Our darling Leia

So this week has been very rough. At first it was great because Eric, Amanda and Matthew were here and we had a great time with them! Then Morning came horrible news. Saturday night my cousin's daughter Leia, who is 16 months, was very sick, throwing up, couldn't keep anything down. Melonie was trying to get her to take fluids but nothing worked. Finally around mid-night Saturday night, she and Leonard took her to the ER in Yakima. While there she coded. According to my other cousin, it took them 20 minutes for them to get her heart back to a regular rhythm. From there they almost immediately flew Mel and Leia to Seattle Children's hospital where she has been on life support ever since. She wasn't responding or breathing on her own the first day. My Aunt Carol flew out on Monday and got to Seattle around 6pm. We are all beside ourselves on what to do.
Yesterday (Tuesday) she did improve. The nurse said Leia was breathing over the ventilator which is wonderful, so now the ventilator is just giving her more support. Her color is slowly returning and she was responding.
My cousin Tammie, Melonie's sister posted this on FB yesterday evening

"Some small glimmers of hope that we are holding onto are that Leia coughed (a reflex) and displayed a gag reflex a couple times today. She also responded by moving both right and then left legs when they were stimulated by touch/rubbing!

There are some issues with liver and kidney function that they are testing and treating. Other testing that has been done has still not shown any evidence to point to what may have caused this to happen."

I haven't heard anything yet today. I've had several breakdowns since hearing the news.
On a different note, yesterday was even harder. Jan 31, 2012 was the 7 year anniversary of my dear best friend Brandon's death. I try so hard to not think about it but I always do. Last night I was going through some boxes with old letters and cards. I hadn't cried yesterday but I found 3 letters Brandon had written me while he was working at Big Lake one summer. And boy did I loose it. Seeing his hand writing and reading his words, I miss him so much. I can't believe it's been 7 years already.
Anyway, if anyone reads this, please pray for Leia and Melonie and Leonard. They can use all the prayers they can get. Mom and I are hoping to go up to Seattle either tomorrow or Friday to see them. I don't know how I'm going to handle that.

This is Leia with her mommy and daddy Melonie and Leonard on her 1st birthday last fall.

And this is Leia February 1, 2012. I love you darling Leia.