Amber Giles

The feeding tube is gone!
The trach is gone!
Just a small bandage in its place.
Her voice is back and sounding great.
Oh, and she made cookies today!
Yes, cookies in the hospital.
The physical therapist asked her what she wanted to work on today.
This girl, as thoughtful as ever, said she wanted to try her hand at a batch of chocolate chip cookies... so she would have treats to offer her visitors!
Seriously, that woman... my goodness.
Well, my friends, Amber's back in business!

... and her cookies were delicious!

Amber is no longer our Sleeping Beauty...

I hope she doesn't mind me saying, but she is now more akin to Wonder Woman!

Seriously, what an amazing woman! She is up and walking, virtually all by herself. No kidding. Still a tiny bit shaky, but she is doing it on her own! She climbed up and down three flights of stairs today. She is just charging forward taking every opportunity to get stronger, so that she can get home. It's incredible. This is truly a miracle.

Her voice is getting much stronger, and tomorrow the full tracheostomy will be removed! Hallelujah! She is more than a little excited about that. She has become a professional annunciator, but she is gladly giving up this newfound talent so she doesn't have to rely on our woefully lacking lip-reading skills.

Life is good. God is good. Amber is healing. We have witnessed a miracle. There is no doubt about that. Thank you for your faith and for joining your prayers with ours and calling down the healing powers of heaven. The strength we felt as we all united in prayer and fasting will not be soon forgotten. We have been reminded that our Father in Heaven hears every one of our prayers. He loves us and wants to bless our lives. Let us not forget to give thanks. We are eternally grateful that He saw fit to grant us the blessing of Amber's full recovery. She's well on her way there, sprinting actually. Just itching to get home. Home to that beautiful family of hers. Isn't life sweet?

Amber with JP and the kids... outside!

Good evening all!

What an amazing week this has been! Amber continues to improve with remarkable speed. She walked 500 feet on Friday, with a walker. She just gets stronger every day. Simply, amazing! She is breathing mostly on her own except for at night, so the doctors are hoping to be able to take the trach out fairly soon. They continue to have her use the speaking valve (the greenish blue valve on her trach), allowing her to talk and exercise her voice.

The kids have been able to come and see her several times. They've played and watched movies together. Having family time has been really wonderful for all of them.

JP, Amber, and kids on Sunday afternoon

Amber would like everyone to know how grateful she is to you all. She is grateful to be alive and told her mom today that she believes she is alive today because of all of you, all those who prayed for her, and she knows there were many. She is alive because her Father in Heaven heard and answered our prayers. Amber has such amazing faith, but has relied on your faith and prayers and she is so grateful. We are too. Thank you!

Amber has been transferred from the ICU to Rehabilitation! This is such a huge step for her. The doctors felt she was doing so well with the recovery process, that she could skip the in-between step of acute long-term care, and go straight to rehab. What a blessing!

Watching Amber's progress is truly amazing and humbling at the same time. Though she tires very easily, her mind is quick and she’s definitely "all there." We are so grateful to Heavenly Father, that her mind has been protected through all of this. She is doing remarkably well both physically and emotionally, considering all she has been through over the last six weeks. Admittedly, this is incredibly hard for her, but it is clear that she is strong and will do what she needs to do to get through this. "I'm alive," she said gratefully, "and Heavenly Father is blessing me. I know I can do this." With that kind of resolve, coupled with the support of her family, the doctors, and all of you, she is taking giant steps forward every day!

In talking with Amber about all the people (you) who love her and are praying for her, she said, "Tell them that I love them. I can hardly wait to write on the blog, myself." Amber wants to be able to talk so badly. She mouths everything and is so patient with our weakness in lip-reading. Talking with the speaking valve in her trach is very difficult, although she works at it. The removal of the trach will come in time, as her body is able to master breathing 100% on its own. Her diaphragm and other muscles involved in breathing continue to get stronger and stronger and she is close enough that they have removed the ventilator machine (at least for periods of time) and allowed her to work at it all on her own.

Now that Amber is in the rehab stage, she is able to have visitors. She spends the daytime hours working (exercising), but is able to have visitors after 4pm. She would love to see you! So that we can ensure that she isn't overwhelmed at any given time, if you're interested in visiting with her, please call JP, Greg, or Julie to make arrangements. Also, please keep in mind that shorter visits (15-20 minutes) are best, so that we don’t exhaust our patient. Amber's workouts, combined with the continued effects of her medication, still tire her more quickly than normal, so we just want to ensure that we don't add to that.

Amber's recent (incredible!) progress includes lots of hand/arm movement, lifting both legs one at a time on her own, shifting her head back and forth (neck muscles kicking in!), taking several assisted steps in the physical therapy room, standing up and sitting down three times (with help) from her wheelchair, and much more smiling!

