Pearl

Pearl's Miracle
Our daughter, Pearl Jayne, was born November 28, 2000. Despite being 5 weeks early, she was beautiful, perfect and healthy. She weighed 5 lbs and 12 oz and was 18 1/4 inches long. We took her home the following day, and looked forward to a new chapter in our lives with our wonderful new baby girl.
The first week and a half were perfect. My husband and I could not have asked for a more wonderful baby. When Pearl was 9 days old, I stopped to check her before going to bed, and found that she had a temperature of over 100 degrees. I took her to the ER immediately. They checked her over and said she was fine and that babies often had trouble regulating their temps. The next day I took her to our pediatrician for a check up. She again was running a temp of over 100. The Dr. said she should be admitted to the hospital immediately to make sure she did not have a bacterial infection. For two days we stayed in the local hospital. Pearl seemed to be doing fine, but spiked a small temperature the morning before we were to be discharged. The Dr. felt uncomfortable with it and had Pearl's bloodwork checked again before we left. The results were a disaster. Her platelet count was at 16,000 and it should be about 160,000, her blood was not clotting, and her white cell count was very high. The Dr. was suspicious she was being attacked by the Herpes Virus, and started her on the proper antibiotic, and then sent her to St. Luke's Regional Medical Center Children's Hospital, one of the very best.
My husband and I were frantic. I was almost hysterical. The Dr. told us she could die. By the time Pearl got to St. Luke's, her platelet count was even lower and she was a huge bleed risk. They were working on her frantically. She had to have a spinal tap and they started various blood transfusions. Her tiny little body was weighed down with tubes and lines. Amazingly enough, she never looked as sick as she really was. For 6 weeks Pearl and I lived in NICU. Pearl was finally diagnosed with HSV, and the result was massive liver failure and all the complications that come with it. Her liver was bigger than my fist, as was her spleen. Consequently, all of her clotting functions were abnormal. She also had massive abdominal swelling from protein fluid being sloughed off by the liver. At one time her stomach was over 17 inches around. She had to have 4 surgeries for drains and peritineal dialysis. Two days before Christmas, the Dr.'s told us Pearl's kidneys had died and she would die from toxic poisoning. The medication for the virus along with severe abdominal pressure and low blood pressure had caused the kidneys to fail. However, after 5 days of peritineal dialysis, her kidneys were once again normal. The Dr's were stunned at the turn around.
Slowly but surely, Pearl began to recover, much to the amazement of the staff. She never displayed the symptoms of how sick she really was, and defied the odds at every turn. The Dr.'s were amazed at how stong she was.
I stayed with her for every procedure and never left the hospital. I slept on the waiting room couch a few hours each night and stayed with Pearl every minute possible. I did everything they would let me do. Finally, on January 17th, we left the hospital. We were told it would take time, but Pearl should recover. She was to have her blood worked checked twice a week. For the first week and a half everything continued to improve, but on her third lab check, things turned bad again. Pearl's biliruben level had jumped quite a bit. Our pediatrician was concerned, but said things could still be ok. This was on a Friday. The following Monday I had an appointment with the liver specialist, who again checked her blood for her bili level. It had made another large jump, and I was told that Pearl would be dead within a month. I was told she was too small for a piece of my liver, and that the virus would probably just destroy it anyway. I was told that her bili level would just keep going up and Pearl would simply die in her sleep from the toxins in her body, or hemorage because of the lack of clotting ability of her blood. I was told to take her home and enjoy all the fun baby things and one morning she would be gone. We were beyond devistated. After such a long haul in the hospital, we thought we were bringing our baby home to get better, and now they are telling us just to let her die. I was so week emotionally, I could barely function. I was terrified to go to sleep, for fear that she would die while I was away. I had functioned on auto pilot for so long in the hospital, I had virtually nothing left to function with at that time. My experience in the hospital had taught me what things to look for in the functioning of the liver. During the first week after we were given Pearl's death sentence, I saw some changes. I consulted with the liver specialist on what I was seeing. He told me not to bother watching for changes, as there wouldn't be anything significant enough to make a difference. I was just to enjoy her while I could and wait for her to die. He told me it might take longer because she had always been so strong.
