Updates From

Baby Delaney's

Mom and Dad

May 4, 2001

The Lord is wonderful!  Today was a great day.  When
we went in for our 7-8:00 visit with Delaney the
doctor came out while we were scrubbing and told us
that there has been a change and he wanted to warn us
before we went into the room.  My heart dropped!  Then
he smiled and said she's doing so well right now at
staying stable that he took her off the ventilator
that she was on and put her on one that we start
surgery on her burns.  This was the step we've been
waiting for.  They put her on it at 10:30 this morning
and so far she's doing great!  Your prayers and GODS
grace have gotten her this far so please continue to
keep Delaney in your prayers.  Some people have asked
what her blood type is and how you go about donating
blood for her.  Her blood type is A+, you can do a
direct donation if you are A+ or you can do a
replacement donation in her name.  Just tell them who
it is for and that she is at Parkland Hospital,
Dallas, Texas.  This should be all the information
they need.  Around the Houston area you can donate at
the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center or the Dallas
area at Carter Blood Centers.  Scott & White will not
take replacements or directed units the blood you
donate there stays there for their hospital.  You can
call 1-888-GVBLOOD to get a location near you.  Thank
you all again. We are very BLESSED to have family and
friends like all of you. I have faith I will be
writing more good news tomorrow!!!!!!

May 6, 2001

Well today is Sunday and I am very sorry I didn't
update last night.  We've had a busy weekend.  Delaney
is still progressing very well.  She is now at 55%
oxygen and holding her own.  The burns on her face has
healed and the scabs have fallen off, they look great.
 Of coarse where the burns were it is dark pink, but
I'm sure it will fade with time.  The nurse told me
there are some areas that are healing up that they
thought would need skin graphs and probably won't now.
 They are small areas but we'll take what we can get.
They said surgery next week some time towards the end
maybe Friday.  One of the nurses said she's doing so
well that she can't see them waiting that long.  She's
really going to need the prayers when surgery starts.
They said she will take a dive after a surgery and to
expect it. If she is burned 35% of her body and they
have to take skin from 15% of her body then that's 50%
that has to heal.  Which of coarse is harder on that
little body.  She has come so far and has had so many
people praying for her that I am very confident that
she will breeze right through it all.  She's a strong,
tough and courageous little girl, her daddy and I are
very proud.  Her sister and brother came down this
weekend and it was so wonderful to see them.  We miss
them so very much.  Caitlyn was able to talk to the
counselor at the hospital and she took Caitlyn in to
see Delaney.  She did very well.  There were rumors
around where we live that Delaney had to have both
arms amputated and Caitlyn heard about it, so she had
to see for herself that it wasn't true.  Caitlyn is a
real trooper.  Clayton, our 3 yr. old doesn't really
say or ask much.  He says he can't wait for HIS
Delaney to come home.  With all the prayer and our
trust in the LORD, it will happen real soon. 

Thanks and GOD BLESS,
Deana and Deven

May 7, 2001

Today was a good day. She was doing so well that they
lowered her oxygen to 50% and decided to take her off
the paralyzing medication. We are not to sure about
this due to the fact she will be waking up and wanting
Mommy. We wont be able to hold her yet. This is
going to kill Mom. We saw her at the last visit and
she was moving her mouth and tongue, and made a few
sounds. We are wondering if she will be awake in the
morning. They plan on surgery Friday if all stays
well. This is going to be a trying time for her. We
will let everyone know if they change the date. Keep
the prayers coming and we will update you tomorrow. 

Thanks, Deven

May 8, 2001

O.K. I think things are starting to go a little faster
than what we expected. Don't get me wrong we are
happy, we just were not expecting all that happened
today. Today Delaney was taken off another
medication(medication that kept her relaxed), her
oxygen level was lowered to 40% and she tried opening
her eyes. While the doc. was fixing her trac. she let
out a cry. Tomorrow she should be more alert. Thank
you everyone for all your prayers, support, and love.
Someone asked if Delaney can listen to tapes, she does
have a tape player in her room. GOD continues to
answer all our prayers and to him we give thanks for
Delaney's healing.  