Truly, she is just amazing us (and her whole medical team) with her rapid progress! We're so proud of her and know that she can do it!

Once again, thank you for all your love and support. Please continue to remember her in your prayers. We love you all!

Over the last few days, the respiratory therapist has been working with Amber in the ICU, allowing her a few short periods of time when they adjust the tracheostomy so that she is able to talk. The small balloon-like part of the tracheostomy is deflated for a short time, causing air to pass up through her throat and voicebox into her mouth, allowing her to speak. Her voice is quite soft, since her vocal cords are still healing, but she has been able to speak a little to JP, her parents, and her children.

Today, she told us that she wanted to say a little to you:

"I have so much I want to say... Thank you very much for all your love, support, and fasting. I'm so grateful for your friendship and faith. Heavenly Father loves us and is creating miracles so that I can be here for my children and JP. Thank you so much for your love and your friendship. I love you all."

We are so proud of Amber and her efforts to get well. She's working very hard and we often hear the request, "exercise me." Her determination to recover is apparent and she gets a little stronger each day thanks to that determination. We know she has a strong spirit and that spirit is strengthened by your hope, optimism, faith, and prayers. She needs all the positive encouragement we have to offer. We love her so much, and know that you do too! Thank you for sharing your positive thoughts with her!

Amber continues to do a little better each day. She still has the trach, which means she can't speak yet, but she mouths a lot of things. We're getting better and better at reading lips, but praying that she remains patient with us!

On Friday, she was able to slowly lift her arm all by herself as a natural reflex to scratch an itch on her cheek. We were stunned! Natural reflexes and muscle strength are such a good sign. She also was able to lift her head off the bed slightly for a few seconds, at the nurse's request, and amazed us all with her strength and control. She continues to work with the physical therapist daily, which is certainly helping her to regain muscle control, little by little.

Although Amber cannot yet talk and still sleeps a good portion of the day, she is all "Amber" with her sweet smiles, her laughs, and her mouthed "I love yous." This is still a slow-going process and it's certainly a challenge, as you can imagine recovery is after being virtually immobile for five weeks now, but we are incredibly overjoyed with her progress and the miracle that is taking place. Our Father in Heaven has blessed her and our family beyond measure. The wonderful doctors and dedicated and loving nursing staff are so good to Amber. They love her and have been so excited to "meet" her this week. "Just wait until we bring her back, up walking and talking. You'll love her even more," we tell them.

Amber is such a strong woman, a woman of faith and dedication. We know that she is pushing herself each day to "exercise" so that she can recover and regain her strength quickly and return home to her family. Her strength and determination inspire us and bring us such joy.

I know it's been a couple of days since we posted, so I just wanted to give you a quick update tonight to let you know that Amber had a very good day today. She continues to progress a little each day and gain a little bit more strength. More hand squeezes, slight head nods or shakes (answering yes or no, since she still can't talk with the trach), toe-wiggling, and lots of mouthed I love yous. We love you too, Amber! We couldn't be more thrilled! We stand in amazement at the miracle that is occurring right before our eyes. It's truly exhilarating!

Amber is loving listening to us read your notes, the words of encouragement, the stories and memories, the I love yous you have shared. Thank you so much for lending your faith, support, and encouragement. Keep them coming, if you'd like. She loves hearing from you.

More tomorrow.

Hi everyone!

Amber is still making slow and steady progress each day. Sunday brought a little bit of toe wiggling and a few more squeezes of the hands. Monday morning she was wide awake, which meant that by Monday afternoon, she was completely zonked. She still spends much of the day resting, which is what her body needs. Her brain waves continue to look a little better each day.

Today, she is moving her hands and feet a little better, although still not able to lift them. She moves her head only to nod ever so slightly. She continues to breathe mostly on her own, but talking is out of the question, even though she tries every once in awhile, until the tracheotomy is capped.

Early this morning, the physical therapist sat Amber up on the side of her bed, where she remained (with a lot of help) for thirteen minutes! This is an excellent start to really getting her core muscles to begin working again.

We are so thrilled with each step she makes on this road to full recovery. She still has quite a daunting road to travel, but we know she's such a strong woman. She is a walking miracle.

Your prayers on behalf of and words of encouragement to our family have been so uplifting and inspiring. We have read every comment and gained strength from each one of you. We feel your love and are so grateful.

Now that Amber is more aware and awake, we invite you to leave your thoughts and words of encouragement for her (rather than for us), as she makes her way through this. We have been reading many of your previous comments to her and she has been so happy to hear your words. Remember those smiles I told you about? Well, she has had some for you. She would love to hear from you, whether it's a few words of encouragement to lift her spirits, maybe something new that's happened in your life, or a fun, funny, or uplifting memory you share with her. She'll love it!

