Today's Update on Amber.

*This is the third update on the condition of Amber, one of my very best friends, who is in the hospital right now. You can find the initial post here, and a second update here.

Amber. April 2009.

Amber's sister-in-law, Sheri, called me tonight on the way home from the hospital. Amber has responded as doctors had hoped to the second drug they gave her to stop the seizures. (The first one didn't really seem to do anything, as she was continuing to have seizures.) She has not had one seizure since they put her on this medication, which is very promising.

They are keeping her "under" in medically-induced coma so that her brain activity is kept at a minimum, allowing the brain to "reset" and rest from the many seizures she's had.

Yesterday, when they were giving her a bath, her brain activity increased much higher than they wanted (she's a fighter, I tell you!), so they increased the dosage of her medication slightly, to allow her brain settle and remain in a rested state.

Tomorrow morning, Thursday, they will decrease the dosage of the medication which is keeping her in a coma, and they will slowly bring her back to normal brain activity. With the half-life of the meds being 15 hours, we expect to start seeing a more visible change by tomorrow evening.

The doctors are hopeful, which of course is promising news to us, because she is a normally very healthy person with no history of seizures or other major health problems. The medical team watching over her are still running tests and bringing in specialists to determine the cause of these seizures, since it's still a bit of a mystery to everyone.

The cause may still be a mystery, but something I do feel confident about is that Amber will be okay. I just know she's there, (im)patiently waiting for the doctors to tell her body it's time to wake up. She is a fighter. She is not one to ever give up. She has faith stronger than anyone I know, and as she always told me, "Our faith can move mountains." I believe it will.

I'll continue to keep you all updated. One thing that made me so happy today is that the doctors said, despite the many tubes and machines she is hooked up to right now and how uncomfortable she looks, they say that she is really feeling good right now and that she's very comfortable. That made me smile.

Thank you SO much for all your love and concern. So many of you have asked what more you can do to help besides pray. Honestly, all of your positive thoughts, prayers, and love are so important right now. If anyone has any letters or messages for Amber or the family, I'm happy to deliver those as well, but I know Amber will be able to feel your prayers and love and we do too. So thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
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