CITY HILLS PRAYER WALL 

Shirley Johnston

From a friend of my mother’s who has a son that is battling a possible brain infection:

The roller coaster of ups and some downs continues. I need you all to pray very hard for tomorrow. He was sleeping most of the day today with very little response and when he would wake up, he was not very alert at all. The doctors came in and said they weren't seeing the progress that they wanted to see and felt very strongly that they wanted to pursue the biopsy. It is scheduled for tomorrow, which will mean longer sedation because they want to do an MRI first and then they will do the biopsy second. Major concerns as to whether he can awaken from the anesthesia.

Then all of the sudden this evening, he became more alert and actually started to converse with us. It was the first time since he went in the hospital that he actually made some sense and knew who we were and glimmers of his personality were coming out. He was extremely fatigued and was able to communicate that the pain in his head is a 10 out of 10. He's most definitely short with his patience due to his pain levels being so extreme. He wanted to sleep so we left. He was able to communicate that he needed to sleep and that he would see us tomorrow. Shortly after that, the nurse was trying to do something with his meds or else he started to get fidgety, I'm not sure which, he started to reach for his tubing in his neck which is there for the pheresis. The more that they tried to stop him, the more agitated he became. He became very combative, punching, swinging biting and even hurting himself to some degree. The staff had to call and ask if they had permission to use a sedative in his port in order to accomplish a quicker response of the sedation. Obviously, the inflammation is getting bad and the encephalitis is causing him to be combative. I don't know if it gets worse before it gets better or if this is a definite sign of just getting worse again. He's been off the steroid for two days now and I truly believe that was what was keeping him somewhat stable. I'm not saying that the pheresis isn't working at all, what I am saying is that sooner than later the pheresis will stop and then what?

This truly is the most horrible roller coaster ride I have ever been on and it is definitely taking its toll on my body. I do have a pretty nasty cold that is definitely in my sinuses and am praying that it does not go to my lungs. Who knows where I picked this up. We all just need a lot of rest and a lot of prayers but I just don't see the end for a long time. Thank you for praying

Received: January 16, 2025