Thank you all so much! We love you all!

Today was a good day.

No seizures! We are overjoyed! She remains on phenobarbarbital and one other seizure medication, which seem to be working really well today. The doctors have taken her off the antibiotic, since they feel they have taken care of the infection. They will still monitor her white blood cells and other inflammatory markers to ensure that nothing else flares up. One of the doctors mentioned yesterday that sometimes when a patient is on an antibiotic, an infection might be masked and show favorable results. So they are cautious, but really do feel they have gotten it under control.

Today marks one month to the day that Amber went into the hospital. She is much more alert today, and was even awake for nearly four hours this afternoon without going back to sleep. What incredible strength! The pento is working itself out of her system, allowing her to wake up. Although it is still a slow process, she seems to be making progress each day.

She is responding to voices and questions with her eyes and eyebrows. We have wondered if she has been able to see, but today her eyes are now tracking movement! When you speak to her, her eyes will slowly track toward you and it even seems like she is trying to move her head ever so slightly. Greg asked her if she wanted to see a picture of Corbin and Kayla. She responded "yes" with her eyes, but began to cry with a quivering lower lip before he even returned back to her bedside from retrieving the picture from her bulletin board. It seemed clear that she could see that picture and even more clear how much she loves her children.

When the physical therapist came in to work with her, which he has been twice a day every day for the last month, he held her hand and asked her to squeeze. No response. Then Greg encouraged Amber, telling her, “Amber, this is your exercise,” and told her how important it is for her to work hard with the physical therapist. Amber, the determined one, then mustered all her strength and squeezed his hand. I can only imagine how difficult this was for her and am once again amazed by the strength and determination Amber has. She is such a hard worker, always has been.

Throughout the afternoon after the PT's visit, when JP slipped his hand in hers, she squeezed back with both hands and repeated again with her dad. This is clearly a workout for her because she is only squeezing when prompted, but what an amazing achievement today!

Greg and JP introduced her to a few different nurses today, letting Amber know that each has been helping her and taking care of her. Sweet Amber responded, as if to say "thank you" with a smile! Her smiles have increased, but are still a huge effort on her part, as not all the muscles in her face have started working again. But when have you ever known Amber to shy away from something that is hard?

Amber likes to have her feet rubbed, which is no surprise to those who know her well. JP and Greg were taking turns giving her foot massages today and they began to joke back and forth about who gave a better massage. Amber smiled and looked as if she was laughing inside. How wonderful to add humor to the list of emotions she is expressing to us, as she's waking up. Such a wonderful sign.

She is still sleeping a good portion of the day, which is to be expected during this waking up process, especially since she is on the phenobarbital. The doctors are maintaining her temperature at a normal 37°C. She still gets chills and visibly shivers every once in awhile, but they have a warming blanket on her to help keep that under control.

We know that Amber is not yet out of the woods. We still have a long road ahead and a lot still has to happen on that road to recovery, but she seems to be responding and showing some good improvement. The doctors are very pleased with her progress, but are still monitoring her closely. They are still concerned with the possibility of her seizing again and are now focused on seeing gradual improvement in her motor functions, but they remain optimistic and feel that she is doing very well.

She IS doing well. Today was such a good day. For that we are so grateful. Every achievement she makes is a reason to give thanks to our Father in Heaven. He is mindful of Amber and mindful of all of us. We feel His blessings pouring down upon us and hope that you, too, can feel that as you have grown closer to Him in your thoughts and prayers over the last month. He has been with us every step of the way.

As Latter-day Saints, we use the first Sunday of each month as an opportunity to fast. As we have mentioned before, we believe that fasting combined with sincere prayer can strengthen us spiritually, bring us closer to God, and help us prepare ourselves and others to receive His blessings. Tomorrow, we will be fasting for Amber's full recovery, but with a special focus on our gratitude to our Father in Heaven, who has heard every one of our prayers. We invite you to join us. Amber is in His hands and what better hands than His to take care of her. We continue to pray in faith for her full recovery and are so grateful for the progress she is making, undoubtedly, with the constant help from God.

Please know we have been so touched and inspired by you, the many people who are following Amber's situation right now, and supporting her and our family in prayer and thought. We have felt loved and strengthened by those near and far: family, friends, neighbors, and those we have never met. Not one comment on this blog has gone unread. You are an inspiration and strength to us. Thank you so much.

Hello! I know you are all eager to hear about how Amber is doing. As I mentioned before, Amber has been having ups and downs each day, but overall making progress, little by little. Overall, she's doing quite well and we just wanted to share with you an update and some of the “ups” of the last couple of days.

We are so grateful for the miracle we've witnessed with the cessation of the continuous seizures. This is such a blessing. However, since Wednesday's update, she has had a couple of really intense, though non-convulsive, seizures that manifest themselves clearly on the EEG machine. Yesterday, they were unable to control one that came in the middle of the night with the medications she's been getting, so they began her on phenobarbital.

