We are Home!
We are home. And I want to thank you all for your prayers. We certainly ran into quite a few obstacles on our mission trip and I am convinced that your prayers made a difference in the resolution of the many challenges we faced. Thank you. You were part of our team that made an impact in Mexico.
I do have a prayer request. The last night we were in Mexico, Juliana woke up screaming in the middle of the night in pain. She was unable to move her right leg or put weight on it. Juliana is a competitive dancer and very active girl and this was unusual behavior for a girl who is used to “working through the pain” with her sports. I checked her out, being her Doctor Mommy, and was able to isolate her problem to her right hip. My best diagnosis was synovitis.
There are 3 types of Synovitis: traumatic, viral and bacterial. She had not fallen or had any bug bites, bruises, abrasions which left either viral or bacterial causes. I did not trust the hospital facilities in Mexico which were too far away to transport anyway. We prayed and brought Juliana home via a wheelchair and very accomodating Delta Airline assistants.
Her leg hurt the whole way home but she slept a good bit on the planes.
I called her pediatrician who saw us in first thing on Tuesday morning. We then saw a pediatric orthopedic doctor who confirmed that Juliana was suffering from Viral Synovitis. This is the best case scenario as bacterial causes can lead to permanent damage to a growing child’s joint. (This was my biggest fear.)
Juliana was given crutches and some super strong anti-inflamatory meds. She was crushed that she will not be able to dance for 1-2 weeks which includes missing her competition debut show this week-end. However, the doctor wrote a note for her to have “elevator privileges” at school as well as an “assistant” to help her with her book bags, lunch tray and locker exchanges. I saw a slight smile and twinkle in her eye!
She adapted to the crutches the first try and is doing much better today. She still can not put any weight on her right leg and the movement is increasing but very restricted.
I am relieved. I could barely talk about the trip until I knew that Juliana would be ok. Please continue to pray for her complete healing.
I am playing catch-up at work and hope to post some blog updates and pictures by the end of the week.
Thanks again for your love, prayers and support. I appreciate all of you!
