Monday she went to school as usual, but I received a phone call from the health tech at about 10 am letting me know Lauren was in complaining of a severe headache and just didn't look right. My friend went to pick her up for me and 45 minutes later when I got home she was very unsteady on her feet and her speech was slurred. I rushed her right to the hospital and they ran several tests and could not find anything wrong.

She was admitted for observation and finally 6 days later we were transferred to a Children's Hospital. Within hours we had a diagnosis of Encephalitis, probably mosquito borne(she had bites on her arms and legs) but did not get the West Nile labs back for about 7-10 days which did confirm that was what she had. Over the next few weeks she continued to lose her speech completely, could no longer walk, lost her ability to swallow and finally could no longer communicate by blinking or using her fingers. She had a feeding tube placed in her stomach for means of nutrition.

The last 2 1/2yrs. Lauren continues to show little improvements. She is like a newborn baby again. She can not hold her head up, does not move voluntarily, still has a feeding tube and still does not communicate. We tried surgery for a Baclofen Pump which is spastcity medicine that would help with her tone, but unfortunately she got an infection and had to have it removed. Then the PICC site where her I.V. was also got infected and she just had surgery on the 18th of this month to remove an abscess in her arm. She is doing better now.

Last July we went to Kansas City, Mo. for some therapy and Hyperbarics which we believe has helped her some. Her first 40 treatments of Hyperbarics was in San Bernardino not far from our home and we also saw improvements from those. Please keep Lauren in your prayers as we ask God for her healing. We appreciate all our friends and family who have been there for us during this difficult time for our family.