When you almost lose someone

I'm gonna try to post this once more, because every time I have tried lately, I couldn't quite figure out what to say.

As many of you may know from my facebook posts, my sister Felicity has spent a lot of time in the hospital this week. Just so y'all have some background, Felicity is my older sister (26) and is married with two beautiful girls (23 months and 8 months). Way back before Emmalyn (the youngest daughter) was born, my sister started having gall stone attacks (we did not know this at the time). After several months of these attacks that doctors were saying were anxiety attacks, she was sent to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville on January 17. She was sent here rather than Wilson because they had determined that she had pancreatitis and had possibly lost 80% of her pancreas.

Well, after several days in the hospital it was determined that a gall stone had attacked her pancreas and eventually led to the loss of 95%+ of her pancreas. They determined that they would have to remove the gall bladder but they couldn't do this until she was more stable. Turns out she had been in ICU and no one expected her to live a week, so this was going to be a very long and stressful wait. Well, she was eventually stable enough to go home for a while and they planned a date for the surgery.

Unfortunately, Felicity wasn't home long before she had to return to the hospital with severe pain (and more I believe). While waiting in the ER, she had another gall stone attack. This was a blessing in disguise as they moved her surgery up a week. So she went into surgery around 7:30am on March 10 and came out ok but in pain. Well, she recovers and goes home again.

Only a few days later, guess who is back in the hospital? Turns out the staples were causing a great deal of pain as well as many other issues that just put her over the edge. So, I head to Greenville to relieve mom (who has been there every night but one since the very beginning!!). I stay two nights with Felicity as they begin to back her pain meds down and try to get her going on a new regimen for home. Finally, she is released and everyone is home and happy. At this point she has spent 43 nights in the hospital, made harder by the fact that she didn't get to see Eric or the girls much at all.

Well, we thought we were finally finding our way out of this mess and Felicity called at 1am this past Sunday because she had to go to the ER with more pain and vomiting blood (doesn't this sound like so much fun??). Mom was in Greenville by 3am. Well, turns out there was a pinhole in her bowel, her stomach was swollen and pushing on her pancreas, and she was dehydrated. After sending a camera down her throat they also found out that the place where they were draining a cyst into her stomach had closed. They have scheduled a surgery for Friday to fix this, but they will have to reopen the last cut that is healing and she will have to go through the recovery process all over again.

It's been a very long road and a hard one. Mom has been with Felicity almost every step of the way. Dad and I have been home while he fields phone calls and emails from everyone. I am just trying to keep things as normal as possible, occasionally going to Wilson to help with the girls or to Greenville to give mom a change of pace. Sunday will mark 3 months of this hell that we have been in, but hopefully we will also be working our way out. I say "we" because while Felicity is the one in the hospital bed and going through the extremities of everything, everyone has suffered knowing that we almost lost her 3 months ago.

I will say that this whole thing has shown the power of prayer. People all over the world have been praying for my sister since day 1 and we all greatly appreciate it. These prayers have brought her away from what the professionals thought was the end and made her stronger. However, I am going to ask that you not just pray for Felicity, but also for my mom who has stayed by her side, her husband Eric who is still working full days before going home to take care of the girls and sometimes making it to Greenville if the cards fall in the right place, and for those little girls who miss their mother terribly. Everyone keeps saying it will only take a week for this to be behind him, but we need to be able to get to a week that they can really be with their mother. Addison (23 months) is terrified every time her mother leaves the house, and Emmalyn (8 months) doesn't even know what is going on, only that her mom isn't able to be home with her. While they may not remember it 10 years from now, it is still very fresh in their mind now!

That was long winded, but that is the fullest update I can really give. Please continue to keep them in your prayers, as well as my father who is the strongest man I know (even more after this!). If you would like to send her a card just send me a message and I'll give the address for her current location, but definitely keep the prayers goin up to the big man!!