I realized lately that I’ve never given a full written account of Eloise’s healing (either one) and wanted to write it out to share.
My youngest turned 12 last month. At two different points in her life there have been questions around whether or not she would live. But God!
My pregnancy with Eloise was normal. She measured well, I fared well, no crazy problems to note. Her birth was bit traumatic as we realized her umbilical cord was the diameter of a pencil and was wrapped around her body, resulting in an emergency c-section that didn’t happen as soon as it should have. This meant there was meconium present in the womb and Eloise had to be intubated to prevent the possibility of lung collapse. She had an MRI that highlighted concerns with her brain, other tests highlighted concerns with her heart, additional testing highlighted concerns with her neurological function.
We spent 9 days in the NICU then were able to room in on the PEDS floor with her. In her first two years of life, we saw so many specialists and began both OT and PT to help her with her delayed development. At one point before her 1st birthday, we were told by her pediatric neurologist that she was a very likely candidate for cerebral palsy. He advised she would likely never walk unassisted, she would face numerous delays and potentially never develop as her peers would.
I began to speak against that. Our church family also prayed with her Father and I. We spoke life into her body. We began to see changes in her, continued change and restoration. By 2, the same neurologist who advised she wouldn’t function was releasing her from his care because he could no longer find a deficit. One by one, all of her specialists were eliminated as she grew and developed and “caught up” with her peers. We heard Dr’s say many times that it shouldn’t be happening this way and it just didn’t make sense.
That baby ran, jumped, played, sang, twirled, and danced just as well as (and more sassily than) her peers. If you hadn’t known her story, you wouldn’t know to watch her.
Fast forward to 2021, at 9 years old she was diagnosed with COVID. We were advised it was a pretty mild case, her lungs sounded clear, she should be fine. That was on Wednesday 9/8/21. By Saturday, we knew something wasn’t right. We went to the Saturday hours at our pediatrician, saw the practice partner working that day, were in and out in 15 mins and told there wasn’t much we could do…it was COVID, she’d be fine. By Monday night (9/13) she struggled so much and we knew we needed medical help. An ER trip landed us being admitted to a local hospital when the first set of X-rays were taken and showed how sick her lungs were. We spent a few days here before being taken by ambulance to the closest Niswonger children’s hospital and being admitted to the PICU on 9/15.
During the first several days at both hospitals, the COVID testing was inconclusive and there was question as to whether or not this was the diagnosis. There was a panel to test for all respiratory viruses done at Niswongers that confirmed COVID.
At this point, we were being given antibiotics, fluids, and steroids to try and open her lungs all via IV. Her labs from the initial pediatrician appointment had also come back that she had a UTI as well. There was just so much happening in her body. The greatest concern was that Eloise’s lungs were incredibly sick.
Eloise’s O2 stats were struggling to stay above 80, especially if she left the bed to use the restroom. We were placed on a bi-pap machine to try and help force oxygen into her body and help her lungs adapt. On 9/18, there was an attempt to wean her to lower bi-pap settings because of improvement shown but this wasn’t tolerated and the X-rays showed there was a pneumonic thorax on the right lung (but the lung had not collapsed). This struggle to maintain O2 continued for about two days and then well after midnight on 9/20, her O2 was struggling so much that she began panicking because she couldn’t breathe well. I climbed into the bed with her to lay her on my chest and speak into her ear to try and help calm her and get her O2 stats to stabilize with deep breaths.
RT was directing her Dad, myself, and the nurse who was in the room with us in full PPE from outside of the room. Then her O2 stats dropped below 70 and a decision was made that she needed intubation. It was around 3 am at this point, we were escorted from the room and could only watch as a team of individuals went to work on our daughter who was sedated and place on a ventilator.
A dear friend sat on the phone with me and prayed over me as the Spirit led her. We were allowed back into the room around 6am. I can tell you that this night will forever be the most traumatic instance I’ve ever endured, I can’t even begin to describe all of the emotions we experienced this night. When the AM Dr came into the room to explain what was happening, I had already been in prayer all through the night. I had already been calling on the name of Jesus and standing on the promise that I knew she wasn’t healed as a toddler to lose her life at 9 years old. So her Dad and I stood here and we listened to this Dr. (whom we gave the moniker of Dr Doom & Gloom) explain the numbers on her ventilator, the statistics that we could reference from these numbers, the very unlikely possibility she would recover, he stood there and he told us there was not much hope. At one point, he offered to have us call someone and have him explain this to them because we weren’t reacting as he expected and he believed us in shock from the events of the night. I advised him we were understanding the complexity of what he was explaining, we could acknowledge what those numbers outlined, but we were not without hope because we knew the Lord was in this with us. He continued to speak “plainly” so I could understand the severity of the situation and grasp that my daughter was more likely to die than live.
