Hey everyone. Sorry for not updating the past couple of days. We have been concentrating on Ellie. She's ok, holding her own and we wouldn't expect any less from her. Things have been going about the same, until yesterday. Let me update you on what changed yesterday....
Before I begin though, I have to tell you of what I have been hearing on the radio lately. Several weeks ago, a very sweet, sweet spirit pointed a song out to me called "Blessings" by Laura Story. I had heard this song a couple of times before it was mentioned to me and really hadn't paid attention to the words. Mitzi, two weeks ago this Monday, when Ellie took a turn for the worse, I heard that song and now I have heard it every day since. How powerful this song is. That Monday, I heard the words, really heard them and cried like a baby. What meaning it has given to me in the midst of this trial that Ellie, Matt and I are in. I do have blessings coming through raindrops. In my tears in the hospital room, I have the blessing of this beautiful little girl who is teaching us all about strength. The other powerful thing, is that when I say I have heard this song every day, it's not because I downloaded it. When I get in the car, no matter what station the radio is on, I turn it on the christian station and within minutes, that song comes on. Amazing how God speaks, isn't it?
The other day after I heard Blessings, it was followed by Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Fingerprints" that he wrote for his oldest daughter Emily. How appropriate I thought that I heard this song right after "Blessings". God's fingerprints are all over Ellie. I love the part of the song where Steven sings "Fashioned by God's hand/perfectly planned/ to be just who you are". That's true of everyone, but for my daughter it holds so much more for me. Ellie is so unique to these doctors. A perfect example of how God perfectly planned Ellie. Like the song also says, since the first beat of Ellie's heart, she is a priceless work of art. She is leaving her fingerprints everywhere and I am so lucky to see that each and every day. No matter how easy or hard the day might be.
That being said, Ellie left some more fingerprints yesterday. Ellie's paralytic has not changed. They did drop her pain medicine by 1 yesterday and stopped some medicine they had been using to help her heart function. Remember, over a week ago yesterday they did cut the paralytic in half but since then we had seen no movement or change in Ellie. Yesterday, about mid afternoon, I began to notice her arm twitching. I didn't think to much about it. Then later, I got up to wipe her nose and as I did, I caught this eye trying to look at me. Yes, at that moment, Ellie began to open her eyes again! As she did, little by little she has begun to move her legs, arms, and head! While she is still heavily sedated, our little girl is moving again. Her nurse last night, said it best, Ellie is one tough little girl. God is giving her strength. She keeps proving these doctors wrong. She amazes me, that's all I can say, Ellie continues to amaze me. We need to continue to pray for this to continue and Ellie be able to handle it. Please remember that while she is somewhat awake again, her airway issue has not been corrected, surgically. Please pray that Ellie will not react negatively to being awake again. Please pray that these doctors will see how strong she is. We know how mighty a God we serve and He is capable of anything.
I want to tell you all also about Ellie's awesome primary surgeon, Dr. Lim. This man, I can't even put in to words what he has done for her. He won't give up on her. How lucky are we to have him here with us. When he heard about what Dr. Manning had said to us, he encouraged us to get a second opinion. In my eyes, that says a lot. We are in the process of doing that. We have to do that. We have to fight for Ellie and Dr. Lim agrees with that. But, Dr. Lim is still working on ways to help Ellie. He was headed towards another patient yesterday and saw me in the hallway. He stopped and asked me how things were going. He informed me at that point he was working with one doctor and ways they could help Ellie's lung and let me know he was waiting for another doctor to get back in town to discuss ways they could still help Ellie here. Once we know more about that, I update you all. I guess I just want you guys to know how wonderful this particular doctor is. He is known for his compassion and we have seen that day in, day out. What a gift God gave us in Dr. Lim. Just one more blessing, to add!
Love you all!
Ellie's Mommy
