Strong Julia fights a new battle

Miss Julia is battling a very serious infection. She was transferred to the ICU at CHO in the middle of the night with a fever of 104 and a heart rate over 200. The incredible team there worked hard to get her stable. By morning she was doing a bit better, but continues to be a very sick little girl. She was unresponsive throughout the first part of the morning, but as the day went on we were thrilled to see her start to move her arms and legs again, stick out her tongue when her mom asked her to, and begin to peek out through her half-open eyelids. She was transferred to Kaiser in the late afternoon, where the team who knows her the best was standing at the ready to give her the care she needs. Her 1 mile ambulance ride from CHO to Kaiser went smoothly. She had her mom, a doctor, a respiratory therapist, an RN and two EMTs on the ambulance with her. She tolerated the trip and got settled in to her new bed back in the PICU. The team there went right to work getting more labs drawn for cultures, placing a new IV and getting ready to give her the contrast so she could have both abdominal and head CT scans. Her fever was back up, as was her heart rate, but she was also more wakeful. They are hoping to better understand the source of the infection so they can give it a more targeted treatment, but in the meantime she is getting some pretty intense antibiotics that will hopefully knock out whatever bugs she is dealing with. 

I continue to be amazed at the strength and determination which radiates out from this incredible little girl. She has been through so much in her two and half years, and she continues to work so hard to heal. I know I've used this photo before, but it hangs in her crib at the hospital and I spent a lot of time looking at it today. It is one of my favorites, because it so perfectly captures her radiant, joyful, mischievous self. We love you, Julia.