Journey At St. Edwards

August 6, 2010
When I found Leightyn, her heart was pounding....I mean pounding! Once in the ambulance, Leightyn had a very very faint heartbeat and was no longer breathing on her own. She was in a comatose state. Leightyn needed no sedation medicine.

Once we arrived at St. Edwards, Leightyn was taken straight back to a room and a family room was ready for us. I guess we should have known it wasn't good news when the family room was provided. I remember seeing Leightyn and thinking "wow....she looks like herself again". Her color was back and I had hoped that she would be waking up soon. After she was "tubed" up, Leightyn was taken back for a ct scan. I knew...I KNEW....it was something with her head and headaches. I was thankful that we would finally be getting some answers and could start treating the problem. While Leightyn was having her scan, I quickly sent out mass emails and facebook messages begging for prayers to go up. The whole situation seemed surreal. Leightyn was there and we were there but it was all like a bad dream.

The Dr. came back and told us that the ct showed a mass on the brain. The Dr were not sure if the mass was a tumor, a bleeding, or nerves bundled up in a ball. Leightyn was going to be sent to Arkansas Children's Hospital to do more testing and treatment. All we could do now was wait for the helicopter to arrive and pray. We prayed and prayed. By this time, word had gotten around and family and friends had all arrived. There were people in the hallway, people in the lobby, people in the family room, and people outside. I thank God for all the ones who came to support us from step one of this journey.

My mom took me to my house so that I could throw some clothes, the computer, Bible, and other necessities in a bag before heading to Little Rock. Once I got back to the hospital, the helicopter had arrived and Leightyn was being prepped for traveling. At this time, Leightyn had no changes since she arrived. She was still not able to breath on her own and was still sedated on her own. Her heart rate did return once she got on oxygen. The Dr from Children's Hospital told us that once Leightyn landed, she would be sent straight to surgery to place a drain tube in her head to reduce the pressure and swelling on her brain. Once the tube had been placed, Leightyn would need a MRI to determine what the mass was and what treatment would be needed.

Every gathered and prayed as Leightyn was in the final steps of prepping for flying. We all walked her out and stood around the helicopter pad. As they loaded her in to the helicopter, we prayed again. As the helicopter took off, the wind from the wings was absolutely mind blowing. We had to brace ourselves from the wind, but it still knocked us around. Landen and I have since referred to the wind "as the angels flapping their wings as they welcome Leightyn home".