Monceaux.org

We were on our way to Atlanta yesterday morning, but my cousin, Amber-9 yrs old, was injured in a car wreck. We are currently at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport with her. Her dad was taking her and her sister (Alizabeth) to school. Amber was in the front seat and hit the windshield/dashboard. She has severe head injuries, so we ask that you please pray for her. She is in critical, but stable condition. She has a fractured skull, the right side of her brain is bruised, and severe facial breakage. The eye doctor is hoping that her sight wasn't affected. He seems to think right now that it will be ok. As of last night, her brain wasn't swelling, but they still placed a drainage tube in to help just in case. She had developed a fever. They also started giving her blood late last night. They have her pretty much knocked out, but she did squeeze her mother's hand while we were in there yesterday afternoon. She has movement in both arms and legs. She has no injures to the chest area. She made it through the last 24 hours fairly well, but the next 24 hours are very critical for her. Her dad and Alizabeth were not injured. We are getting ready to go back to the hospital. I will update whenever I can.

Update – October 1 at 2:30am: Things with Amber are still the same. The pressure in her head went up to 22 tonight. They don't want it over 20, but she had several visitors and they had done a few things to her. She squeezed her Nanny's hand tonight. Her right knee is swollen, but they x-rayed it and there is no bone damage. They said it could be muscle or ligament. The CT scan this morning showed a spot on the brain stem. They were going to check it again this afternoon, but we didn't hear anything. The nurse said tonight that when you don't hear anything that is good news. She said that 2-3 days are usually the bad days. Her brain is swollen, and the nurse said that is normal. She said tomorrow could be a bad day for her, since it will be the 3rd day. Her face was a little more swollen today. She did react when they were cleaning out her nose, but the nurse said they were not hurting her. Karri was upset because she was afraid that she could feel it and wasn't able to tell them. She doesn't want her to know she is in pain and not be able to tell them. The nurse assured her that she was reacting to it, but that she will not remember it and that they were not hurting her. If you would like to send a card to her, send it to Amber Dooley, LSU Medical Center, PICU, 1501 Kings Highway, Shreveport, LA 71103. And, please continue to pray for her she has a long way to go.

UPDATE – 10/02/06 at 12:11am:
Grammy, Emma Grace, Alizabeth, and I are back at the hotel. Wes stayed at the hospital. I am talking to him on aim. He is in ICU with Amber. Her pressure has gone down to zero, which is GREAT. They said if that keeps going they may take the tube out tomorrow. Today, they found out she has a fracture collarbone and bruised lungs. They were concerned about pneumonia, but the dr said her lungs were clear. They are turning her side to side. They told them tonight that may start bringing her out of the drug-induced coma by Friday. Wes set up a website for them to post and to let all of her friends post. It is through our website. You can access it by going to www.monceaux.org/Amber. Jeffrey, her dad, is making post, so please stop by and leave Amber a message. Well, I am going to get ready for bed. We will be heading home tomorrow. Please remember to keep Amber in your prayers.