Sophia update - with pictures

From Sophia's aunt this morning (click picture to see larger image):

It’s amazing what a difference one night can make. I went home from the hospital at almost midnight Saturday night, feeling discouraged, and left Veronica and Scott with the same feeling, and tired !. On Sunday, when we went back to the hospital after mass, Sophia didn’t have any of the cords that tangled her body the day before and she looked like she was feeling much better!. I told Veronica my own theory J: this was actually God, quieting me down, after the 5 hours of praying (in Spanish, in English, and more Hail Mary’s than I could count!) and my dealings with Him while “babysitting” Sophia the night before J J! Veronica and Scott had requested for doctors to remove the feeding tube, again, and to give them a chance to feed her instead. Sure enough, that was a relief for Sophia, who had been feeling miserable with that on her nose, and trying to pull it out at any opportunity she got. Even though she remained quite sleepy for most of the day, she seemed more relaxed and when awake, she had her Pedia-Sure chocolate shakes quite well, she ate a cookie and she even went for a wagon ride. It was so beautiful and warm outside that Veronica and Scott asked Dr. Cherny if they could take Sophia outside, so we all went and took tons of pictures, capturing the first day in a month when she got to breathe fresh air and got some warm sun rays. Hopefully she’ll be able to stay awake enough during the day, to eat the minimum amount of calories required to stay without a feeding tube, and to start physical therapy and gain some strength back. We were thinking that she started being that sleepy at about the time we found out about the blood clots, so Dr. Cherny thinks that might be the cause of that. They are pushing her to wake up more now. The cause of the allergies is not known yet. They changed the medication that they thought could be doing it, but it will remain in her body for 5-6 days so we should know some time this week. Yesterday the fever was gone, but if it comes back Dr. Cherny said they would do more blood cultures to check for infections. By the evening, we all helped move her into her new room in the general pediatrics area, and out of PICU, hoping we don’t ever have to do the move back !!! I’m enclosing some pictures we took when she had some of her best moments. Let’s pray that we continue to see improvement, let’s not forget the doctors and nurses that have been so incredibly loving and dedicated to Sophia and the family, and of course let’s continue praying for Scott, Veronica and Matias! THANK YOU. God bless each and every one of you, Daniela