Monday in Macon

Shea's Monday began with brain function therapy. Aunt Joy worked with her on simple math, having her speak the problems, as well as writing them. The math problems became increasingly difficult until the nurses said Shea was way over their heads.

Later, the speech therapist joined them. It was soon obvious Shea had no difficulty with any task given to her. "Recite the months of the year--Good, now recite them to me backwards. Hmmmm...Repeat these numbers after me. . .2,8,10,5,4,2. OK, now repeat, 2,8,10,5,4,2,6. OK, now, 2,8,10,5,4,2,6,5."

Again and again, Shea responded correctly and sent the therapists on their way convinced she was fine -- no brain damage here. Indeed, they jokingly asked her what President was on the five dollar bill. One of her docs could not answer correctly but Shea was right on the money, "President Lincoln," she said. The nurses joked with the doctor, saying it was pretty sad that Shea knew more than her doctors. :-)

Pictures were taken of Shea from the first day and yesterday she was interested in seeing them. Steve showed her each phase, carefully explaining this one was before surgery, this one after surgery, etc. She was surprised to see how swollen and bruised she had been. "I can't believe I was that bad." Then Steve asked her if she would like to see herself now. Shea looked quitely into the mirror and touched the right side of her face first. When her fingers moved across the left side, she remarked that she looked a little "rough," but she did not over-react or cry. She looked at her dad and said, "Look at my nose. Jesus protected my nose."

In the afternoon, several doctors, nurses and hospital personnel visited Shea. Some of her nurses called to ask them to come and see Shea for themselves. Shea got to meet those who took care of her when she first came into the emergency room. It was a treat for them to talk to Shea and express their joy in her recovery. The man who admitted Shea had a hard time believing she was the same person he saw that night. "I can't beieve I'm seeing this!" he said.

Later, Stacey, one of Shea's sweet nurses, brought in a woman named Adrien.
Susan and Steve explained to Shea that this woman had ushered them into the counseling room at the emergency room. Susan and Steve were to wait there for the doctor. Steve invited Adrien to stay and pray with them. It was here that Steve and Susan prayed that God would spare their little girl, but they were willing to accept whatever his will was. They pleaded for Shea's life but acknowleged to God that Shea was his. Adrien said that when Steve prayed, she felt as though God came down into that room and she felt his presence. Never before had she felt such power and was not surprised when she later learned Shea was improving. Tears of joy came down her face while she talked to Shea. It was a fun but emotional afternoon.

About 5pm, Dr Smyth, an optomologist, examined Shea's eyes. She had to use a very bright light and other equipment which were very uncomfortable for Shea's sensitive eyes. Eventually, she did an ultrasound of Shea's left eye. It appears that the good news is that the back of Shea's eye is not damaged. It looks like the lens of the eye has been pushed to the back of the eye. There is apparent debris blocking her vision and it may be the lens is fractured. All of this, however, can be repaired.
Dr Clark came in this morning and explained to Shea that the part of the eye we see with, the vision system, can't be fixed. But, the part of the eye we see through, the part where Shea's eye is damaged--where the vision is magnified, can be fixed. So, isn't that one huge praise! He told her that this is intricate, detailed surgery. So, that is something we can be praying for now--Steve and Susan must find the right specialist in Atlanta to perform this surgery. It is not time sensitive, which is also good news.

About 7pm, Dr Carey arrived to remove the wires from Shea's mouth. These are the wires that held her jaw together. Shea still has many wires and other material in her mouth while she awaits surgery. But, she can now open and close her mouth! She can drink and swallow.

Shea awoke from her sedative rather quickly.
Dr Carey worked with her, opening and closing her jaw and told her how wonderfully she was doing. We think Dr Carey did an absolutely incredible job and Shea agrees.
"You're awesome, Dr. Carey," she told him. "Thank you so much."
Shea told him again how much she appreciated his work and he told her she was very welcome. Susan reminded Shea that this was the doctor who had stood for 13 hours and 15 minutes to repair all the damage. "And," Susan said, "He listened to your CD while he operated."
"Oh, you poor man," Shea joked.

Shea's primary doctor, Dr Clark, was on board to downsize her trach to a 4! This is the smallest and last step before removing it all together. Later, the respiratory therapist capped the trach to allow Shea to totally breathe on her own through her nose and mouth. The plan was to cap it for a few minutes to let her get used to it. But Shea wanted her trach to stay capped. She liked the way it felt and she could hear her voice better. She blew her breath against our hands--boy, did that feel good. She slept through the night like that and is doing great.

Shea awoke about 4 am with terrible pain in her face. The regular pain medication was not working. After additional pain medication was given to her, she fell asleep about 11am. With all of the manipulation of her eyes and jaw yesterday, we were not surprised.

As I write this, Shea is being X-rayed to see if her neck brace can be removed. If that is the case, Shea will be one happy girl. Dr. Troop, the neurosurgeon, explained to Shea yesterday she needed the brace because when she came into the emergency room, her neck was laid over to her left side. We did not know that. Susan and I took a deep breath at the visual of Shea with her neck in such a position.

I know this is long; so much happens in one day around here. Susan told me today--"Don't make it too long. I don't want people to think we think they want to know every little detail of our lives here." But, if nothing else, this is a journal for the family. And I know you wouldn't be reading it if you didn't love Shea and the Hickok's and wanted to know how to effectively pray for them.

I leave for home tomorrow. I will never forget the Thanksgiving and Christmas I spent at the Children's Hospital in Macon, Georgia. I will never forget the doctors and nurses and the people of this great town. I will never forget the miracle I saw here or the impact it made on my own life and countless others. And I will never forget all of you who dilligently and faithfully upheld Shea before our loving Father each day.

Shea asked me to please thank you for all your prayers. Before she settled into a good nap, she snuggled up inside her blanket and with her eyes already closing, said, "Aunt Jeanne, tell them I love Jesus. . . soooo much". . . and she drifted off to sleep.

God bless each of you.
Jeanne