HOME SWEET HOME!! :)

Praise the Lord...we are home! :
Thank you all for your devotion to Lauren. Your prayers, I am confident are the source for her speedy recovery.

Even though we are not in the hospital, she still will have several weeks ahead of her for complete restoration. The schedule of medication and respiratory therapy is about every 2 hours through out the day, so she is going to have us busy for a while. I believe that it was Paul that said...his thorn was but a light affliction. I am so grateful to have her home; I'm willing to work round the clock if necessary to see her feel better.

Her cough sounds pitiful and her diaper rash is SO bad, but hey at least we are no longer battling the 103 to 104 fevers. We are definitely in the home stretch.

Again thank you all so much for your concern, prayers, phone calls, visits, messages, cards, food, etc. We are so blessed to have such a loving network of friends and family. We'll keep you updated on the progress.

I will leave you with this beautiful reassurance in Psalms:
"I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer. Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? You exalted me above my foes; Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O Lord; I will sing praises to your name."

He does lend His ear to our plea and He DOES answer our cry! This is my prayer of thanksgiving today!

It's a bright Sunny Sunday AM...in all respects...not just the weather. Lauren is much improved.

Her breathing is much better...clearer and smoother. They have decided to up her respiratory and PT therapy today to continue to clear secretions. I'm going to give her Saline aerosol treatments every 3-4 hours to see if we can help in promoting the mucous thinning. She has been such a little trooper with this therapy. We have to use a little paddle to repetitively tap her chest to break-up the secretions. She didn't sleep the greatest last night with the activity, but the rewards of the labor are paying off today. Her lungs definitely sound clearer from yesterday. BUT, certainly let's give credit where credit is due...THANK YOU FATHER for hearing the petitions of her prayer warriors and answering our plea.

They have removed her oxygen this morning, and have taken her off of the Vancomycin. The true test will be tonight when her respiration is usually weaker. If her oxygen saturation is still okay through the night, we will be in good shape.

We didn't get approval from surgery yesterday for the tube feeds, but we DO have their approval today, so she will begin taking some pedialyte through her feeding tube in just a bit, and then move to formula. Surgery is also going to continue to give her the anti-acid medications for the next few weeks to protect her tummy lining.

The next 24 hours will be critical to her discharge.

What are we praying for today:
*RESISTANCE to secondary infections. Her room is surrounded by flu, RSV, and serious upper respiratory infections. Should she contract something else, this would be a serious set-back.
Also praying for:
*No Fever
*No Vancomycin
*No oxygen
*Tolerate feedings

If she can show as much improvement in the following 24 hours as she did the last, we are looking at a possible discharge tomorrow!

Not only do we thank you for the prayers...thanks for the messages. It is such encouragement. We love you all so much! <><

Singing HIS praises today!
Love, Cindy :)

It's Saturday morning. We are so thankful for a little rest. Andy and I alternated the night last night and slept about 3 hours uninterrupted. It's amazing how just a little rest can make a difference.

Lauren had a much better night. NO SEIZURES! YIPEE!! :)
The pediatrician has already made rounds this morning and thinks that we are definitely making baby steps in the right direction. The doctor is now looking to see her fever continue to decline, begin weaning her off of the oxygen, and to begin very minimal tube feeds of pedialyte...to see if her stomach can tolerate it. The pediatrician wants to get official approval from the surgeon before they start the feedings...(surgery has not rounded yet, so we don't have the official okay yet.)

If her tummy handles the pedialyte, then they will begin her antibiotics through her tube as well. The oral antibiotics that they will be using are Omnicef and Clindamycin...for the Sanfilippo mom's keeping record.

The success of how she tolerates these changes will determine how soon she will be able to come home. BUT, at least we are going in the right direction!

What we are praying for today:
fever reduction
tolerate feeding
slower, smoother breathing
tolerate oxygen removal
clear her secretions on her own

Thank you all SO much. Andy and I are so humbled by the support. We can not thank you enough for the love you all show for our Baby Lauren.

Lauren's Hospitalization

Praise God for your prayers! She is a little better!

After Lauren's blood-work today, she is now taking 3 IV antibiotics....Rocephin, Vancomycin, and Clindamycin (sorry for the medical professionals out there...I probably butchered the spelling)....but I really wanted the other Sanfilippo families to be aware of what antibiotics Lauren seems to be responding to, so that they will be aware of what may be helpful for their children.

They have also started her on a medication to coat her stomach. This will hopefully help with the healing inside of her stomach. PRAISE GOD....we have seen very little bleeding in her stomach all day! ...and a few moments ago, she had her first stool with no blood! It appears that God has answered that prayer! :)

Thank you so much for your help in praying for her response to the antibiotics. It looks like the 3rd addition today, may have been just what was needed to give us a kick start in the right direction.

Her fever has gradually declined through the day. We started with a fever of 103.8 to 101.4 and tonight it was 100.4! Again Praise God for answered prayer.
She opened her eyes this evening and appeared to be the most alert that she has been in 3 days. She has NOT had a seizure all day.

But, we are still not out of the woods yet. Her breathing is still faster than it should be and she is still working hard to breathe, but it is much improved over last night. They have deep suctioned her twice today and there have been heavy secretions both times. They are also giving her breathing treatments every 8 hours and as needed. Andy and I are suctioning her through out the day and giving her saline treatments to keep the secretions moving. Night fall is always worse for her, so here's hoping for a peaceful and restoring night!!

What can you pray for now:
Continued decline in fever
Continue to respond to antibiotics
Improved breathing and healing in her lungs

We will keep you informed in the morning of how things are progressing. Thank you all so much!

God Bless.