Love, Deven and Deana

May 10, 2001

We wanted to let everyone know that Delaney's surgery
is at 0730 Friday morning. They plan on grafting her
left arm and exploring her fingers to see what can be
saved. She opened her eyes a little and cried when a
friend of ours talked to her. She still doesn't move
around much which makes it easier on the nurses.
There is really not much more to pass on so we will
let ya'll know tomorrow. 

Love, Deven & Deana

May 11, 2001

Well the first surgery is over and Delaney did very well. The
surgery took little over an hour but they only grafted her left
arm, left hand (top and palm), top of her left foot and they
did have to remove part of her pinky (down to the knuckle) and
part of her ring finger (just the tip) she still has her nail.
He said we'll watch that ring finger to make sure no more needs
to come off. He was real good about leaving even the littlest bit
if he thought there would be a chance for it to heal. She used
150cc of blood during the surgery and they were going to check her
blood count a little later to see if she needs anymore.
If she heals well and stays stable then we'll probably have the
second surgery next week. Then he will be grafting the chest and
some small places on her right leg and arm. We were pleased to
hear that he's almost certain that her breast buds were not burnt
and she would not have any problems with developement. We'll
cross that bridge when we get there. I can't thank everyone
enough for all the prayers and support Deven and I have received.
I truly believe that without the prayers things wouldn't have
gone this well for our baby. One nurse told me that in all the
years he's been there he has never seen a child that small with
burns as severe as Delaneys recover as quickly as she has. When
he told me that I knew the only reason why is because of
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. We'll be going in and making short visits
throughout the day so if there are any changes I will inform
everyone tonight. 

Thanks Again, Deana & Deven

May 14, 2001

We just don't know what to do with these good days but we will take them!
Today they had her off the resperatior and on a trac brace
( mask that fits over the trac hole, doesn't breathe for her just provides her with oxygen )
they have got her on 20 -30 minute trials. They also
took her off the morphine drip and give it to her as needed. She seems
to be doing very well with this. Her second surgery is scheduled for
Friday if all stays well. They unwrapped the grafted areas today, there
still mesh gauze on the grafts but the nurse said it looked good. They
will know tomorrow when they take the mesh off if the grafts stuck. She
will look around the room at us, moves her body a little, and she even
watched a little t.v. today. We are very proud of her progress but
they are still letting us know she can go down hill at any time. But
she is stronger than that! Everyone is very optimistic. Well it is
time to go and see her we will give her kisses from everyone.
Thanks for the prayers. 

Love Deven & Deana

May 15, 2001

Today we've had a little set back. When they unwrapped the grafted areas
the foot, arm and the palm of her hand looked great, but the top of her
hand the the fingers did not take. The nurse said the skin graft did not
stick and it just moves all around. They will go in and regraft it on
friday when they do the chest and a little on the right arm the doctor
said. Also the area that they took the skin from (donor site) instead of
drying like it should her body is treating it like a second degree burn so
they are having to wrap and apply medication on both of her thighs where
they took the skin from. It's kind of a set back, which we were expecting,
but that didn't mean we wanted it to happen! We are still thinking positive
and pray the surgery on friday goes well. As far as her health they say
everything is going great. We want to thank everyone who has donated blood
and apologize if any of you got the run around at the hospitals or blood
centers. You would think they would make it easier to donate blood for
someone. We would like to send thank you cards to everyone could you
please e-mail me your mailing addresses.
GOD BLESS
Deven & Deana

May 17, 2001

Well there's a lot to tell everyone. Yesterday they took her off the
respirator and put her on the trac collar to see how long she could breathe
without assistance. She is still of the trac collar. They can't believe how
good she is doing. She is more alert and the nurses have fun with her at night.
They said she didn't fall asleep till 12:00 am. I got to hold her for the first time
today. It was an awsome feeling. She doesn't have much expression, but she
sure was rooting around wanting to nurse so in went the pacifer! Surgery is
tomorrow at around 0730. This surgery should be alot easier for her since she is
stronger and there is less grafting. They are still worried about her breast
buds being damaged and part of her ring finger needing to be removed. There have
been a few nurses say if we forget to come get her they are taking her home with them.
(those are fighting words!)
Also some things we have been told, now that she is doing a whole lot better,
is there wasn't much hope for her to have made it this far. Goes to show what
the POWER OF PRAYERS and the GOOD LORD can do.
We will let everyone know how surgery goes.
Thank you all so much,
Deven & Deana

