Emily’s Smiles through Difficult Trials

Wanted to check in about Emily. We returned to the ER around 12:00am, had cultures done again and another antibiotic given through her line. Dr. G, admitted her. Zofran given through her line so she would keep tylenol down. We attempted twice before but no luck keeping anything down. Finally around 4am she kept tylenol down but the fever would not decrease much then it increased to 104.5 again. We moved to the 5300 wing around 5:30am. At 7:30am checked Emily’s temp. again and she was burning up. 104.7 . Her temp. had not been checked since ER around 4:00am, so she probably had that high fever the whole time. Eddie and I slept from 6:30am to 7:30am, so when I woke up I asked for her nurse and tried to give more tylenol, but no luck, so gave Zofran through her line waited 30 min. and she kept the tylenol down. We are waiting to check in 1 hour. No news on the cultures or what is causing this high fever. We will update when we hear from the Drs.
Dawn & Eddie

Emily’s fever went extremely high during Wednesday night. Eddie & Dawn had to rush her over to Duke and they admitted her about 3 a.m. They have done cultures and are waiting on the results. It has been a while since Emily has had to be hospitalized and I’m sure she is not a happy camper. Please spread the word to your churches, friends and family and pray for Emily that this fever will go away and she will feel better again soon! I will keep you updated as I know more.
Love, Stephanie

Wanted to update. Its been a while! Today is Wednesday May, 16th, and Emily has done so much in the last 16 days. It has been so wonderful having our family back together again at church and giving praise to God for what he has done for us! We have been blessed to have a caring, and loving church family by our side.
We want to let everyone know again how much we appreciate all the time and hard work that went into The Emily’s Day in The Park and for a wonderful Homecoming. It made us so happy to see everyone and THANK YOU TO EVERYONE for making those days so special. We have heard alot of comments of how their families had a great time at the park.
After a few days back at Duke for Dr. Appointments and a blood transfusion on Thursday the 3rd, we packed the van and back to “Homie Home”. On Friday May 4th, we were ready for the American Cancer Society Relay For Life. We all had a great time and gathered with our family and friends for a great cause. Emily did not want to leave! Saturday morning we enjoyed the Kids Walk, Emily’s dance class performance and Emily enjoyed playing on the track! We were all amazed at her energy when the final lap of the event came round. Emily walked 1/2 way around the track leading the others, before she got too tired to walk anymore. We were so astounded at her energy and enthusiasm! The following week we enjoyed being home taking in a couple days of dance class and visiting North Topsail Elementary, and spending time with family and friends.
We returned to Duke on the 15th for Pt and OT therapy. Today, 16th, Emily had Labs and Brain and Spine MRI. Emily has lost 4 pounds since she is now receiving 1/2 her dose of TPN and Lipids. Drs. cannot take her off the fluids at this time. She still has problems with nausea and is eating little amounts. Later this afternoon she had a fever to spike, 102.9, We took her to the ER for cultures and Antibiotics. We were able to come back to the apt. and keep close watch on her. Tomorrow she has a hearing test and Dr. exams. She will see Mrs. Trish for school and have Occupational Therapy. We start early if everything goes well tonight and the fever decreases. We will keep you informed if we find out anything from the tests. Next week she will have a Lumbar Puncture to check for any cells. We pray that this week and the next bring us great news about Emily.
We plan to be back home by Friday this week and look forward to the Gospel Sing Benefit on Saturday night. Emily loves music and is looking forward to this! We’ve even heard that there are a few surprises in store and some folks are “stepping out of their comfort zone”. Hope to see you all there!

Love, Eddie, Dawn, Trey, and Emily