Phenobarbital is an anti-seizure medication from the same family as pentobarbital, which is the medication that induced the coma when she was having continuous seizures. Phenobarbital does not have as strong effects as the pento (thank goodness!), but it does have a sedative effect. It allows her brain to be calm without sinking her into a coma. Since the pheno makes her tired, it's definitely slowing the waking up process, but she is still doing very well, showing great signs of waking up.

Yesterday, they were able to remove the ventilator and give Amber a tracheostomy, which means the breathing tube is now hooked up at the tracheotomy site. The doctors said that they typically would have done this earlier, but they did not anticipate her being in the hospital this long. Amber is successfully breathing mostly on her own, but the tracheostomy machine kicks in when she needs a little help.

Last night, Amber showed us one of the greatest signs of “waking up” when she responded to the voices of JP and her parents with a quivering lip and tears streaming down her face. Amber is not yet able to focus her eyes on anyone or track movement with her eyes, but we do believe she is listening. Julie and Greg were able to calm her, but I'm sure she's pretty scared and confused, as she is starting to take in everything that is going on around her.

This morning, when Greg called in to the hospital early, the nurse who cared for Amber during the night said she blinked her eyes and nodded ever so slightly when spoken to. She had no seizures during the night.

Today, she showed similar signs of recognition and emotion when JP was talking to her and then also when her mom and sister were talking to her. One of the medical team told us that these signs of emotion were very positive signs, as emotion points directly to Amber's personality, which is a good sign that she is doing well waking up.

But best of all so far?


This afternoon, JP and I were talking to her telling her how much we loved her and were so happy to see her. She was wide-eyed, still not tracking yet, but listening. Then JP asked her to take a long blink if she could hear him. She very deliberately opened and closed her eyes slowly. Good job, Amber! Her eyebrows even arched up a bit.

Elated and encouraged, JP then asked, "Can you smile for me?" With every ounce of energy she had, she slowly pulled her cheeks and the corners of her lips up and mustered one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen! She can hear us! She is responding as well as her body will allow right now, and we are overjoyed with every effort she makes. About thirty seconds after the huge achievement of smiling, she was back to sleep.

Amber spends most of her time sleeping. The phenobarbital makes her drowsy, but this is okay because we all know (thanks to our moms) that sleep is often the best medicine. That's right, just rest Amber. Rest and heal.

Our hearts are filled with the wonder of life. Thank you everyone for your faith and prayers. Great miracles do still happen, as has been witnessed in Amber's critical situation. Amber still has a long recovery ahead of her. We are full of faith and trust in our Heavenly Father and know he is watching over Amber and blessing us at every turn. She will pull through this.

“I, for one, have never known a woman with more strength and courage than Amber once she decides to do something,” Julie said. It will take time, but we can be patient and put our trust in our Father in Heaven. “We have truly been blessed.”

We love you all and are so grateful that you have joined with us in supporting Amber! We love her, and we know that you do too. Thank you. We love you all!

Amber has had some ups and downs over the last few days since our last update on Sunday evening, but overall, she is doing pretty well.

She has been experiencing several little seizures, which have been successfully controlled with the anti-seizure medication. However, this morning, she had a fairly severe seizure and her brain could not be calmed down with that same medication, so they tried a couple others until it worked. The doctors are doing all they can to avoid, if possible, inducing a coma with the pentobarbital, so they are managing all of the seizure activity with other medications. It is promising that the seizure activity is no longer “continuous” as it was each other time they attempted to wake her up, but this additional medication does slow the “waking up” process. Obviously, the goal is no seizures, so this is what we're continuing to pray for.

The doctors believe that the severe seizure Amber experienced this morning may have been caused by a fever she has, and that the blood clot they found early this afternoon in Amber's right arm caused the fever. The fever is hanging on, so they have hooked her up to some cooling devices to keep her temperature at 35°C (95°F) to help calm her brain. They will probably keep this up for 24-48 hours, depending on how her brain responds.

Amber's recovery will be slow. Her days are a mixture of ups and downs, but we continue to keep our hopes up and have faith that she will make a full recovery. Amber is alive, and for this we are all very grateful. She had a better day yesterday. We hope that we continue to see progress each day, no matter how little.

Please keep praying, and when you do, please ask for Amber's brain to be healed. We believe that our continued prayers do make a difference. As Julie said, “Why this has to happen, I'll never know, but we stand united in prayer and faith to help Amber fight the greatest battle she has ever fought. Thank you one and all for your love and concern.”

Love you all.