May 19, 2001

It's Saturday and I'm sure a lot of you are wondering about the surgery
so here it goes...........They ended up having to graft a little more than
we expected. Her right foot (top), a strip around the top of her right arm,
chest, re-grafted the couple of areas on her left arm and finger, and they
did have to amputate her ring finger on her left hand to the first little
knuckle. So she has no fingernails on her pinky and ring finger. Trying to
ease the tension a little I said "I guess when she has her nails done they'll
have to give her a discount!" When we told Caitlyn and Clayton about it
Clayton just said "OH!" and Caitlyn said "I don't care abount her fingers being
gone as long as I still have a sister." I was pretty impressed. They miss
her so much. They put her back on the vintilator durning surgery and we had
planned on her being on it for atleast the whole day and some of the next,
but by the 5:00 visitation she was back on the trac collar and doing great.
Today when I went in for the 3:00 visit they had the trac out and she is totally
breathing on her own!!!! She cried and I could hear her. I feels like It's
been ages since I heard her cry. I just rubbed her head and told her to cry it's ok.
The only time she cries is when someone messes with her. Other times she just
stares at us and follows us with her eyes around the room. I keep trying to make
her smile so I can see those four teeth but she just won't do it yet. The nurses
told us she probably wouldn't smile for a while. " When she's all better she'll
let you know", they say. My mother-in-law was talking to the respitory doctor
and she was telling him how she was our little miracle baby and he said she's
a miracle baby three times over. He loves Delaney. He says she talks to him
all the time so he lets us know what she says. He has been so wonderful to
us and Delaney. They might take h er around in the wagon on Sunday. We'll see.
She looks like the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man. They have her all wrapped up.
It will all come off Monday or Tuesday so they'll be able to see how well the
grafts look. Well I have to go to visit her. I'll talk to everyone tomorrow.
Deana

May 22, 2001

I,m sorry I haven't updated in a couple of days but it's been something else
around here. Saturday Deven had to go back to work. It was killing him but we
have to pay the bills so he left and told me to call him after every visit. Nothing
really changed on Saturday. Sunday however there were many. They had Delaney
off the ventilator and on the mask, she was on the mask about two or three days and
when I went in to visit her Sunday they had taken the trac out and she was breathing
on her own. I was shocked because I didn't think they were going to do that
until they checked out the grafts to make sure they took. They seemed pretty
confident about everything so I just went with the flow. Then they told me they were
going to try her with a bottle and if she did well then I could try to nurse her.
I couldn't believe it. She took the bottle just fine and she didn't forget how to
nurse! Yesterday was more amazing! It's a good thing everyone is setting down
because when I got there for the 8:00 visit they had her all dolled up with a
bow in her hair looking all clean and the big bulky bandages off (she looked like a
little angel) her bright blue eyes were shining. The doctor came in and said
you know she's going to be moved down the hall tomorrow. I asked if he was joking
and he said no I'm not joking. I think my jaw fell to the ground because once
they get moved down the hall they get to go home after 2-3 days!!!! So were looking
at probably Saturday! Deven's mom started to cry from joy but I stood there in
total amazment. I haven't been able to cry, laugh, smile or anything . All I
can think is less than a month ago I didn't think I would have a baby anymore,
Deven and I were giving her to the LORD because we knew she was so bad and in
so much pain and in less than a month she's going home. It's just too much to
grasp all at one time. I know that little girl has seen JESUS and played with
the angels while her body healed there's no doubt about that. She is our little
miracle baby and GOD has something special planned for her.
Today, Tuesday, at the 8:00 a.m. visit they had the feeding tube out of
her nose and she's eating baby food (they even ordered some ice cream for
her today) and they took the cathadere out. All she has left to take out is
the I.V. and that will probably be today. She is taking all meds by mouth.
They are not going to move her out of ICU today like planned because there isn't
a room avalible but the nurse don't mind a bit. They want her to stay there.
All of this would not have happened without the wonderful prayers from everyone.
We just can't thank everyone enough. They unwrapped her left hand and arm today
and it was real hard to look at it. It looks pretty bad. To the nurses and doctors
it looks good but to me it was bad. I know it's all going to heal and she'll do
great in life but she's my baby and right now it's hard. All of the grafts took
very well so there will be no more surgeries any time soon. Plus today she got to
go on that wagon ride we've been waiting on! Deven came back last night and he was
here to take her on that ride. It meant more to him than anyone can imagine.
Thank You All for all the love and support. I will be staying here when she
gets out of the hospital for at least three weeks for intense therapy. She'll
have to go five days a week. Then it will start to tapper off there.
Thanks again.
Deana

