Friendly visitors

Today, we were lucky to have visitors that made Erin smile. Wayne and Kerry, our in-laws came to visit.  Kerry prayed with Erin and the family a beautiful prayer.  After the visit, Erin played with some of the Barbies and puzzles that Child life brought us. It is the third time she has had Plasmapheresis.  We also went on a roll in the wheelchair.

Wrong Diagnosis..

A lot has happened in the past week. We took Erin to her pediatrician because her neck was hurting and the pediatrician was in shock at her condition. We explained that the neurologist diagnosed her with Sydenham's Chorea and she was being treated, but that Erin seemed to only get worse. She immediately got on the phone with another hospital and got us into the emergency room so we could get admitted as soon as possible. At the ER we got the best checkups and questions about her background and they seemed really interested in helping us. They couldn't believe the other hospital had been treating the SC for 30 days and Erin was in this state.  Right away they knew that was the wrong diagnosis.  They started talking about inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) which also causes a lot of movement. They will monitor Erin for at least 10 more days as they complete a plasmapheresis. She has been on steroids for a few days and we already see improvement. We will continue to pray and hope for a complete recovery.

Video Diary Day 1

How It All Began

It started with something so dismissible; tingling in her left arm...  One month later, she can't eat or walk on her own and barely talks. The journey has been long and scary but we are praying that things only get better from here. During a rare moment of lucidness Erin said she wanted to start a video journal to record her experience. We thought it was a wonderful idea and want to share it. Maybe this will help others that find themselves struggling with this disorder to cope and know that they are not alone.