Very Special prayer request from Rosey Halley

Please pray for this young man, he needs all of God's help. Pray for his parents also, they need God's support and comfort.

WEICKS, MATTHEW, 12, son of Joe and Sandy Weicks, 1101 Windrose Cir, Madison , MS 39110 -

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) – UPDATE 6/11: “Good morning everyone, Again, may I say how overwhelmed we are to have so many friends, family and wonderful people we have never even met supporting, praying, and caring. Joe and I are really having difficulty taking it in! You are all a blessing and we can never ever thank you enough.

I just called the hospital about an hour ago. Matthew seems to have hit a plateau. That is not a bad thing, and it is to be expected. Yesterday, due to their concern about his oxygen levels dropping, they changed his ventilator to one that is called and oscillating ventilator. I have never seen anything like it! Instead of the traditional “breath in, breath out” machine, this one delivers rapid puffs of air to the lungs in continuous succession. It almost sounds like someone dribbling a basketball at a quick pace. The puffs of air actually make his body bounce slightly and the nurses document the success of the machine in the body’s “jiggles”. If the body is “jiggling” well, then everything is hooked up properly! Even as serious as this is, I couldn’t help but laugh at that one. (Matthew’s baseball team is called the Jaguars. Some friends of his dropped off a little stuffed Jaguar for him and we have put this Jaguar and his baseball hat on the pillow by his head. Now with all the bouncing, we have to keep putting the Jaguar back up on the bed after it “jumps” off!) The machine is better at oxygenating the blood than the old type is. There is also less chance of oxygen leaking into the chest cavity, which would require a chest tube to be inserted. Matthew has responded to it well, and his oxygen levels are remaining up. Matthew continues to stabilize after the intubation. Now it is just a matter of tweeking until everything is set. If his blood pressure goes up, and they fix that, it seems to cause the Oxygen levels to drop. They fix that, and something else gets off. They said it is very common, and hopefully it will stabilize soon.

Yesterday, Matthew ran a pretty good fever all day, between 103 and 103.9. Even the Tylenol and Motrin didn’t do much for it. Joe and I seemed MUCH more concerned than the hospital staff (sometimes ignorance is NOT bliss, I guess J ). When we asked about it, they said it was not high enough to cause alarm and that it could very well be Matthew’s immune system kicking in to fight. The body’s natural system of fighting disease is to raise the temperature and create a hostile environment for germs to grow. They had given him an IV immunity booster, and with the rest and nutrition Matthew has received, they are hoping he is getting strong enough to fight the virus. Since it IS a virus, and there is no medicine to fight a virus, Matthew’s body is going to HAVE to have the strength to do it. That is our prayer now. Last night, they placed ice bags on him as his fever approached 104 and were prepping a cooling blanket for him, but they never needed it.

Some of you have asked how this all started. I will try to be as brief as possible. (For those of you that know me, you know what a challenge that will be.) Matthew started running fever last week. At first, we just assumed that it was the same bug that two other boys on his baseball team had come down with. But Matthew’s symptoms were slightly different. All of his symptoms mimicked a fever virus. His lungs sounded clear (even when he was admitted, some said that if they weren’t listening in just the right spot, they didn’t hear anything either!) He threw up a couple of times, but only when his fever was real high. Since Matthew has ALWAYS run high fevers, this did not bother me too much. His blood work was good. He panted to breathe some, but that is the body’s way of releasing some of the heat from the fever. He had a fever rash, but it went away with a rocephin shot. He had a dry tickle cough, but we assumed that was due to allergies. We went to the doctor 3 times last week; did blood work twice and both times it was in the normal range. However, late Friday afternoon, he started to have more problems breathing. He was supposed to go in Saturday morning to get his third rocephin shot, but by then, the doctor could hear the sounds in his lungs, and the restricted air flow. We were sent straight to the hospital. Within an hour he was in the ICU step down, and within 15 hours from that, they were wanting to intubate him and that is how it all began.

