Please Pray for Anita

Anita is an 11 year old girl. Dr. Erin Meier has blogged about her. She, along with medical student Rebekah Lamb admitted Anita to the hospital almost 3 weeks ago. She had multiple abscesses, and was septic (infection in her blood). Obviously, her family hadn't realized the seriousness of her illness, and had waited far too long to bring her in, a problem that we face all too frequently here.

Erin and Rebekah drained the abscesses and started her on multiple antibiotics. At first she improved considerably. Erin blogged about her improvements just a week or so ago. But in the last few days she has taken a turn for the worse. Abscesses deep in the muscles often spread into the bones or joints. The infection doesn't show on x-ray for a time, so you have to keep repeating the x-rays until they do, or until you are sure that the patient is beyond danger. This week infections in Anita's left hip and right shoulder showed up. That means that the infection was probably already in the bones when she was first admitted. Yesterday an x-ray showed that the infection in her hip had destroyed the bone to the extend that it just collapsed. The muscles around the joint have pulled the femur up into the soft tissues above the joint.

Anita now also has pneumonia, and is now badly malnourished and weak. She is unable to eat, and has nausea when she tries to drink nutritional supplements, so I've started doing tube feedings. Her left leg is now in traction. She is receiving all the antibiotics that we have that we think could be helpful. At the moment I can't think of one thing that I could possibly do that would be of any additional help. I've already been praying for her, and now I ask you to join me.

The photo is of last evening's sunset.