Updates of urgent prayer request-updated daily-ish

UPDATES 16/3:
-Fernanda started very reluctantly with yogurt today.  vomitting it up 2x.  She did like my 1/2 of a banana i gave her this morning-well half of that half anyway...then held it in her stomach for 3 hrs and vomitted it up on Meghann.  I DID give her a no vomitting lecture.  she must have heard, understood, and obeyed.  Next time, I'll be a bit more specific.  We haven't done very well on feeds today and she lost another 30 grams (ounce).  I find that anytime the staff changes (every 4 days) she seems to go back to the vomitting for 24 hrs and refusing to eat.  Never good for us.  We did make it to the clinic today and did all the labs.  Praise the Lord (and thanks to everyone praying) they managed to get all her labs done in just ONE stick.  Seriously.  three tubes worth.  She did a chest xray and then we got her ppd (for tuberculosis) done.  Her labs all looked normal:  malaria-neg(3x now); HIV-neg (that's at least 2x now); complete hemogram (to look for infection)-normal with just slightled elevated platelets; Hemoglobin/hematocrit (to check for anemia)-only borderline low; electrolytes-normal; ESR (check for chronic infection indicative of a bazillion chronic infections but most importantly tuberculosis)-only slightly elevated; Chest xray-pretty normal give or take a few spots.  So I took them to our Moz doctor that visits us 4x/week and presented her case-history, symptoms, what i've done since arrival, how she's responded, all her lab results, chest xray, and finally, her yellow immunization card that tracks her weight monthly from birth.  She looked it over, did a full assessment and felt like Tuberculosis was our best offender (which I thought from the beginning).  So the plan is-wait till Friday to see her results of the ppd TB test, see how she does (which she's had a huge fever all day-NOT helping with the gaining weight thing) and then a-start her on the most powerful oral antibiotic we have, despite the fact that her labs don't really indicate a big infection that shouldn't be responding to the 3 round of pretty powerful antibiotics, all from different classes and broad-spectrum that I gave her and then b-start her on TB treatment, even if her ppd is negative (which it most likely will be if her immune system is so shot from the TB and malnutrition that it can't even form a response to the tuberculin they placed under her skin).  Please continue praying for her.  TB meds would be great if it's her problem, but even then they are VERY harsh chemotherapeutic like drugs that have very harsh side effects as well....for such a sick little one, they are NO fun!  And she NEEDS to start eating better and gaining weight!
-Alberto is still all better today, just need a little chest physiotherapy 2x today to help him break up his snottiness!
-Naftal I don't have an update at the moment...will let you know more!


UPDATES 15/3:
-Fernanda continued doing well with her cereal today even with peanut butter, though tonight she started clamping her jaw shut so the tias couldn't feed her.  They are now feeding her cereal with a syringe.  That's right.  She's taking it to.  She's not vomitting or having diarrhea, but the fever continues and she LOST 250 grams (1/2 pound) in the last 24 hrs.  NOT GOOD at all.  So I'm headed to a private clinic in town to do a battery of tests to see what's going on (besides the obvious infection that's not responding to her antibiotics).  She's rarely having the energy to even sit up on her own and she is sleeping a lot.  Please pray for this little one.  We are in the danger zone as she is eating, not vomiting and doesn't have diarrhea, but still LOSING weight.  Tomorrow we add in bananas and yogurt, both with peanut butter ONTOP of her milk feeds every 3 hrs.  Ridiculous amounts of food at this point.  
-Alberto on a happy note was better this morning not needing a nebulizer and by the afternoon still going strong, but his lungs weren't great.  I had planned to give him a nebulizer before i left for the night, but when I listened to him at 7p he was insanely clear.  everywhere.  i checked again at 9:30pm and it's exactly the same.  Praise the Lord.  A strong and quick turn around.
-Naftal we got a super confusing report on him (as i'm not suprised) as he was mixed up with another kid.  We were told it wasn't a heart problem, but infact the tumor had metastisized to his heart.  Then we were told he had surgery today and the tumors are everywhere.  Apparently, that was another kid.  We still haven't cleared up the heart thing and if or when he had an echo, but we still think it's tomorrow and now it's looking like surgery on Friday or the following Monday.  Continue praying though as he's still having trouble eating or breathing and is very uncomfortable.  Nothing is being done to help him.  He needs divine intervention for sure.  Please continue praying for Naftal. 