We are still moving forward with Amber. She did have a few seizures last night but they feel like they can control these ones and they are still moving forward waking her up. She will open her eyes, though she is not very coherent yet. She can't talk or respond (like we thought she might be able to last night) and her eyes aren't yet focusing. But we believe she is listening. We are all grateful for anything we can get. She could be waking up throughout the week (or longer) just a little at a time.

We are still confident and have faith she will make a full recovery, but we have a ways to go. It's definitely a miracle that she is where she is right now. It's just going to continue to take time.

Thank you once again for the continued love and support you show our family and for your prayers for her full recovery!

"Let all those praying know that Sleeping Beauty has awakened. Our Heavenly Father has given us a miracle." ~Julie (mom)

This evening Amber is awake and somewhat responsive. This waking up business is a process which still will take a lot of time, but her eyes have opened and she can hear us. The doctors are watching her and are very pleased with her amazing progress today. We are too!

Please know how much your prayers, fasting, love, and positive thoughts mean to us. Thank you for joining with us in calling down the healing powers of heaven. We are most certainly witnessing a true miracle and it is absolutely incredible.

Things are still going very well today! She is showing all the signs of waking up (which can be a long process). She's coughing even now and then. Although she's still intubated at the moment, she is breathing all on her own. She even just opened her eyes all the way. She's just itching to wake up - you can tell! We are overjoyed!

She started running a bit of a fever today, but it looks like they seem to have that under control. Things are looking up. She's made a huge step in this process and we couldn't be more thrilled and optimistic!

Keep up the prayers. We are witnessing nothing short of a miracle here. She certainly is a special woman.

Amber has done very well warming up after the cryo therapy machine was turned off at around 1pm yesterday afternoon. The coma-inducing medication was turned off at about 1030am, so she was warming up/waking up without that medication.

This is the furthest she has come with no seizure activity. Her brain activity is looking better than it did last night, but still has a ways to go. She has had more eye flickering and coughing, which just means she is waking up.

It's still a long road before she wakes up but this is a huge step to go that long without seizing. The doctor is very pleased with her progress.

Keep those prayers coming to continue to normalize her brain activity and to sustain her as she is waking up. We are so grateful to you for joining your prayers with ours!

We just wanted to take a moment to express our gratitude and appreciation for all of the prayers and the fasting that have been offered on Amber's behalf. We believe our Father in Heaven hears every prayer, and He is very aware of her critical situation. We also appreciate so much the special comments made to and for Amber on this blog. We cannot read them without it bringing tears of gratitude to our eyes. It is indeed clear to us that Amber has made many great friends, and that these friends stand ready and willing to do all they can to help our dear daughter.

Please know that we believe Amber is receiving excellent care. At this point the doctors are again trying to bring Amber out of the induced coma. It is a critical time and we are hoping and praying that this time (if it is His will) the Lord will see fit to bring her back to us. Again we are confident that He hears every prayer, so please continue to add your prayers with ours.

In the hospital Amber is being called Sleeping Beauty. The doctors' ultimate goal is to wake her up without seizures. And so today the doctors have taken her off the machine that keeps her core body temperature so low, in hopes that as her body warms up naturally, and the coma inducement medication is removed, her brain waves will regulate and allow our Sleeping Beauty to awaken.

Thank you again for your love and concern. Faith does not become great until it is exercised. As Amber's parents, we pray that we will all continue to show our Father in Heaven how much we want Amber to remain with us, and that we let Him know that we have placed Amber's care in His loving hands, and trust in His divine wisdom.

Love...Greg and Julie Helm

We love Amber so much

I know all of you are eagerly awaiting news, so I just wanted to let you know that the doctors have extended the cold treatment, which she has responded to very well, beyond the 24-hour mark. Last night, they were keeping her brain very calm at a Level 2 on the pentobarbital, which is good. The doctors are meeting this morning to decide the next step.

Amber and JP's mission president offered these comforting words:

"We may at times wonder about the events that unfold in our lives and the lives of friends and loved ones and for some, questions come to mind. How blessed are we, that we do not question the Lord and that we know of an eternal plan and that nothing goes by unseen by Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. They are watching. We all are praying and the miracle of divine communication blesses our lives. Amber is in safe hands as we each exercise faith and have hope for her complete recovery."

Thank you for your continued prayers. We feel them and hope that you do too.

We would like to invite all of you to join with us in a family fast tomorrow (Thursday) for Amber. We believe that fasting combined with sincere prayer can strengthen us spiritually, bring us closer to God, and help us prepare ourselves and others to receive His blessings. Amber needs His blessings.

The most recent procedures they have been doing have not had the positive outcome we had hoped for. Amber began having seizures again this morning when they tried to wake her up. The doctors are trying a new procedure today where they put her body into a state of hypothermia for 24 hours. They are hoping that this will reset her brain and that the seizures will not return when they bring her temperature back up.