June 2, 2001

O.K. I'm going to try this again. I have written
three e-mails and none have gone through to anyone.
For those of you that don't know already, Delaney is
out of the hospital. She is doing so well. She was
released a week ago this past friday. It was a real
shocker. They took her out of ICU on a wednesday and
put her in the acute care unit and by friday she was
released. This past Thursday we took her to the burn
clinic and the doctors just couldn't believe how she
looked. All we can say is it's the work of the LORD
no doubt!!!!! She is smiling, laughing, playing and
being as cute as can be. I know we have told everyone
thank you but we can't say it enough. If it wasn't
for all the thoughts, love and prayers I know she
wouldn't have done so well so fast. Caitlyn and
clayton are doing so well with her. At first Caitlyn
wanted to hide Delaney's hand and I told her we can't
do that, we have to let Delaney know it's o.k. and
nothing to be ashamed of. After a while of thinking
about it Caitlyn said "Your right, she's alive and
that's all that matters." I was so proud. Clayton
said her hand looked nasty and he wasn't going to
touch it. I told him it's o.k. he didn't have to. A
couple of days later he kissed it and told her he
loved her. Now none of it's a big deal to either.
When we do therapy on it of coarse Delaney screams so
they both come into the room and sing, dance and make
silly sounds to her to get her mind off what we're
doing. They are a big help. We are battling the
insurance company about thr right kind of therapy she
needs. They don't have a pediatric burn therapist in
the insurance group and want to send her to a plastic
surgeon. Monday and Tuesday we are going to Scott and
White to talk to them more about the insurance and
then we will be going back to Tyler for more therapy
there. I really like the therapist there. Plus we are
able to stay with Deven's parents. His mom is out of
school for the summer and she is loving having the
grandkids there. Poor Delaney has a long road ahead
of her. There is going a lot more surgeries and a lot
of therapy, but we'll get through it all just fine.
I'll tell you what, this has really made Deven and I
rethink how we want to live our lives with our
childern. Deven's going to cut down on work hours, if
there's a fair in town we're taking the kids, we're
going on vacations, there's so much we want to change.
It's going to be interesting. I'll let everyone know
how this next week goes.
Love, Deana

June 26, 2001

Just wanted to let everyone know how well Delaney is
doing. She is going to therapy everyday. Her burns are
healing very well. This past Friday Deven and I took
her to Dallas for a check-up and they were amazed at
how well she looked. They said she will have minimal
scaring. Everyday she wears her pressure garments.
These are to help smooth out the skin grafting and
help her heal even better. She wont crawl yet but we
are working on that everyday. She most likely will
have to have surgery on her left hand because the skin
is too tight and her fingers are curving downward. It
looks like her middle finger and ring finger are
trying to web together so that will also have to be
fixed. But we are hanging in there and could never had
made it this far without all of everyones support.
Thank you all so very much for continuing to keep us
in your prayers. God is soo wonderful and we will
never forget that and Delaney will grow up to know
that always. Thank you all very much.
Love,
Deana and Deven