Please keep Matthew in your prayers. He is a great kid, and I can’t wait to have him home again. Thanks again for all of your support. Love, Sandy ”

Please continue your prayers for this brave young man.

WEICKS, MATTHEW, 12, son of Jo and Sandy, became ill on Sunday (a week ago) and began running fever. His temperature, everyday last week ran between 102.5 and 104.5. He became very sick and ill; he had little stamina. He needed a couple hours nap just for taking a shower. We took him to the doctor three times last week. Finally, yesterday, (6/6) he was put in the hospital. He was very weak. After a brief examination, he was put in ICU. At first they thought he had a viral pneumonia. His liver was also very swollen. They did an xray which seems to indicate that his lungs were full of fluid. He was struggling to breath. They also ran a bunch of other tests. They put him on every antibiotic that they could give him. After a sleepless night, the hospital took another xray. His lungs were worse, there was no improvement. His struggle to breath worsened as he continued to run fever. Matthew sensed things were not going well. In his words, “things are not going very well are they?” The doctors have now determined that he has Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). It prevents the lungs from obtaining the oxygen from the air that he is breathing. This morning, the hospital told us that they expected to put Matthew on ventilation (intubated). It did not look good. However, before doing that, the doctors wanted to use a C-Pap on him as an attempt to help his breathings. Although they were not optimistic, it worked. Matthew is doing better. His lungs and liver appear to be doing better. Sandy and I are convinced that prayer turned everything around for Matthew today. Friends, including those from our local church, who were already aware of Matthew’s condition, were praying for him yesterday and today. I am sending out this request to ask for your prayers for Matthew. While he is doing better, he is not out of the woods yet. He is still on oxygen (c-pap), IVs with strong antibiotics, and is very weak. Please continue to pray for Matthew. The doctor told us yesterday that he would be in ICU for at least a week. So again, your prayers will be much appreciated. We’ll update you as soon

as we can. Thanks, Joe

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UPDATE 6/8 - Just wanted to do a quick update. Matthew had struggled all day Saturday and all night into the wee hours of Sunday laboring to breathe. It was painful to watch. His oxygen saturation levels were too low, even though they had him on 90% oxygen. He seemed to really go down hill and then the second x-ray revealed that the linings of his lungs were almost completely fluid filled. One doctor said, Matthew was in complete respiratory failure. This morning, (Sunday) when the doctors told us to prepare ourselves because they were planning to intubate Matthew and keep him under unconscious sedation for 2-3 weeks while his lungs healed, you can imagine our shock and dismay at the thought of that. But there was such an incredible prayer chain going all around the country

for Matthew! And God answered those prayers. Miraculously, within a short time of their announcing their plan to us, Matthew’s oxygen levels slowly increased. His respiration rate decreased and the laboring of his breathing seemed to ease some. They had him on the CPAP oxygen mask and this was the last effort to be made to keep from having to intubate and sedate him to allow his lungs to heal. Within about 4 hours, they had him down to 60% oxygen and his other levels were holding. He has maintained this all day.

However, PLEASE KEEP YOUR PRAYERS UP! Matthew is miserable not being able to take that mask off his face. He is not allowed to eat or drink because of the poor condition of his lungs. They are afraid he will vomit and aspirate it. He has eaten not one bite for 2 days. As long as he has to wear the mask to keep his oxygen levels up, he will not be allowed to eat. (They are figuring another 3 days at least). They do not have any type of feeding tube in him. He is also thirsty and constantly signals for something to drink (since he is unable to talk due to the mask). He remains on IV fluids and some heavy-duty antibiotics. (His doctor said they had him hooked up to “The Mother Lode of Antibiotics”) He is very, very weak but he is a fighter and he is hanging in there! The doctors feel that what happens tonight will be a strong indicator of whether he has actually turned the corner or not. If he can maintain his

levels throughout the night, they will try to drop the oxygen doses further in the morning. The goal is to get him off the CPAP and onto a

nasal cannula until he can manage on his own. He is still in the ICU and he will remain there until he can breathe on his own. His breathing is still labored, and it still is hard to watch him struggle to breathe. He is still a little jaundiced from the liver problems. He is miserable and he just wants to come home. Please, please keep praying for him and his doctors.