Thank you for your many prayers. Please continue to pray for her and join in our fast. We need a miracle. As Amber would say, "We just need to have faith."

Amber has been handling the new treatments very well. Her brain activity was a little higher than it has been, but this is to be expected during this new procedure. The doctors will likely not try to wake her up again for at least a few more days, so they are keeping her meds elevated for right now. But things seem to be going well so far.

Thank you for your continued prayers! She needs them. We are certainly not the only family who is dealing with such a trying situation. Looking around the hospital, it wouldn't take long to find many others who are deep in the trenches of difficult times. But the support we feel from you and from your prayers is unmatched, and for that we are extremely grateful.

You, our friends, family, and neighbors who are reading and following Amber's story literally number into the thousands! This is incredibly humbling. Your love and support buoy us up. To have such an incredible support group - a group of people who so dearly love Amber and want her to get better, just as we do, is amazing. We feel your love and your unrelenting prayers and cannot thank you enough.

We've had a bit of a breakthrough this morning!

Amber's had more tests, scans, and screens than just about anybody has ever had, many so obscure that the nurses hadn't even heard of some of them. And today, we've had a breakthrough!

The doctors now feel like they know what they are dealing with and will be changing up some of their procedures which will be taking place over the next few days. So they will be keeping Amber at a steady Level 1.5 while they change course a bit.

The doctors are VERY positive now that we know what we're dealing with! Your diligent prayers are working in Amber's favor. Thank you!

The doctors are attempting to wake Amber up again this weekend, and this morning her eyelids fluttered and she has coughed! This means she is waking up. Keep praying that this will continue to go smoothly!

Yesterday, they had her down to a Level 2 of the pentobarbital (the coma-inducing medication), which has been allowing a lot more brain activity. They are trying to keep her calm and trying to gradually pull her out again. The doctors allowed JP to put some headphones in her ears with classical music playing quietly to assist in keeping her calm.

This morning the nurse said her brain is even more active than yesterday, but they didn't say that they were seizures necessarily. Hopefully, they'll be able to take her down to a Level 1 this morning and .5 by tonight. Then completely off tomorrow.

Sorry for the delay in updates. As we've mentioned before, this is a process, and sometimes there isn't a lot of new news.

Amber has been successful at keeping the temperature away. The coma-inducing medication can be pretty harsh, and sometimes it seems that you're treating the symptoms of the treatment and not the symptoms of the true cause. But yesterday and today were looking better.

Again, all of the scans she keeps having of different areas of her body and different organs, continue to come back favorable. She looks good. This is positive, but they feel that waking her up from this coma will allow them to focus on any problems, if any, that they aren't able to see while she's sleeping.

To aid in bringing her out without seizures, they are going to use an anti-convulsion medication. Hopefully, that works well. They just want to wake her up and take her body off the pentobarbital because of the sometimes uncomfortable side effects. They feel if they can control the seizures and get her to wake up, that this would be best for her right now. The neurologist/EEG specialist will be watching her closely. If things get too intense, I'm sure they will put her back under and start the process again. Let's pray that we don't have to do that this time.

Please keep your prayers coming. Thank you so much! We'll keep you updated.

Good news - no fever last night with no fever-reducing medication. This is great!

Another positive development is that beginning last night, the nurses were able to lower the blood pressure medication, which is keeping her blood pressure elevated to a healthy level. This means that her body is doing a little more work on its own. This is definitely a good sign.

Today, she was receiving the coma-inducing meds at a steady Level 4. To give you some idea what that means, it will help to know that she was at a Level 4 on Sunday afternoon (after the first attempt at waking her up) and then they gradually decreased the medication again to a Level 2 by Monday night. Yesterday, when they tried to continue lowering the meds below a Level 2 and she began seizing, they raised her back up to a Level 5 to calm her brain. So today, they brought her back down to a Level 4.

Once again, we have to remind ourselves that the doctors said this would be a process. They'll calm her brain again to a point when they feel like they can try weaning her off the meds again, and try again to wake her up without any seizure activity. The doctors remain hopeful and positive.

Everything else looks good today.

We can't thank you enough for your continued prayers, thoughts, love and for sharing that with us through the comments on this blog. It has been so uplifting to read your thoughts and know of your love for Amber. We thank you. Now let's just pray a little harder that Amber will wake up for us soon.

Things have been a little slow the past two days. The doctors have had her on a Level 2 of the medication that keeps her under, down from a Level 4 on Sunday afternoon. Today, they decreased it even more and she began having seizures. Back up again, to protect her brain and let it rest. They'll try again another day.

She is still running a fever of about 101. They have given her medication to bring down the fever, along with icing her. She also has a fan up in her room pointed at her. They are successful in cooling her down for a little while, but then the fever spikes again and the process starts over.

