Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Tuesday, April 30

Today was better. He was on the sofa and alert when I came in.  He was ready for breakfast.

They have to do a blood test to check, but sodium levels are up. They are giving him intravenous sodium.  They are also giving him cortisone which affects inflammation.  They are cortisone as pills to help inflammation, so he can continue using it after he is released from the clinic.

I just emailed a more optimistic email to the family, President Martinez and his wife, the mission doctor and our Bishop and Stake President.  Dr. Concha continues to be an answer to prayers.

April 30, 2013

Dr. Concha was here tonight and let us know that the doctors have decided on a more optimistic course of action than they normally would because of their confidence in Elder Babcock’s recovery and in our prayers. 

In three days, they will complete the course of five weeks of the same antibiotic and were confident that pneumococcal meningitis is taken care of. Ken’s two bad days of began when he was taken off the corticosteroids. They restarted the corticosteroids and almost immediately he was without fever and more functional. Working on the sodium level in the blood also helped.

What they are thinking now is that perhaps the infection they see in the MRI is not meningitis, but something else that can be helped by the corticosteroids.   They restarted with oral corticosteroids instead of intravenous ones.  He will also have to be weaned from the corticosteroids very very slowly.  The big advantage of this approach is that Elder Babcock won’t have to stay in the clinic. But he will have to get better and strong enough for them to be convinced that he will be okay.  He wants me to tell him how many days that means, but I don’t know and I don’t think the doctors know yet.  It also means he needs to work hard on therapy and do whatever he can to get strong. 

Our prayers now need to be very specific, that the corticosteroids will be sufficient and that Elder Babcock can be strong enough to leave the clinic. 

We are so grateful for your prayers and support.

love, Hermana and Elder Babcock 

Today has been a better day, but more stressful because I have an awake Elder Babcock worrying about things. I got really frustrated with him for the first time. 35 days of patience is a record for me. I was reminded of the words of Elder Enrique R. Falabella, speaking of one of his wife’s mottos in General Conference: It takes two to contend and I will not be one of them.

Fortunately Elder Babcock did not contend either and we got through it peacefully. He never knew how frustrated I was and things resolved themselves.