Hello

Hi, I'm Rebekah, wife to James and mom to 6 year old Philip and 3 year old Faith. I could tell you all kinds of things about our "history" and maybe someday, I will share how James and I met, about our wedding, about the churches we've served at, etc, but today, I'm going to tell you a little about Faith's story from the last month or so... Well, I guess I'm going back to October for a little background.

Last October, Faith had a "nodule" on her neck that was a good size. You could tell it bugged her when she swallowed. After seeing an ENT in Norman, it was determined that it needed to be removed. This surgery took a little longer than expected because the "nodule" showed signs of infection and ruptured during extraction. The doctor put a rubber band drain in, and stiched her up. We stayed in the hospital overnight, and Faith recovered very quickly. The next morning the drain was removed and we went home. The biopsy came back consitent with Thyroglossal Duct Cyst and everything looked great.

Fast forward to February. One day, the area where the TDC was started looking bad. I don't know how to explain it, it just looked bad. The next day, James called me and told me it was draining. I called the ENT, but I already had a feeling what that meant. He had us come in the next morning and put her on antibiotics. The TDC had recurred and was infected. She was on antibiotics for 10 days, and we were to come back in 3 weeks. Well, before the 3 weeks was up, the infection came back. I called to let them know, and we were seen immediately. She was put on antibiotics again, and a second surgery was scheduled. We decided to have her tonsils and adenoids removed this time as well in order to avoid putting her under again in six months. Our ENT had a colleague work with him on her central neck dissection to make sure they got everything which they are confident they did. This time, they had to put a large tube drain in and we were in the hospital 2 nights. We got to come home on March 5th.

On March 8th, we were having breakfast for dinner for Fat Tuesday. James was cooking bacon, and I was helping Philip in the bath. He poured the bacon grease off into a coffee mug and scooted it to the back of the counter. While he was putting the pan back on the stove, Faith reached up and knocked the mug off. The grease burned the right side of her face, the right upper side of her chest, and her right arm. I know it hurt her so much. Just a small splatter of hot grease is enough to bring tears to an adults eyes. As soon as I knew what happened, I called 911 then I called my mom. I will never forget the image I saw when I looked and saw my daughter's face "melted" off. I know we are only a month out, but I feel like I will forever be haunted with that image. I literally have nightmares about it now. My parents live next door to us and were here momentarily. Faith was sitting on James' lap, while I was trying to gather stuff that we would have to have (like pants for Faithee). Dad stood out at the road so the ambulance would know where we were, and mom helped me and James keep Faith upright so she wasn't touching any of the burns to anything. When we got her to the ER they put silvadine and bacitracin on her and wrapped her up and sent her home. I really wish we would have went to Children's or Baptist where she would have seen a doctor rather than just a PA, but at the time, we just needed help. I found out later she should have been admitted and put on IV fluids and antibiotics. Thanks be to our Father that everything turned out fine despite this.

We went to wound care the next day where they cleaned her up and taught me how to care for the burns. We have been to wound care Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week since the accident. They have taken amazing care of her. We also saw a plastic surgeon at Children's who told us her chest will most likely need some sort of plastic surgery. We will go back to him in mid-May.

My prayer during all of this has been, "God, just as you knit Faith together in my womb, please knit her face back together." I know this prayer has been answered. Her face is still discolored, but it appears there will be no permanent scarring. The Bible says, "All things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to HIS purpose." While in the midst of crisis, it is so hard to remember this truth, but I know God is God, God is sovereign and HE is still on the throne. I don't know how all God will work this for good, but I know He will. I've already seen amazing things, and I know Faith is going to have such an amazing testimony. She is such an amazing child. During one appointment, she sang, "When I am afraid, I will trust in You, I will trust in You, I will trust in You. When I am afraid, I will trust in You, In God who's word I praise." The faith of a child. : )

Our church family has stepped up in an amazing way. They put together a benefit dinner for Faith, and our community really turned out for it! Thank you to all who worked, came, gave, etc. We will never be able to express our gratitude adequately, but we want you all to know how much we appreciate all you are doing. The people I work with have been amazing too. We want to thank everyone for all the prayers, and ask for continued prayers. We still have a long road ahead of us, but we know that the prayers and love we've been shown have helped not only Faith's healing, but our spirits as we care for her.