Weds., June 3, 2009, Nashville, TN., 7:38 a.m., D.S.T.~

Dear Journal~

Louie Sandusky here.  Thought I'd let you know what is going on, especially with my friend's daughter, Holly, who continues to lie in a coma in a hospital bed at St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis.

Spoke to Kendra last night; she says that her vital signs are slipping, plus her brain activity is decreasing; yet the family is still praying for a miracle.  Things don't look very encouraging; we are bracing ourselves for the possible news that Holly has died.  It could be any time; however, I've seen God pull miracles for people, even when things appeared dark.

This is such a time. 

I woke up this morning, pulled out my Bible, and began to pray like I've never prayed before.  I, however, can't control what God does or what happens.  If Holly dies, she dies; if not, then we will be celebrating God's goodness yet again.  It's not up to me whether Holly lives to see another day:  it's only between her and God, nobody else.

Until then, all we can do is wait, hope, and pray.

In other news, Johnny is home from the hospital.  He is feeling pretty good, but he is sore in the chest region.  Don't blame him one bit:  he just had surgery on Friday, a PICC line installed.  He will be sore for a little while, but the wound looks good: no signs of redness, swelling, or infection.  We are thankful for that; we pray this continues.

Johnny was worried that he wouldn't be able to eat by mouth since having this PICC line put in; I told him he could eat whatever he wanted, which relieved him a lot.  You could just see it in his face when I told him; he was much happier.

I told him he had the line put in so he could get some extra nutrition via IV bags; we will hang this up on an IV pole attached to the back of his chair; he will get this five times a day (should take an hour each time).  He will get his meds the same way.  He will, however, be able to eat like anyone else; someone just has to feed him since he's too weak to do it by himself.

Everyone is happy to have their (post hospitalized) family member back home; however, our joy is tempered with the news of Holly Kent.  There is a dark grey cloud of despair hanging in the air; it's so thick you can cut it with a knife.  Like me, everyone else is waiting for the latest information regarding Holly Kent.

I am at work as I write this.  Yesterday I was off; spent most of it holed up at the computer or on the phone, as I fielded calls from concerned friends of the Kent family or the Kents themselves.  Good thing most live locally or I'd have the world's biggest phone bill!  Yipe!  LOLOLOL

It's a quiet day here at Nashville Mem:  I am working on the psych floor, in the teen area.  Most of the patients here are pretty lucid, calm, but some do need watching over, and I'm just waiting for one of them to go berserk-o on me.  I pray they don't, but if they do, I can always call for backup.

My main patient is a young man, 15, who has severe autism.  He cannot speak or relate to you; he spends a good part of his day biting himself or if agitated, banging his head on the wall.  He is severely mentally disabled; there's speculation that he may be profoundly mentally retarded (although this hasn't really been ruled out by his doctor). 

It's a tragic case:  he reminds me so much of my own two profoundly mentally disabled children, Todd and Jodie.  It's heartbreaking for any family to have to endure this.

So far, Timmy* is quiet; the nurses last night gave him a shot of Adivan to keep him calm; I pray this continues.  He lies in his bed, lightly restrained, sleeping like a (big) baby.  He doesn't even stir when we check his vitals or change his IV or diapers.

In two days starts the CMA Festival; however, we may have to postpone that because we don't know what will happen to Holly.  Right now all we can do is play it by ear.  If she lives through the weekend we can go; however, if she dies in the next day or so, we may have to forgo it and not attend, even though we've had our tickets since February.  Right now, all our attention is focused on Holly and her family.

Well, according to my nurse-mate Evelyn Peeters, Timmy is coming out of his slumber, so we must be at the ready to deal with whatever comes up with him.  With him, one must do all we can not to upset him, or else we will have a real crisis on our hands.  I will write in here in a day or two with news about Holly; until then, this is Louisiana signing off.  Take care and may God bless you!  Keep those prayers coming; we'd greatly appreciate them!

Thanking you in advance~

As always, your friend in Tennessee, Louie May.  :(

*Not child's real name.