This is my sister, Sarah, and her husband, Derek. . .



Today, by some wierd circumstances that I am not even sure how to relate, she ended up in the Intensive Care Unit in an Edmond, OK hospital. Currently, they are running various tests to see what could be wrong. Her symptoms were odd and it took hours for them to finally take her seriously. I think, initially, they thought she was having an adverse reaction to a self-induced drug overdose. For a while, she didn't know her name and didn't recognize her husband or our sister, Wyndi. She was having severe head pain and a skin-sensitivity issue that I don't know how to explain.

My sister, Wyndi, kept trying to tell them that Sarah was not acting like herself, but they were not listening and they were treating Sarah with little respect and much attitude. It just so happened, of course by God's providence, that the Director of Care Management (or something like that) had once worked with Sarah. Wyndi was able to get ahold of her and she came as soon as she heard. As soon as she walked in the room, she hugged Derek and then said she'd be right back. When she left the room, the doctor asked Derek how he knew her and he said that she was a close, personal friend of Sarah's. This lady then came back in the room and said that Sarah was "the best RN she had ever worked with." It was then that they began to treat Sarah differently.

The doctor looked at Wyndi and said something like, "Tell me again, from the beginning, what happened." This has been an all-day affair. They sedated Sarah because she was in such pain, but she came out of the sedation faster than expected. However, it looked as if she was doing some better because she recognized Wyndi and Derek and she knew who her own name. But then her temperature, which had been normal all day, suddenly spiked to 102 and last we heard they were taking her for a spinal tap, to check for spinal meningitis.

Please keep Sarah and Derek in your prayers. They have two daughters: Elizabeth and Jenna, who both have the flu. Uggh.

Many of you sent emails to Asa while he was in the hospital. I cannot tell you how much that meant to us to know that sooo many people loved us and were praying for us. I checked to see if the hospital where Sarah is staying has such a service and they do. If you would like to encourage her and/or Derek, you can send them a little note, prayer, or scripture verse through the hospital. Her name is Sarah Bendure and she is at Edmond Medical Center(Oklahoma) in the ICU. If you go to their website you can just click on the tab that says "Patient email".

I'll post more when I know more.