On Friday October 21, 10-month-old River Barringer had been very sick for a couple days. She would not eat and was lethargic and in obvious pain. She was taken to the ER, where they had no indication of what was wrong with her so they sent her home. Over the weekend she continued to get worse and had not eaten anything for several days. She threw up some stuff that looked like cotton. Turns out it was fake cobweb Halloween decorations she had eaten at Day Care a few days previously.
By Monday morning the 24th, she was lethargic and would not respond to any stimulus. She was taken back to the ER, and subsequently rushed to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. There her stomach was pumped and fecal matter was found in her stomach. She went into surgery where the surgeons found that the intestines had been pulling inside each other and some of her intestines had been digested and had to be removed. They removed all of her large intestine and about 20% of her small intestine, leaving about two inches of colon.
The doctors were concerned she would not make it. But she has.
One week later, she is responding and eating baby food and breast milk. She has had issues with infections, fever and blood clots but she is alive and improving by small increments. No one knows at this point how much nutrition she will be able to take in with so little of her digestive tract remaining.
She has lost a lot of weight and is still battling the blood clots and infections. This has been a tremendous burden on the family, the other three children, Skyler (10), Hunter (6) and Cheyanne (3), both emotionally and financially. Parents are Ben and Melissa Barringer. Ben is a software developer and Melissa is at home because she has her own battle with Multiple Sclerosis.
Please pray for healing for River, peace for the family, and wisdom for the doctors who are treating River.
