Eden Medical Expenses

Friends and family-

I’d like to provide an update on our 15-year-old daughter, Eden. Yesterday, she suffered a serious seizure while our family was with friends in Richmond. She was transported by ambulance to VCU Children’s Hospital. Her seizures were unrelenting and her condition worsened to the point that she required sedation, was placed on a ventilator, got a CT scan, and was admitted to the PICU. She later had a lumbar puncture, among other procedures, to determine the cause of the seizures.

EEG reports showed seizures continuing in her brain throughout the night and into today despite various attempts to slow them ( she suffered roughly 20 hours of seizures).

Thankfully, we are blessed with a remarkable team of doctors and nurses who put together a plan that was bold but necessary. She responded well to that treatment, though various side effects keep her situation tenuous. They had hoped to do an MRI today, but certain levels in her lab reports gave the doctors pause. They will continue adjusting her treatment path with the hope of an MRI tomorrow. She has received a feeding tube and remains in critical yet stable condition. Doctors anticipate her stay in the hospital to be at least several weeks.

We have been humbled with texts, emails, social media messages, and calls from friends literally around the world. Your prayers and support are a great encouragement to us.

Our church family has been remarkable and has shown us the love of Christ in tender and tangible ways. A group of elders and their wives drove from Alexandria to Richmond to encourage and pray with us. Several families canceled their Christmas plans in order to care for our children. Our oldest son, Haddon, said to us tonight on a phone call, “It’s really nice to be in a church full of people who love us so well.” That is the kind of memory we could only wish for our children to have of their church family.

Above all this, God has proven faithful. His word assures us that He is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). We have found this to be true. He has walked with our family through this dark valley and no matter the outcome, we know green pastures and still waters await us.

We ask that you continue to pray for God to have mercy on Eden. God to spare her life and that the side effects of all the medicine will be minimal. Her prognosis is still uncertain, but not to God. So we will look to Him and trust.

In Grace,

Garrett and Carrie Kell