NDSouth: The Beginning of Evelyn's Miracle

Evelyn arrived in our care on Thursday, September, 18th. Little did we know then but a miracle was already being orchestrated on her behalf. Arriving a week earlier than expected and in seemingly good health, it was less than 48 hours later that we found ourselves rushing her to the local hospital. Before we could completely assess what was going on her condition took a turn for the worst as her heart rate stayed high and blood oxygen levels were dipping into the low 30s.

It didn't take us long to realize that with Evelyn's ongoing state she was going to need surgery soon, and in order for her to have a fighting chance, she was going to have to be transferred to a larger hospital in Guangzhou before that could happen. Getting Evelyn transferred, however, proved to be far harder than expected, yet after spending hours locating both a doctor and an ambulance that could accompany Evelyn for the transfer, her life was sustained for the long two hour ride to Guangzhou.

Upon arrival, she was quickly whisked away to ICU as we all settled in for a long night of hoping that she would remain stable enough to have surgery the following morning. Thankfully, Evelyn made it through the night and was taken into surgery first thing on Sunday, September 21st - just three short days after arriving here at New Day South.

As Evelyn went into surgery, her pulse remained high and her blood oxygen levels remained dangerously low. The doctors continued to emphasize, however, that they weren't so concerned with her ability to survive the surgery as they were her ability to make it through recovery. They warned that the days following surgery would be the most critical of all. Yet even then, the surgery itself was only another testament to the miracle that was being weaved on her behalf. The surgeon who operated on Evelyn was one that we've worked with before, and even though he had an afternoon flight that very day to go out of the country for his own personal vacation, he specifically came in to operate on Evelyn that morning after hearing about her case.

So with a skilled surgeon who went above and beyond for Evelyn, she made it through surgery, though we always knew that recovery would be the hardest part for her. In the days following her oxygen levels, though substantially higher than before surgery, continued to be lower than the doctors had hoped for. At one point they dipped back down to pre-surgery levels, yet before we could get back to the hospital to sign more surgery papers, Evelyn's oxygen levels came back up again. Though the doctors would never tell us that she was stable due to her sedation, they assured us that she wasn't unstable, and that seemed promising enough to us.

 

Then, on Monday, September 29th, Evelyn was finally removed from the ventilator. We rejoiced at such news, though it wasn't long before the doctors informed us that Evelyn's lung function wasn't improving and they were concerned that her ongoing lower-than-expected oxygen levels was due to poor lung function. Not only that, but they were concerned that the bacteria in her lungs was accumulating and would soon turn into pneumonia. 

Right now, Evelyn remains in PICU in a fight for her life. Despite the miracles that have already occurred on her behalf, she is far from being out of the woods,and while we will continue to fight for her as long as it takes, the expenses associated with an extended stay in PICU in addition to her daily medications adds up quickly. Right now they have her on a wide range of antibiotics making he medications nearly $300 a day and her stay in PICU can run between $500-$1000 per day. Though we are committed to standing by Evelyn's side for as long as it takes, would you consider contributing to her medical expenses? She's already been in PICU for almost 20 days and with the remaining duration of her stay currently remaining unclear, would you consider taking a part in her miracle as we all believe for her complete healing? 

Maybe you could cover the cost of an entire day in PICU. Or maybe you can support part of her daily medication expenses. Regardless of who you are, if you would like to donate, then you can donate to New Day South's general medical fund here:

Get better soon, sweet Evelyn, we're eager for you to come home!