UPDATE: 3/11/08
We're HOME! After being completely freaked out by the hospital staff last night due to a sudden change regarding Shep being put in "isolation", Shep took a turn for the better last night and seems to be very much improved today! The doctors said last night was hopefully the worst of the virus (and it IS viral), so they gave him one more dose of antibiotics (just to play it safe) and sent us home this morning. Shepherd still has swelling around his brain which is causing headaches but that is just to be expected with meningitis and motrin helps to take away his pain. They weighed him today and Shepherd lost 5 pounds in 3 days despite the i.v. fluids. However, on the way home, he requested apple juice so we pulled in to Chick-Fil-A and got him some. Once we got back on the road, he requested a cupcake...and then a hot dog....and then some more juice....lol - trust me - his wish is our command right now so I'm pretty sure he'll be putting that weight back on very soon! :) Thank you, thank you, thank you to EVERYONE who has reached out to us! It would be impossible for me to respond to each phone call, email and text message we've received over the past 72 hours so I'll just give a heart felt thank you on the blog and ask you all to continue to pray for quick healing of the area around his brain. Hopefully within 3-5 days he'll be completely back to his normal self! It is true that you can have joy in the midst of suffering...by the grace of God we managed to laugh and smile throughout it all.

MENINGITIS

First of all, thank you so much to ALL of you who have called, emailed, texted, visited, ect since yesterday! Chad and I have been literally overwhelmed with everyone's loving concern and support. For those of you who have not heard, Shepherd is in the hospital and is being treated for Spinal Meningitis. We are currently waiting to find out if it is viral or bacterial...they are treating him for bacterial although we won't know for sure till tomorrow which one he has. I can't get over how quickly this spiraled downwards! He woke up yesterday and was FINE...we even had a play-date with some friends of ours at our home. However, around noon, he began grabbing his head and saying he didn't feel good...by 2pm, we were at the doc's office being tested for the Flu....by 5pm, he was having x-rays of his neck and being tested for Strepp...by 7pm, he was having a spinal tap in the E.R. to check for Meningitis - by 11pm, we were being admitted in to the hospital. Chad and I couldn't believe it when they said he had meningitis!...all we could think was...where in the world did he get that?! The doctor said that Meningitis is basically just a cold that somehow manages to cross the brain barrier...they suggested that Shep's immune system must be low for this to happen. We are pretty sure they are correct about the immune system and think it has to do with the fact that he was on so many antibiotics when he developed Osteomyelitis at 15 months. Neways, the doctors assured us that he will be FINE!! If it is viral then we will hopefully go home Tuesday morning...if it is Bacterial, we will have to stay for 10 days. PLEASE BE VIRAL!!! Please continue to pray for him...his sweet little head is in a lot of pain from all the swelling around his brain. :( They've assured us that the pain he's experiencing is normal for this particular illness but it doesn't make it any easier to watch your child endure. He's got so many tubes coming off and out of him that he's uncomfortable with that too...he keeps asking to go home and is pretty much just breakin' mommy and daddies hearts! We'll be thankful when he's back to his normal happy self again!!