A fever is your body's defense mechanism and is typically indicative of an infection. The doctors will be running more tests to try to figure out where the infection is that they haven't been able to reach yet. It seemed that the antibiotics were improving the infection (the abscesses) in her abdomen, but clearly there is something else going on as well.

From Sheri: "Sorry there isn't great news, but the doctors are still very positive. When we find the infection, we have every hope she will come out of it 110 percent again."

Yesterday, Amber spiked a fever of 101.6°F. By last night it was down to 99.4°F. They were glad it came down a bit, but she continues to stump them today because it's still hanging on. Originally they thought it might be an allergic reaction to one of the medications, but now they are not really certain. So all the doctors are still consulting to see if they can find the cause of the fever.

The doctors continue to check and recheck just about everything, and it all remains pretty stable. So this is good.

We'll update you, as we learn more or if there are any changes. We continue to be very hopeful.

We are overwhelmed and humbled by the outpouring of love and concern for Amber. She is such a special person and has clearly affected so many of you in a positive way. We love her and are so grateful for your love for her. Thank you!

Amber is back under the coma-inducing medication for at least the next 24-48 hours. The doctors believe the cause of the seizing is the infection, but sometimes it's hard to really pinpoint what the true source of a seizure is. It could just be a coincidence. It's just not always apparent. What the doctors do know is that the antibiotics are working. The infection is improving and the inflammation numbers are down. All of her other tests are coming back with favorable results. The doctors feel like we are on the right road.

At this point, we don't know how long things are going to take to reset. This can sometimes be a long process. The good thing is she is stable. Nothing seems to be getting worse and no additional symptoms have shown up. They are watching her for any changes and we feel they are on top of things. They are protecting her brain with the coma and that is what is important. We are just going to wait for her to heal more. They have had success with this process, but sometimes it just takes a little longer.

Over the next 24-48 hours they will continually monitor her brain waves, watching for improvement and when they feel like there has been enough improvement, they will try again to bring her out. If she starts to seize again as she comes off the meds, then we will just repeat this same process all over again.

Everyone is discouraged that she didn't wake up today, but it's not the end of the world. This is just a process and we have to be patient. We feel positive that she will pull through. She is strong. We just have to get her body ready to accept her mind. So we are just going to wait for her body to heal. We continue to be extremely hopeful and thankful for your love and prayers.

As much as I would like to have better news, it kills me to tell you that she started seizing again and they had to put her back under for 24-48 hours. I'll keep you updated.

The doctors took Amber off the coma-inducing meds today! They anticipate the medication will be out of her system within 15+ hours. She is expected to start waking up sometime in the middle of the night tonight! Yes, I said waking up! Obviously, the doctors' main concern right now, is that she does not begin having any seizure activity, so they are monitoring everything very closely as they wake her up.

As of about 7:30 this evening, things were looking really good. As the medication began wearing off, the monitors showed a lot of normal brain activity. There were some erratic brain waves, but they were minimal and not conducive with seizure activity, according to the neurologist. Also, the infection is showing vast improvement from the antibiotics, which is very encouraging.

So far so good!

I can hardly wait to get an update tomorrow morning. I bet you can't wait either. I'll be sure to update you, as soon as I can!

I know many of you are checking back for an update. Just lots of doctors and lots of checking. We'll let you know when there is new news to share.

Thank you again for your continued prayers. JP and the family are reading your comments and I know they feel your love and prayers. They are uplifted by your words and by the Spirit, as your prayers are at work. Keep them coming!

Heavenly Father is a God of Miracles. He hears each and every one of our prayers. Many of you continue to ask if there is anything else "besides praying" that you can do to help. Our answer to this is simply, your prayers are truly what is needed. It may seem a small and simple gesture, but we know that by small and simple things, great things are brought to pass.

Great things have already come to pass. People who do not regularly pray, are praying. People who do not believe, are finding hope. People are reevaluating their faith and priorities. And THAT, my friends, is a miracle.

"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7: 7-11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." (Bible Dictionary-Prayer)

Amber is doing what she does best. She is literally uniting people across the world. She is teaching us about faith and prayer, and the power in collectively calling down the healing powers of heaven. Our love, thoughts, and prayers seem to multiply exponentially when we join together.

As a dear friend in Lithuania wrote, "Amber is a fighter! Even when she is sleeping she is helping people to learn something. I know that God lives! Amber helped me to get to know that. She is a tool that God uses to bless people. I pray for her fervently! The seed which with her help was seeded in my heart, in so many Lithuanian and all others ARE GROWING!"

Amber is giving us an opportunity to practice our faith and allow it to grow. Let us take this opportunity to band together for her sake and we will see miracles happen.