As he did, everything inside of my spirit reacted. I excused myself to the restroom in our isolation room and left Mike to continue the discussion. I began to rebuke every word spoken that didn’t align with healing. I began to speak life over my daughter. I began calling on the name of the Lord and when I ran out of words, I allowed the Holy Spirit to speak on Eloise’s behalf. The Lord spoke to me during the morning as I sat alone in Eloise’s room (I believe her Dad had gone to find coffee and food for us from outside of the hospital) and told me that the room was too quiet. I was instructed to create a playlist or worship songs, dedicate a device to it, and keep it playing at all times. So I did. I asked for suggestions from friends and family to add to it. We needed up with a list of about 10 hours of worship songs that played on a loop non-stop.
We stayed on the vent for 10 days. Every day, I laid my hands on this baby and prayed over her. I posted Bible verses around her bed and her room to read aloud. My pastor at that time had just preached from Habakkuk about writing on a tablet and making plain the declarations of the Lord and I had written out what I was standing on for Eloise and posted it on the wall. I sang over her. I worshipped and prayed more than I have in any other season of my life.
For another season of life, my girl had multiple Dr’s working on her case. Every time a number was given to us that we needed to see, I shared it with our prayer warriors. Whether or not they understood what a “peep” number was didn’t matter… they were standing for it to move. There was concern for MISC with her heart and treatment given for that. There was concern for the air pocket on her right lung. There was concern for the vile amount of fluid being suctioned from her lungs daily.
We continued to stand on the Word. We continued to claim the promises of God over Eloise. I spoke to her body. I spoke to her spirit. I told her to come alive in the name of Jesus. I spoke the her lungs to be renewed by the breath of God breathing into her. I prayed prayers I could never have prayed on my own, as the Holy Spirit placed them within me. Our prayer warriors stood firm and spoke over and on behalf of us. Individuals we have never met covered us in prayer. The Lord provided financial reprieve through the entire hospital stay and afterward. The Lord spoke to our hearts and encouraged us daily.
Improvements began. Improvements continued. We were told that the numbers we were seeing did NOT make sense with the visuals we were seeing from her fail X-rays. We were told that medically the improvements being seen didn’t line up. Our Dr “Doom and Gloom” began to tell us we were his favorite to visit because he loved seeing her beat the odds. Staff told us they loved coming to our room because it felt different in there. We prayed over other children in the PICU from our isolation room. I cannot even begin to outline the number of people the Lord placed in our path during this journey that he ministered to through our being there. Not because of us at all but because of HIM and for his glory.
On 9/30/21, we were extubated. Everyone held their breath and waited to see if the critical time period when she may need to be reintubated would pass or not. We stood. She excelled. Her O2 stats held without needing the additional oxygen, within 48 hours she was breathing room air without needing any supplemental supply.
There were some hiccups following extubation with medication and what seemed to be cognitive impact. We continued to stand on the promise we’d been given. Eloise was moved from the PICU to the PEDS floor and advised we’d need an outpatient facility. We did PT/OT for several days and again, the vast improvement meant that when we were discharged, we went home and continued PT at a local facility. Discharge came suddenly and unexpectedly on 10/19/21, a little over 5 weeks after our initial admission.
Anyone who knows my girl knows she loves to sing. There was concern with her lungs and her vocal cords at one point but let me tell you she has breath in her lungs and full capacity to sing. She worships, she dances, she plays. She’s is truly a walking, talking miracle child.
I cannot WAIT to see all the Lord has in store for her. I can honestly tell you that I know all of these aspects of her testimony are 100% for HIS glory. This testimony isn’t a testament to anyone/anything else other than the power and faithfulness of the Lord. My girl is literally a miracle I was able to witness as she was healed without any type of longstanding impact…twice! I will never tire of telling this story or giving glory back to my creator for all he has done for us. ♥️
Just Between Me & Jesus 