Little Rock Bound

August 6, 2010
After Leightyn left for Little Rock, all of our family and friends went into traveling mode. I had intended on riding with my parents and brother. Landen was riding with his Uncle WeWe. At the last minute, I changed vehicles and went with Landen and WeWe. Landen and I thought we needed to be together in case the hospital called and needed to discuss any types of surgery. We were under the impression that after the drain was placed and the MRI was complete, Leightyn would head straight in to surgery.

While on the road,three Bible verses kept coming to my(our) mind...

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,

who have been called according to his purpose"

Romans 8:28
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not

to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"

Jeremiah 29:11
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with

thanksgiving, present your requests to God"

Philippians 4:6

Children's called (we were somewhere between Ozark and Clarksville) to let us know that Leightyn had landed safely. She was in her room being evaluated by a team of neurologists. This team, would be placing the drain tube in Leightyn's brain. The drain tube was placed in hopes of causing the swelling to go down and relieve the pressure off the brain. Children's called us again (we were in Conway) to let us know that the drain tube had been placed.

When we arrived at Children's, we had to wait at least an hour before we were allowed to see Leightyn in the PICU. When Landen and I finally got to see her, it hit home how bad Leightyn really was. In my head, I knew it was bad, but seeing her in the bed was a nightmare.

Leightyn was still in a comatose state. We thought the nurses had given medicine to sedate Leightyn, but they hadn't. There were tubes, tubes, and more tubes. She was hooked up to all kinds of IVs. She had needles in both arms and both feet. When I looked under the blanket, I couldn't help but laugh. The nurses had put a diaper on Leightyn. I just knew that Leightyn would be upset to be wearing an Elmo diaper!

The PICU Dr came and talked to Landen and I. To be honest, I don't remember a word that she said. After she talked to us, we had her talk to all of the family. Once again, I don't remember a word she said.....only that it didn't look good. After this meeting, Leightyn was sent for a MRI. We were told that the MRI would take two hours to complete and an hour to review the results with the neurologists.

Talk about waiting forever!