PS- I am sorry I have not been able to get back to everyone who has called or sent texts and emails. We can’t use our phones in the ICU and there is such a short amount of time that we are not in there with Matthew. We are trying, but please know that we do appreciate them, and they mean the world to us! Thanks, Sandy!

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UPDATE MONDAY MORNING. Matthew's soccer team wanted him to know that in the weekend game everyone wore his number, even the opposing team. He got so excited that he could not breathe and the doctor gave him a shot to calm him down but it had the opposite effect and he could not breathe. He has been put in a 2 week induced coma to keep him calm and to heal.

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UPDATE TUESDAY MORNING - Hello again everyone, First and foremost, we’d like to thank you for your continued prayers

and your support. Even though we are having difficulty responding to all the emails, texts, and phone calls, please know that they are a

wonderful reminder of all the support we have. Please forgive us for not being able to respond immediately. If we have accidentally missed anyone, we apologize.

They have determined that Matthew has A.R.D.S. which is acute respiratory distress syndrome and he was in complete respiratory

failure. He continued fighting like a trooper through the night. They even went ahead and lowered his oxygen to 50% and he was able to keep his oxygen saturation levels up. Yesterday, he showed some wonderful improvement, but it was just enough to keep him sitting on the fence for getting better or getting worse. His breathing has been very labored and it is wearing him out. I was mistaken about the oxygen mask he was on. It was NOT a CPAP mask, it was a BY-PAP mask, which is a ventilator that keeps his lungs inflated. His lungs are functioning in such a way that is just the OPPOSITE of someone with emphysema. With emphysema, the lungs can expand when the person breathes in, but cannot collapse when they exhale. Matthew’s lungs are trying to collapse, and it was taking a LOT of effort to get them to expand when he tried to breathe air in. They have become brittle and they don’t want to move. Many of the little

air sacks, especially those in his lower lung areas that are crucial to oxygen exchange to the rest of the body, have collapsed and he was not able to get the oxygen he needed to the rest of his body. He has not eaten a meal since a week ago this past Saturday, which was May 31. He started getting sick the next day, and all week he just nibbled here and there, mostly jello and a little soup now and then. As of now, he has had absolutely nothing to eat since lunch on Friday. He can’t drink anything either. He has had air blowing up his nose and in his mouth for 48 hours and his mouth is very dry. This morning, he was showing signs of exhaustion and a slight

disorientation. They were afraid his strength was giving out on him and that he was not getting the oxygen to his brain and other organs that was necessary for him to continue fighting on his own. He continued to beg (through written notes) to have the mask removed and let him have something to drink or eat. He said he’d settle for ice chips if nothing mask, just to let him put some water in his mouth and then spit it out, his oxygen levels dropped considerably. Their concern was that it was taking longer and longer for him to recover if his mask had to come off, for however brief a period of time. Their fear was that he would start to bottom out and they would have to do an emergency intubation to place him on a respirator. Therefore, the decision was made to place him on it this morning under controlled conditions before all his strength gave out. So that is where we are right now. Matthew has been placed on a respirator and will remain unconscious in the ICU for at least two weeks while his body has some time to heal. Now, if he responds more quickly, he will get off the respirator more quickly. And if it takes longer to heal, he will remain on the respirator longer. They are now able to give him food through an NG tube and he doesn’t have that blasted mask blowing air up his nose and into his mouth. He is able to relax, get rest, get food and start building up his strength again. Right now, they have had to paralyze his diaphragm and allow the machine to do all the

breathing for him. They are hoping they will be able to lower the doses of the paralytic to allow his diaphragm and lungs to help on their own as much as they can. Please continue your prayers. We can see God’s fingerprints all in this and we know He is with Matthew. The doctors are optimistic of a complete recovery, barring anything else popping up unexpectedly.

Thanks again for all of your support, love and prayers. You have no idea how much they mean to us right now. Love, Sandy and Joe