UPDATES 14/3:
-Fernanda ate more than half her cereal today twice with only a little tiny bit of vomitting.  that makes me super happy....she didn't seem to mind that i changed (ie amped up) her milk this morning.  she has been awfully sick though with no energy and just laying (but mostly sleeping) all day.  Her fevers have continued, but seem to be getting a little lower and we're semi-peeing normally.  small bits of progress.  now if only she would gain some weight!  We're starting peanut butter mixed in with her brkfst cereal in the AM.  She is nowhere near out of the woods.  I did a second malaria test today and it was negative again, but I'm seriously considering either starting her on a 2nd super powerful antibiotic or doing a round of malaria treatment just in case.  Please continuing praying hard for this little Princess!
-Cleita doesn't even get updates anymore cause she is 150% better....eating her cereal and bananas and just milk (as opposed to the waterered down and mixed with electrolyte solution i was having to give her just to keep fluids down).  She's super hydrated and ALL OVER THE PLACE today.  She's making up for the last 3 days.  
-Alberto is down to just 2 nebulizers a day and NONE with actual medicine in it.....he's slowly making a come around.  Keep praying though.  Sweet 5 month old tot.  Him and Cleita still need immunizations but i've put them off for the last 2 wks cause they've been so sick...it may be a third after this round.
-Naftal i don't really know details, but Laura (the missionary over his dorm) says he's unchanged if not a bit worse today.  I believe his echo (to look at his heart) is on Tues not Monday and the surgery isn't even on the schedule for the moment.  Still not treating any of his problems.

UPDATES 13/3:  
-Fernanda has not taken to the breakfast cereal well, very much asserting her authority to not eat when she wants to....which leads to vomitting....alot!!!  It started last night and continued all day today.  She didn't pee (again) for 18 hrs, but she finally peed before i left at 8pm.  At one point in the day she seemed to be getting better and stronger, but tonight she only took 3 spoonfulls of cereal and vomitted 3 times and each times was tons!  So now we're behind on her fluids.  again.  She's still not gaining weight.  She's lost 2 lbs since arrival.  Most of that was water/edema weight and is a good loss, but by now she should be gaining.  Tomorrow she is starting on a super fortified formula with extra calories that will hopefully help.  She still has a fever and I've decided that she is definately very sick with some sort of infection and is having trouble not vomitting up her antibiotics which is not helping.  Please pray hard for this little girl.  She should have gone to the hospital about 8 hrs ago, but I refuse to take her until she absolutely needs to go (And for the record....if we were in the States she would have been there 2 wks ago).  The hospital will do way more damage then her staying here and she's only going if she needs:  IV fluids, oxygen, or IV medications, otherwise, we're not chancing it as she's just to fragile!
-Cleita PRAISE THE LORD took a turn for the better at noon.  This morning she looked like she was on the iffy line of going to the hospital and was still laying in the floor barely moving (as she had been for 3 days).  I left and came back at noon and she was "grazing" all over the place, crawling and climbing and begging for water.  This evening we couldn't keep her still and she was laughing and smiling and refusing to go to sleep cause she wanted to play.  Her last dose of antimalarials was just a few minutes ago, but she'll remain on antibiotics for the next 6 days for her chest infection.
-Alberto is pretty unchanged.  Happier and playing more, but still have respiratory problems. At least he only needed one real nebulizer tonight and 2 others simple ones (with just saline) to help liquify his snot.  I'll be checking on him and Fernanda again at 10pm to see if they need more intervention before I head off to dream land.  Pray he continues needing less and less help and NO nebulizers!  
-Naftal surgery was cancelled for Monday as they are too worried about his heart.  So they are going to do an echocardiagram to see what's really wrong with it....only took 2 wks to get them to this point.  Though they still have not drained the fluid off his belly or given him blood and he's belly's getting bigger and it's harder and harder for him to breathe.  On one hand, I'm thrilled at the fact that he's not going to surgery till the fix the anemia and all the fluid in his belly, but on the other hand, they aren't doing anything about it and the tumor need's to be removed and chemo started.  It's a catch 22.  Please pray for this little boy.

UPDATES 12/3:
-Wesley was in fact diagnosed with a VSD (small hole in his heart between his ventricles) today that he had since birth (explaining why he sleeps constantly) and is now beginning to close (explaining the new murmur) and they just want to monitor him (in December) to make sure it either all the way closed or alot more closed by then.  Continue praying for him please.
-Fernanda is still shedding lots of skin and is still losing wt (mostly cause it's all fluid from how edematous she was) and she still has a really high fever and vomitted 2x today.  Her malaria test was negative and so she started on a 3rd round of broad spectrum powerful antibiotics to cover her.  She's starting on breakfast cereal tonight!  Pray for healing, strength, and weight gain.
-Cleita is still really ill, vomiting and having diarrhea frequently but eating and drinking a lot.  We are replacing fluids ontop of her normal to keep her hydrated.  We started her on a broad spectrum antibiotic today as well because she sounds like she has got a chest infection on top of the malaria.  All she does all day long is lay flat on her belly on the floor and stare.  Pray for healing and strenth and for the medicines to work quickly!
-Alberto was seemingly on the bend, but needed a nebulizer treatment with actual medicine tonight as opposed to the saline solution we've been using for the last 2 days to just help liquify his thick snot.  Please pray he recovers quickly from this bout with RSV.
-Naftal is even more swollen and having a hard time breathing.  He is dangerously anemic, but they are refusing to give him blood because the nurse forgot (or didn't care to) do his lab draw 2 nights ago even though he's going in for a major surgery on Monday.  He has new jugular vein distension (if you are medical you'll understand).  Please pray for a miracle for this little boy!