Meet the Lytle family.....
Kim Lytle is a single mom blessed with three beautiful girls: Grace (10), Faith (8) and Hope (5). Kim homeschool's her girls and teaches part time at Infinity Academy in Leon Springs.
This is her youngest, Hope...
Hope was born with Myelomeningocele (most often referred to as spinabifida), a developmental congenital disorder caused by the incomplete closing of the baby’s spine during pregnancy when vertebrae overlying the spinal cord are not fully formed and remain unfused and open. A portion of the spinal cord protrudes through the opening in the bones, most often resulting in some form of paralysis. Hope was born with a lumbar (vertebrae L4) opening of her spine. She developed hydrocephalus, an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, or cavities, of her brain soon after birth. Hope went through pre-natal surgery at 22 weeks of gestation to repair the opening of her spine. She has had a total of eight surgeries to date – two on her spine, four on her feet and legs (to repair club feet), and two on her bladder.
This summer, on Jun 10, 2011, Hope had a bladder augmentation and bladder neck repair to augment her neurogenic bladder. The surgery went well, but 10 hours after surgery, complications developed and Hope went into complete renal (kidney) failure. She spent 11 days at Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital, 8 of those in Intensive Care (ICU). Within hours of what was to be her first dialysis procedure, Hope’s kidneys began to function again – a direct miracle and answer to prayer. Shortly after her kidneys began to function, Hope’s left lung collapsed. After 3 days of intense breathing treatments and oxygen requirements, her lung began to function again as well. These miracles are a true testament to the Lord’s faithfulness in the life of Hope and her family.
Doctors project that Hope will always use braces to walk, will always endure hydrocephalus, and will always have a neurogenic bladder and intestinal system. However, Hope and her family put their faith in the Lord alone, knowing that whatever will He has for Hope’s life, it will be used to bring Him glory.
UPDATE from Kim as of July 27:
UPDATE from Kim as of July 27:
Three weeks after returning home, Hope suddenly got an infection at the incision site on her abdomen. When the doctor saw the pictures of it (thank you smart phones), he immediately called back and said to come to the ER at Santa Rosa. So thanks to friends and family, Hope’s older sisters were cared for, and Hope was rushed to the ER late one evening. The doctor admitted her to the hospital where she was placed on high dose antibiotics for 36 hours. The infection did not respond to the medication, so Hope went through another surgery…surgeons determined that the infection was too dense to drain, so they placed a wound vacuum in her abdomen, then sealed off the entire area with tagaderm. One portion of her bladder sling appeared to be infected, so the doctor talked with me about the possible removal of the sling – basically undoing a part of what he had done in June’s surgery. The verse that Hope and her mom clung to during this time was Psalm 28:7 – “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise Him.”The recovery from this surgery was by far one of the hardest…her IVs kept blowing out, so the IV pain medication couldn’t be administered until they could stabilize her IV. Within two days of being there, she had already been “stuck” 12 times for an IV. It was a difficult few days, but once they finally got an IV to hold, she was quite comfortable, even with the wound vacuum in place, connected to a pump that ran 24 hours a day to remove infection and blood clots. After letting the antibiotics and wound vac work for a few days, Hope went back into surgery again….doctors were fully expecting to have to put in another wound vacuum, and then we would be on a schedule of going back every few days to change this out. However, the doctor came out from surgery and said that she was completely free of infection…completely unexpected by the doctors, but a true and visible answer to prayer. The bladder sling was also fine, so they were able to leave that alone!! The vacuum came out altogether, and she emerged from surgery with only dressings on her abdomen. The doctors stitched two lower levels of her abdomen, but left the incision slightly open, in case there was any lingering bacteria…evidently this is better for the healing process. Within a few weeks, her abdomen should be totally healed.This eight day stay in the hospital was finally over. Looking back on the past few weeks, I go through a range of emotions…shock that an infection can occur and spread so quickly, gratitude to the good Lord for the gifts of medicine and wise doctors, and joy for the way that we were once again surrounded by God’s prayer warriors. There is no way a mama can ever express the depth of emotion in knowing that her baby is covered in prayer by family, friends, loved ones, and even people we’ve never met. I just continue to smile and think that God must look down on us with joy, seeing how His children gathered together and honored Him by taking ALL the needs of Hope and lifting it to Him with faith and trust. I will cherish the e-mails, cards, texts, and visits…knowing that each one is a testament of love for me and my girls.
Please help us bless the Lytle family and help ease this huge financial burden that has been placed on Kim. Come eat some pancakes!!!
