Background

On Monday May 28, 2007 Julia was taken by ambulance to the hospital because she was in a lot of pain and no longer seeing well. She was recovering at home after the birth of Marika the previous Wednesday. Below are the emails which have been sent to our church congregation regarding her progress over the week.

All further updates will be added to this blog. Thank you for your continued prayer for Matt, Julia and Marika.

May 29, 2007
This morning we heard that Julia remains in ICU and the next 24 hours are critical. She is heavily sedated and unconscious in an induced coma. The surgery removed infection in her uterus and now we are waiting to see that she takes to the medication and hope that it will kill whatever bacteria entered her bloodstream. Prayers are urgently needed today. Keep Matt in your prayers as he is worried and tired. Please pray for Julia's healing. Thank you.

May 30, 2007
The doctors now know that the bacteria that Julia is fighting is Strep B (This was misinformation at the time of this email. Julia actually had Strep A pyogenes). Last night her kidneys were having difficulty functioning.

They did not want to start dialysis last night as that would clean out a lot of the medication out of her system but she will be undergoing dialysis this morning. Julia is still in critical condition and remains in ICU. Please continue in prayer for Julia that God may give her strength and healing. Pray for Matt as he has been at the hospital to be with Julia since Monday and is need of comfort and strength.

1PM
Julia remains in critical condition in an induced coma. This morning there have been small but positive signs that Julia is fighting back. Her temperature is down a slight bit, her blood pressure has gone up slightly (it was extremely low and she is on meds to boost her pressure) and they are holding off on dialysis for her kidneys as the kidneys show signs of beginning to function slightly on their own.

May 31, 2007
Julia remains in her induced coma in critical condition. She remains in Intensive Care Unit at the hospital. This evening her temperature was back to normal so they removed that monitor from her body (Yay, one gone!). The oxygen she is on was lowered down to 30% (10% lower than this morning). Her kidneys have increased in flow from yesterday and she did not have the dialysis process they were talking about. Continue to pray that her kidneys will function more, as they are putting in more fluids than she is getting out and therefore she is very bloated and puffy. Her blood pressure was also improving slightly. These tiny positive steps give us hope that she is fighting this infection. Please continue to pray for healing.

Matt is looking and sounding better after some sleep and more family support that came on the scene overnight. Marika is at home tonight, being cared for by Dad and Aunt Leanne (Julia's sister). She gained 4 oz in the last couple of days and is doing well.

9:03PM
We are cautiously excited with the Verbrugges that it was a positive day. This morning concern regarding Marika grew as questions were asked about herrisk of having the same bacteria as Julia. She was tested at CHEO and theinitial test came back negative meaning she can be home again. She is on aprecautionary anti-biotic for 10 days but the signs look positive for her.Julia has begun to turn the corner for the better but is still in criticalcondition and has a long recovery and many obstacles ahead. They havestopped the blood pressure medication and she is doing fine with that.Today over the course of the day they have withdrawn the sedatives fromJulia. She is not yet responsive at all but they anticipate she will beginto regain consciousness. As this occurs we ask prayers for both Matt and Julia.

June 02, 2007
Friday again was another cautiously exciting day that brought many positive changes and many more prayer requests. Julia continued to show signs of coming out of sedation. She was calmed by both Matt and Leanne (her sister's) voice. She also showed reaction to doctors doing procedures on her. We continue to pray that she comes completely out the the coma/sedation.We are thankful that her kidneys continue to function at a level which has allowed her to begin loosing some of the fluid she has gained in the past week. The doctors have put her on a diuretic to help reduce the swelling. Julia's blood pressure is also being maintained today without any medication. We keep praying that her kidney's continue working and allowing her body to heal. Finally, on Friday, they removed the breathing tube. Julia was struggling to breath so she continues to be assisted by BiPAP. We keep praying that her lungs get strong enough that she can breath without any assistance.There are many prayers required as Julia continues to battle throughrecovery.

Prayers that Julia can remain calm as she becomes aware of the situation around her. And prayers for Matt and the family around her as the after effects of the medication can alter Julia's personality for a number of days. Julia's kidneys are also showing positive signs and continue to improve although there is a long way to go before they can begin to remove some of the excess fluid that Julia has retained in the last few days.

June 3, 2007
This morning Julia began to wake up. She can't talk due to the pipe down her throat assist with breathing and keeping her lungs clear, however, she was able to answer yes or no questions and knows why she is in the hospital which is a very good sign. She was wanting information about Marika.

She had to have chest tube inserted yesterday to drain fluid from her chest cavity.

Her kidneys continue to improve in functioning.

Baby Marika continues to do well. She is eating well and in good health.

Matt and all of Julia's family are thankful for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for Julia as she still has quite a way to go on her road to recovery.