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Taylor's Miracle ~ Part Four

The ambulance arrived at the emergency room doors of Riley Children’s Hospital at around 7:00 Monday evening, June 12 th , 2006.   Taylor was wheeled into a private emergency room and attached to monitors to record his vitals.   I was shocked to lay eyes on him again after the two hour drive from the transferring hospital. He was now extremely bloated.   His entire face was so swollen that he could hardly move his lips to speak.   His previously thin chest that clearly showed his sternum and every rib, was now so bloated that it looked like a barrel had been implanted inside his torso.   His hands and feet were so puffed I was afraid his fingers and toes might pop if it became any worse.   The hive blotches had also grown much larger over his face and body and now appeared to blend all together changing his pale skin to a deep reddish purple sea of welts.   If it wasn’t for his trademark curly, red hair he would be completely unrecognizable.  And then we waited. We waited for ho

Taylor's Miracle ~ Part Three

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The honor of being chosen the recip ient of the coveted Kiwan is Merit Award medal during the eighth grade graduation awards ceremony was just the boost Taylor and o ur family neede d .  T he worst of the medical trauma appeared over a nd recovery was on the horizon.   Taylor still had two days of school to finish the following Monday and Tuesday, but after that , he planned to use the summer to finish his four to six week s of antibiotic IV infusions at home to erradicate the staph infection and rehabilitate his kne e and body for the upcoming high school football season. Anxious to re connect with his teenager social life, Taylor attended a youth baseball game on Saturday afternoon, June 3rd, 2006, to watch his teammates pla y.  It was a very warm, su nny day.  Dressed in a t-shirt and shorts , h e applied sunscreen everywhere except his affected knee and leg due to the recent surgical incisions that were still healing .  His stiffened knee meant he had to prop his leg on a b

Taylor's miracle ~ Part Two

We arrived at the emergency room before sunset on Mother's Day S unday, May 14th, 2006 .  Once registration was complete, we were relieved to learn th e doctor I spoke with over the phone had called the hospital and they were awaiting our arrival .   A s luck would have it , a resident orthopedic doctor assigned to Taylor’s orthopedic surgeon was on duty that evening.   He was paged to report to ER.   When he entered our ER cubicle, he remembered us immediately having assisted with Taylor’s ACL surgery the month prior.   He too had an ACL reconstruction surgery while in college and had shared his reassuring personal experience with us just before Taylor's surgery. After the brief reintroduction, the room grew serious as he assessed Taylor’s painful, swollen knee and asked many questions.     As Chris and I suspected, it was necessary to withdraw fluid from the knee for testing.   The resident doctor inserted a long, thick needle int o Taylor’s knee and extracted a yello