...

Father, I think you that the steps
of your children are ordered by
you. I thank you that you not only
ordered Mom and Dad's steps, you
will continue on until healing is
obtained.

June

Jules said...

I found your blog through Denise (Shortybear's Place). I just wanted to tell you that my family will be praying for your little girl as you continue on this journey with her. It is truly amazing to see the Lord at work as He guides our steps!

Addicted to Beadz said...

Rebecca,

I'm sorry I'm late getting over here, but what a great answer to your prayers. I will pray that this antibiotic kills the virus.

I'm so glad you participated in TT. I have found so much love, support and prayers from online bloggers in the last 6 months. I'm confident you will too. There is no better gift than the gift of prayer. These women will step in the gap and hold you and your family up.

There is 1 other meme I usually participate in, but I didn't today. It is "Then Sings My Soul Saturday." You can look on my sidebar and there is a link that will take you there for information.

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,
Cheryl

My Hope And Joy said...

You can see God's hand all over your little one! From the beginning she's had a hard time, but God has her in the palm of His hand.
I'm so glad she did well, and what a testimony she has already!!
Praise God!
Elizabeth (aka: the BEST aunt Beth!)

Karen said...

The power of prayer! I am so happy for you all that God was there to guide your steps how wonderful. The way it worked out was amazing. I will continue to pray for your family.

With prayers,
Karen