Specific Prayers

 Whitney Copeland (8:25 pm, Tuesday, 1/1//22)

I’ve just put a more itemized type update off for a while. You beautiful people just keep asking for specific things that can be prayed for. Things change so quickly around here we just hold our breaths and send up little prayers as the new information comes in. So here are some milestones to rejoice and some side steps we have encountered.

Kyle’s grafts taken from his thigh have healed ever so nicely. One graft on his neck and one on the back of each of his hands. The staples have been completely removed from his neck and one hand. His right hand has a few staples left, the graft needed a little more time, they may come out Wednesday. I’ve had the opportunity to shower him 2 times this week helping him wrap his hands (to protect his bandages), assisting him to wash, and the tedious work of removing all scabs and dead tissue from his face, mainly around his eyes. His face is healing beautifully, the doctors are very impressed. His eyes and ears give him the most trouble. It’s excruciating to clean off the scabs and dead tissue and it is done twice a day. He’s tolerating it a bit better each day. He is excited to be able to be with the kids more. Kyle walked, the long long hallway to where the kids are located 2 times this week. Up until this point he had been pushed over in a wheelchair. So proud of him, this was a big deal! 

Pepper continues to be as sweet as she can. She is bandaged literally from the neck down. She has a very difficult time moving and EVERYTIME she does move she cries out in pain. She currently is forced to be incontinent due to not being able to get up. When she needs to be changed, she cries and cries knowing how much pain it will bring. I keep telling her “Girl, we know this is going to hurt. Let’s get this done together.” She nods her determined nod and amazes us all and gets it done every time. Pepper has undergone 10 surgeries. Each time she asks me to stay with her until she falls asleep, we sing songs and listen to our favorite playlist from a good friend, Tiffany. Each surgery she is put to sleep using anesthesia and a breathing tube is inserted for the procedure. She undergoes scraping or removal of dead skin. Some of her skin in areas has been removed to the fat bed. This week infection was found in most of her burns. The cadaver skin and all synthetic materials were all removed, to allow the infection to be cleaned every day. She is transported via stretcher down to a shower about 2 times a week on the burn unit and they sedate her heavily. They lay her on a big metal table/tub. Once sedated a team of highly professional, very efficient, gentle and loving burn care workers set to work. They cut all bandages off with scissors exposing her to the open air. She lays sedated and they scrub her wounds and wash her body. A Dr. is always present to monitor her vitals while sedated. They take pictures of each burn area to document her progress. After she is clean this same amazing team wraps her body back up. It’s like watching a colony of ants, they move so quickly to ensure her temperature doesn’t drop too low. On the days she isn’t taken to the shower room they do her daily dressings in her bed, under the same sedation. One of the medications they give to sedate her has some pretty nasty side effects, she frequently has hallucinations after each procedure. We work through them the best we can, but sometimes she looks at me like I’m crazy because I can’t see the Legos hanging from the ceiling or the spiders that are crawling on her.  Pepper loves to eat, most burn patients have little to no appetite, the staff are always so surprised and always so excited to get her something she is asking for. They will place special requested orders for her. We just love the staff here. 

Krew has endured 9 surgeries so far. He has received grafts from his thigh covering his entire face. Both Kyle and I were so saddened to hear his whole face needed grafts. When they brought him back from surgery, we both cried out in joy. He was our boy for the first time in 18 days. We could see his facial features, his little nose, eyebrows, and they even put his smile lines in. After putting grafts on his face, the plastic surgeon and her team decided to keep Krew intubated for 9 days allowing them to “paralyze” him and keep him heavily sedated in order to keep his face as still as possible and his grafts intact. We are hopeful his grafts will stick, there was a lot of valuable skin placed on him. Krew also has an infection in his synthetic grafts, which means his were removed and scrubbed also. His covered a much smaller area (upper arms) So they were able to do his daily dressing changes in his bed. Krew has also developed pneumonia and is being closely monitored and treated with antibiotics. He is just darling and a sleeping angel in his bed. We hope to see his eyes and smile again soon. 

Upcoming surgeries- 

Kyle #4-Thursday for his eyes. His lower eye lids are pulling away from his eye, so that causes his eyes to never fully close. Causing painful dry eye and blurry vision. We are hoping this will be a quick recovery. 

Pepper #11-Thursday the burn team are hopeful the infection will be cleared up enough to re-apply cadaver skin, and this time we pray it holds, after this stage (about a week) if her body accepts the cadaver, we then can look forward to grafts. 

Krew #10-Thursday they will access the cadaver skin placed earlier this week on his arms & hands if there are no more signs of infection, they will add grafts from his body from shoulder to fingertip. 

So, Thursday is a big day for our family! Continued prayers are encouraged. We feel your support and love in various ways. We love you all.