Monday

Thank you so much for your prayers. You can't imagine how wonderful it is to know that so many people care. And I know your prayers are being answered!

MeriKate is definately going to have surgery some time this week if they can get some of the swelling in her face to go down. She's on a respirator as a precaution because of the fractures to her eye socket and some fractures to the sinus cavity and forehead. They are keeping her sedated because she's a fighter and she's already bitten through the respirator tube once and keeps escaping from her restraints. This child weighs about 32 lbs but she's as tough as they come. The doctor told my daughter today that her brain did take a pretty good bounce but there's no swelling, they know this because they're doing CT scans as they feel are necessary and they've done 3 already. They are worried about an infection setting in so are giving her a very strong antibiotic as a precaution. She's still in PICU and will remain there I'm sure until after the surgery and she's on the mend. The gashes on her face took three layers of stitches to close and they used 40 to close all of them so she's going to look like she's been in one hell of a fight for some time.

Jerri and I took Zach, Abie, and Krysten in early to see the doc this morning. They all checked out ok except for some strained and pulled muscles for Zach and the abraision on his head, and the bruise and scrape on Abie's chin and jaw. It was a pretty wild show since we also had Alexis, we had little ones running in every direction. We took them to McDonald's afterwards for being so good during their exams, then went shopping a few clothes that the girls needed because Jami forgot to leave me a key to get into her house. But I'm surprised she can remember her name, she's in pretty bad shape emotionally because she's blaming herself.

The kids all have medical insurance and since we've also got all kinds of insurance on the ATV, everything is covered. The people at Children's Hospital in Little Rock are fantastic and are taking excellent care of our MeriKate (Meri Katherine). Surprisingly, their icu is allowing her to have balloons and her stuffed animals so when she rouses from the sedation, she sees something other than a sterile setting. They are also allowing Jami and Keith to stay in there with her all the time.

Last night when Jami described the accident to me, I was so upset that I slept on the floor beside Zach and Abie's bed and couldn't wait for the doctor's office to open so I could get them checked over. God was certainly there yesterday.

I'm feeling torn with the need to be with Jami right now cause I know she needs me, but I also need to be here to take care of the others. Krysten is staying with Jerri but Abie won't stay with anyone but me or our neice Cheryl and Cheryl is in school. I am going to LR when she has the surgery though, Cheryl said she'd take a day off from school to keep Abie so that I can.