For almost 2 weeks I grieved, and tried to prepare myself for the death of my only child. I held her contantly, day and night. Her abdominal swelling was coming back and her breathing was becoming labored. On two occassions, I believed she was dying before my very eyes, but each time, she overcame the incident. Periodically, in the back of my head, I thought of alternatives I might be able to seek out, but my mind and body were so tired, I had trouble focusing on anything but my daughter's ultimate passing. I am very aggressive by nature, but had lost my will and my spirit.........almost that is.
The weekend before February 12, 01, I was talking to a friend about the possibility of checking into natural methods of treatment. I knew from previous research that some herbs specifically worked on the liver. I was wanting to go to the natural food store and do some research, but hadn't found the energy to do so yet. My friend suggested I go see a woman named Jane Dennell who operated a store called the Willow Tree. She had been a pediatric nurse for many years, and also studied herbal medicine for many years. She provided consultations and treatments that were completely natural. On February 12th, I went to see Jane. It was a visit that would change all our lives forever. I told Jane Pearl's story, and introduced her to my daughter, who at this time had orange skin and a green tint to her eyes where they should have been white. Pearl also had thrush from all the antibiotics she was on in the hospital, the medication they had given me to treat it had not worked. Jane immediately had several ideas that she wanted to try, and although she could not promise me my daughter would live, she thought that these treatments would give her a fighting chance. I spent less than $40.00 on herbs and treatments. Our bill for the hospital and related treatments was over $350,000. For the first time in weeks and weeks, I felt some hope.
When Pearl was sent home from the hospital, she was put on a predigested formula that was absolutely terrible, and she did not like it and often threw it up, so I started adding goats milk to her formula, for taste and fat content. Jane agreed this was a good idea. As for treatments for Pearl, Jane started her on L-Lysine, for the virus; Alpha Lipoic Acid, for liver tissue regeneration; Milk Thistle for flushing the liver, and a form of acidophilus for yeast. All these things were simply added to Pearl's formula. Additional things I did for treatments, were foot massage of pressure points on the feet, and the use of Nikken magnets which I taped over the liver for at least 12 hours a day to promote blood flow.
After 3 days, Pearl's color had drastically changed!! Her eyes were no longer green, and her skin looked yellow instead of orange. Her stool color was getting darker in color, which indicates that her bile ducts were working and bili was flushing. Within a two weeks, her thrush was gone and her appetite was increasing and she was filling out. Throughout the first 5 weeks of treatment, I did not consult with any Dr's. Finally Pearl's pediatrician called and wanted to know how she was doing. When I told her she was getting better, she wanted to see her. When I took her in, she agreed she looked better, but was still hesitant. 12 days later, I took Pearl in again for a herniated surgical site and the Dr. noticed an even bigger change and wanted me to have her blood checked immediately. I told her to wait and I would do it when I felt it was right. On March 29th, I had Pearl's blood checked, and the results were outstanding. Her bili level was down from over 30 to 7. At 40, a child will usually died very quickly. Platelets, albumin and other liver functions were normal. Her liver inflamation was still high, but was half of what it had been before. It was becoming quite clear our daughter was healing.
A week later, we checked back with the pediatrician, and she very excited. She had consulted with a specialist out of Portland, who says that based on Pearl's huge improvement, she thought Pearl has a good chance of making a full recovery. And she did!!
One additional thing I want to add to this story that I feel is the most important part of Pearl's treatment. One constant factor throughout Pearl's whole ordeal was the diligent prayers of myself and literally hundreds of people across the U.S. So many people have prayed for God to heal Pearl and make her well again. I believe God led me to seek other treatments for my daughter, and that she will be a special witness in her life. I know God has given me and my family the strength to survive this difficult test, and has also given us a modern day MIRACLE!
There are many, many details I have not put in this story, due to space and time. I think I could write a book based on my experience in NICU alone, but I wanted to share Pearl's story so that people know there are other options. Dr.'s are not Gods and are not always right. Most will not acknowledge natural or alternative medicine. Western medicine has it's place, but it is not the only solution. If you would like to know more about Jane and her alternative treatments you can chck out her webpage at WWW.WILLTREE.COM You can also feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions or comments on my story. Kelly and I also want to thank our family and friends for their unwavioring support. They have all been so wonderful and have helped lessen the burdens. We love them so much.