7/22/09 11:45 pm "It's All Good"

When people have asked us about the Jenna news for today our response has been "It's all Good!"


Jenna continues to improve. Improvement is measured by the reduction of medical support for her. Today, the docs put a few more drugs back in their toolboxes. They have reduced the fluid inside Jenna, by about 3/4 of a liter today. Jenna needed this fluid to prop up her blood pressure when things were dire. Now, they are working furiously to put that fluid back int toolbox. The docs call refer to this stage of the process as the time to "pay the water bill".

The most immediate challenge Jenna is presenting to the medical staff is the level of drugs she needs to keep her sedated. We have been told they have given her enough sedative to stop a "small elephant in its tracks". There are actually some studies that indicate red heads require more sedatives than the average bear. Who knew? The docs tell us that little Jenna will have to deal with some drug withdrawal issues later in the process. Poor kid. Just breaks your heart.

If they are able to "pay the water bill" at current reduction rates, and Jenna doesn't step on any more "banana peels" it is possible that Jenna might come off the ventilator on Friday. THAT WOULD BE HUGE!

To switch gears a bit, we want to say thank you to the many people that are providing to support in the form of prayers for Jenna and for those that have provided physical support for the kids at home. This won't turn into one of those Oscar thank you speeches, simply because of we could never name all the people helping in both regards. With regards to prayer, there are so many people remembering little Jenna, we really don't have a good handle on how many their are. If prayers are answered as a function of QUANTITY, I think Jenna should be in good shape.

If prayers are answered as a function of QUALITY, I think Jenna should be in good shape too. In addition to many local and regional prayer lists that Jenna is on, we understand that the Trappist Monks, the Sisters of Notre Dame and the Passionist Nuns have taken up her cause. That is kind of like having Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio as the first 3 batters on your team. You don't know if your are going to win, but anyone of these guys working alone could probably put your team in the World Series. To have all 3 on the same team is incredible. With humble hearts, we thank these groups and each of you individually that have taken time out of your busy lives to spend a little time with in prayer on Jenna's behalf. I suspect that your time in prayer will pay dividends for you and for Jenna.

It is time to wrap this post from the ICU up. To set the scene at this time of night, the lights are dimmed in Jenna's room. The pace of hospital has moved from hard charging feel of daytime to the more measured pace of night. Jenna lays quietly and small in her bed. She is enveloped in a electronic cocoon of medical technology; sharply glowing LCD screens of ever changing red and green data streams, 9 different syringes delivering potions of different sorts, 5 bags of various serums dripping at thoughtful rates and a ventilator that fills the room with the sound of bubbles. The bubble sounds seem to be cross between the bubbles that a kid blows in his milk and the bubble sounds of a mad scientist's cavern. All the while the dialysis machine spins quietly at the back of stage like a under appreciated drummer backing up the band. It's surreal and vertigo inducing. I will close the post with one of the great poets of our time. Wordsworth...no. Frost....not a chance. Who you might ask....why Bono from the band U2 of course!

From the song titled "Vertigo"

Hello, Hello I'm at a place called Vertigo
It's everything I wish I didn't know
You give me something I can feel
Your love is teaching me how to kneel


We humbly ask that you don't let off the "gas pedal" with regard to your prayers for Jenna. We continue to EXPECT EXTRAORDINARY THINGS!