The results of the MRI/CT Scan today show that the infection in Amber's abdomen has spread to her liver. She now has a large abscess in her liver and also possibly behind her uterus. They have broadened her antibiotics to cover the infection in these areas and are calling in a surgeon to drain and remove the abscess, to get to the heart of the infection faster. They will leave her under longer to protect her body and allow it focus on healing. They also do not want to wake her up until they have this infection under control because they are worried about her having more seizures during this process. While this news sounds rather alarming, we're hopeful that they have found the problem they were looking for and are able to really treat the root cause.

Directly from her family: "We need your prayers everyone, so keep praying. Please ask everyone to pray for her. We need to keep our faith strong and believe that God can and will work miracles. Please pass this information along to her family and friends."

Thank you SO much for your prayers, concern, and love.

Today was scheduled to be the day the doctors would begin waking Amber up, but their plan has changed slightly.

Since the doctors were still unsure about the cause of the severe seizure activity Amber was having, the doctors brought in a couple of specialists last night and this morning to examine Amber and her case. They ran some additional tests and believe they found an infection in Amber's abdomen. They have started her on three heavy duty antibiotics. Since they think the infection may have been causing the seizures, they have decided to wait one more day to wake her up, which will allow the antibiotics another full 24 hours to begin working. Amber is scheduled for an MRI of her abdomen today, so hopefully that will provide some more concrete information for the doctors to go on.

With this new development, the doctors now plan to begin weaning her off the coma-inducing medication tomorrow, Friday. With the half-life of the meds being at least 15 hours, we expect to start seeing a more visible change by tomorrow evening, but it could be well into Sunday before the meds are completely out of her system.

The doctors continue to be hopeful, which of course is promising news to us, because she is normally a very healthy person with no history of seizures or other major health problems. They have also said, that despite the many tubes and machines she is hooked up to and how uncomfortable she may seem, she is actually very comfortable. This was happy news.

Amber is a fighter. I'm certain she is just (im)patiently waiting for the doctors to give her body the cue that it's time to begin waking up.

Thank you SO much for all your love and concern. So many of you have asked what more you can do to help besides pray. Honestly, all of your positive thoughts, prayers, and love are so important right now. I know Amber is able to feel your prayers and love, and we can too. So thank you.

As you can imagine, JP and the family have been bombarded with phone calls from people who truly care about Amber and her family. This blog has been set up to alleviate the phone and text updates and allow JP and the family to update everyone at one time, saving time that is more wisely spent at Amber's side. Visits are being kept to family only at this time, but if anyone has any letters or messages for Amber or the family, please feel free to use the comment section of this blog and we'll be happy to deliver them. They will be very much appreciated!

Additional updates and posts about Amber can be found here.

For those closest to Amber,

We are all heartbroken by Amber's current situation, and this is a way we can all share in what has happened and what will be coming for the our family.

On Saturday August 7, 2010, Amber hadn't been feeling well. She had a headache she just couldn't get rid of. She hadn't been sleeping well because Kayla her daughter had fallen off their bed and broken her arm a few weeks earlier. The break had been so severe that Amber had to lay by her and keep her on her back all night. JP was worried about Amber and told her he would keep the kids for the night and she could sleep in the guest bedroom. A little while later JP went to check on Amber and she was sprawled half on and half off the bed and he couldn't wake her up. He then dialed 911 and the paramedics took Amber by ambulance to the hospital. En route she stopped breathing and they successfully revived her. She also had a visible seizure en route to the hopital and one shortly after arriving where again she stopped breathing. This time they put a breathing tube in and began running tests to see what was wrong. She was responding to pain, but that was all. She never woke up or responded to anything else.

After a myriad of tests Amber was transferred on Sunday to another hospital, where she could be seen by a neurologist. There they did a few more tests to rule out any soft tissue damage or trauma that could have been missed. All of the tests came back normal. She was healthy in every other way. The doctor then ordered and EEG that measures the activity in the brain. After the hour and 1/2 test the told us that she was having massive seizures one right after another. They gave her a drug called propthol to try to stop the seizures. The doctor said they needed to bring her brain activity to it's lowest point and try to reset her brain. The hope was for her the seizures to stop after the reset.

After waiting the 12 hours they hooked her back up to the EEG and found she was still having seizures. They then began a different drug to slow the brain activity on Monday evening. She has responded as they were hoping on this drug. Her brain activity has been kept to a minimum and they will try to slowly bring her back tomorrow morning. The doctors are very hopeful with how extremely healthy she is and because she has no other history of seizures that she will return 100%. As a family we are continually praying for this.

We so appreciate all the love and prayers for Amber. She is truly the most easy to love person I have ever been around. She has friends praying for her all over the world. Hopefully this blog will give us all a way to share in the love and hope for a quick turn a round and recovery for a dear loved one and friend.
~Sheri