Lauren's Hospitalization

Hello Friends,

Lauren was admitted to the hospital on Thursday afternoon (January 25,2007). Her pneumonia progressed and her fever has continued to persist. She has continued to have seizures through this process as well. Yesterday morning, after having a seizure, Lauren began to throw-up dark liquid that later we realized was blood. Blood was also discovered in her stool. The surgery consult reveals that this blood is probably the result of trama during vomitting/ coughing/ seizures, etc. We are still not sure at this point, but the bright red coloring seems to have stopped which is a good indication that the bleeding has stopped. The surgeons are planning to just observe her today to see how things progress.

Many of you have asked what can you do. Andy and I would sincerely appreciate your prayers for the following:
Fever reduction
Seizures to stop
Respiration to slow down
Infection caused by the pneumonia to respond to the antibiotics

This truly IS how you can be of most service to Lauren and to our family.

I want to share with you a poem that a church member of ours shared with us this morning. He was not able to go to work today until hand-delivering this to us and reading it aloud with us and to Lauren. It is amazing to see how the holy spirit moves each of us when we are obedient to His call. Jesse mentioned that this words came to him when thinking of what Lauren means to our church.

L...Lo,behold our princess.

A...Aside were wordly dreams cast. All her days and plans were ordained...before they came to be. (Psalms 139:16)

U...Undaunted by her afflictions, she is a blessing to others.

R...Radiant eyes and bright smile, the Holy One within sings a chorus without words.

E...Everlasting is her soul, God's love is unconditional.

N...Near to God is our Princess, she accesses the inner court of the King. Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace...(Esther 5:1)

Written by: Jesse Arnold

These words will ring in my soul today as we watch over and care for our baby girl. Thank you all for your love and support. Just as Queen Esther was willing to risk her life for the sake of others. It is my prayer that Lauren's spirit will touch yours in a way today that brings you the peace that passes all understanding.

Hello Friends,

Today was the first day of the prayer ministry offered by Lauren's Hope! This ministry will be called "Heroes of Hope". Your prayers do offer HOPE to these families in need....therefore you are our heroes!

I have had a heartfelt desire to offer a place for Sanfilippo families to voice their prayer concerns for their family; I hope that this blog can serve many purposes, but especially to outreach to these families through prayer.

What better time to make this ministry come into reality, than when Lauren truly needs your prayers.

Andy and I have been up since 1:30am with Lauren running a very high fever. I just couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to make use of this quiet time.

"Heroes of Hope" partners are complied of friends, family, Sanfilippo parents, and fellow supporters of Lauren's Hope. It is my passion to see this ministry become an outlet for Sanfilippo families to find hope and security in knowing that the creator of this universe hears our prayers. There are many of you who have personally requested to be added to the ministry and there are those of you whom I have chosen to include because you are already our prayer warriors.... or...... I just felt in my heart that you would be willing to become one. If you are interested in taking part of this ministry please email me and you will be added to the list: laurenshope@bellsouth.net

In our family's experience, we literally feel the prayers that you offer for our family...as real as the shirt on our back. Words can not express our gratitude!

Many of you have requested a quick update on the condition of our kids. To bring everyone up to speed....Lauren(our 9 yr. old Sanfilippo daughter) and Cayden(our 7 yr. old son) have both been suffering with pneumonia for about 2 weeks....Lauren more like 4 weeks. Cayden is doing MUCH better and will actually be returning to school on Wed.

However, Lauren's condition has been more of a roller coaster ride with ups and downs on a daily basis. Our biggest battle with Lauren right now are the high fevers....fevers induce seizures....seizures cause vomiting...the vomiting causes aspiration....aspiration leads to further pneumonia....you get the idea. Another factor working against her is her poor ability to swallow and move the secretions from her lungs, nose, and throat. This is all just a result of her neurological decline. Her brain just can't get the message to her throat to cough it out of the way. She is on her 3rd round of antibiotics. Just when we think that she appears to be getting better, we have a set back.

The month of January is always a difficult month for her and has proven to be such again in 2007. I often tease that it would be great if Lauren could go into hibernation in the winter and come out for the Spring thaw. I also tease a lot that Lauren could definitely benefit from a nocturnal mommy....and I know that many of you Sanfilippo moms can relate! :) Almost all of these kids love to stay up all night and cat nap through the day. It is truly amazing how these children have adapted to very little patterns of sleep. I certainly pray that part of our reward as parents will be to have REALLY LONG naps in heaven one day. :)

So, right now, what our family could benefit most from is: rest, strength, endurance, restoration, faith, and to witness the power of the ultimate healer....
all of these things I am confident will be granted through our prayers.

Another request is more on a personal note for my mother. Her ovarian cancer is now spreading. Her CAT scan this week has revealed evidence of cancer in her lungs, liver, spleen, and throat. God bless her.... she still remains secure that God is teaching her through these circumstances and is determined to serve Him through faith. Her unwavering faith has been such an inspiration in these 20 months of battling this disease. Please remember her in the coming months. She is most concerned about her decline in breathing. She witnessed both of her parents struggle with Lung Cancer which ultimately lead to their death.....she vividly remembers their suffering and is concerned of the unknown future.

Again, I express my gratitude to you all for your love, support, and care of our family. I'm not real good at writing individual thank you notes, because I just don't take the necessary time to do so. But, please know of our family's sincere thanks for ALL that you do for us. We love you all very dearly and hope that this letter finds you all in good health....may God bless!

In His service,
<><>

Lauren's Hope Foundation
http://www.laurenshope.org/
P. O. Box 80081
Simpsonville, SC 29680
Phone: 864-862-8689