In PICU, prayers needed

This will be short because I need to focus on Alex, but I wanted to get an update out.

Saturday night Alex spiked a fever that came down very quickly with cool cloths and a dose of Tylenol. Because Alex typically won't respond to tylenol when he is really sick, I thought we would be okay to watch him and reassess in the morning. Alex woke up with a temp of 98.8 and was happy and playing. Around 11:00 AM on Sunday he took a turn for the worse and suddenly starting shaking really badly. He was crying in pain and clearly not well. I put in a call to the doctors and it was decided we needed to head to the hospital. I did not feel like I could safely make the trip to Houston so I decided to head to the local children's hospital. We were taken to a room immediately and the decision was made pretty quickly to transfer us by jet, as Alex's temp was back up in the 104's. Within 4 hours we were in the hospital in Houston. Within minutes of arriving it was decided that we would be heading to the PICU "for closer observation". Before we were able to get him to the PICU, he became very disoriented, starting having seizures and was having very high heartrates and respirations. Once getting to the PICU things started moving very quickly. He was given 2 boluses of medication to stop seizures, extra IV's were started, more meds were given. labs were drawn, etc. He continued to get worse and within an hour the decision was made to place him on a ventilator so his little body could rest.

Once intubated, we saw his vital signs start to stabilize, however his labs continued to look bad. We had multiple doctors and nurses in our room at all times last night. At this point his vital signs remain okay, but he is still extremely sick. He is heavily sedated and still on the ventilator. We know he has a line infection (gram negative rods for those that are interested) which has caused the septic shock. He has also had numerous severe allergic reactions to medications. They are reducing the settings on his ventilator in the hopes that he will take some breaths on his own. He will not be able to come off the ventilator until the swelling subsides and his labs stabilize.

I am extremely thankful for the fast transfer from Fort Worth and the exceptional care we received upon arrival. I truly believe they saved Alex's life. We continue to ask for your prayers as we have a long road to recovery.
Ali