July 10, 2001

Deven and Deana do not have access right now to a computer as they are
living with a family that does not have one. They are waiting on their
house being built and Deana continues to take Delaney every day back and
forth from Lampasas to Temple. We need prayers for Deana, Deven, Clayton
and Caitlyn now, as they are suffering from the aftershocks of this horrible
accident. Delaney continues to heal and progress well, but she absolutely
abhors her physical therapy and occupational therapy. We are told she
will not remember any of this, but when ones baby screams and cries when
her affected areas are touched and looks at her Momma like
"How could you do this to me?"
It has an affect on us all. They still have many long days ahead
with her therapy, but we know God will continue to meet the needs of
this precious family. Thank you for all you have done!
Baby Delaneys Grandmother, Karen Parrish

July 19, 2001

I just finished talking to Deana, Delaney's Mom and she said the
surgeon said he wants to do more skin grafting on her hand as it is causing
her thumb to pull in. They can't do that though until the hand is completely
healed. The most recent blessing is that she is no longer screaming and
crying when they do the therapy, she just kind of makes loud noises to tell
them to "stop messing with me". Ha! We still need prayer for two areas:
She has lost weight as she only wants bottles, no solid food and she isn't
sleeping through the night since the accident. We are taking Clayton and
Caitlyn to Springfield, Missouri on Saturday to see their Uncle Adam and
Aunt Sarah, which will give Deana and Deven a little break, as well as the
kids a few less trips to Scott and White. Thank you for your continuing
prayers, we truly appreciate them. Hopefully they will be in their house in
the next 3-4 weeks.
God Bless You All!
Baby Delaneys Grandmother, Karen Parrish

July 25, 2001

The doctor's have decided that she will have 3 surgeries when she is
completely healed. Two on her hand and one on the bend of her elbow. She
continues to thrive and has already outgrown her first body suit. I
mentioned that she only wants her bottle last update, but now she is wanting
only people food, not baby food. She has 6 teeth now and pushes all of her
food to the front of her mouth so she can chew it. One of the beautiful
things that has happened is Deana was worried about people's reaction to her
in the store....well, Deana can hardly get out of any store because people
stop and ask her what happened. Deana said when they stare......Delaney
breaks out in her smile and that eases the tension and then they usually ask
what her injuries are. It is a slow uphill walk, but God's faithfulness to
her cannot be denied. Thank you for your continued prayers.
We serve an awesome God!
Grammy Parrish

August 2, 2001

Deven and Deana took Delaney to Parkland hospital for her monthly check
with them. Scott and White Hospital, who are their insurance provider
does not recognize Parkland as her health provider, so Deven and Deana
pay these visits out of pocket. These persons at Parkland are the true
burn specialists and have decided as of today Delaney needs surgery on
her hand by the end of the month. Her elbow also needs straightening,
however,they want to cast her arm and see if it will straighten with that
procedure. They did not anticipate this surgery this soon, but because she
is growing so fast, as only those little ones do, the surgery is indicated
now.Our prayer is that Parkland will have a short persuasion time with
Scott and White to have Delaney's surgery done by Parkland. This is so
important because they are the experts at Parkland and this is their field
of expertise. Deven and Deana also took Delaney by the ICU where she was
for the first 3 weeks, and the male nurse who admitted her was there this
time. He got tears in his eyes when he saw her and all of the other nurses said,
"They will never forget those blue eyes".
It means so much to the nurses who minister to these critically
injured children to see them healing, smiling and growing.
Again, we say thank you for your prayers and concerns, because this is
what has held us all together the past 4 months. Deana and Deven are hoping
to be into their house in the next 3 weeks. Pray also that things will go
smoothly there, as anyone who has built a house knows the little hindrances
that have a way of creeping up.
Grammy Parrish

August 3, 2001

Hi everyone. I'm at my moms and using her computer so I figured I'd update
everyone on Delaney. She's just as happy as can be. Always smiling, laughing
and keeping me on my toes. She hasn't let any of this slow her down.
We still go to therapy everyday. That does get a little hard on all of us
but we know how important it is so we make the best of it. It is getting a
lot easier. I know there were some people worried about me but I'm letting
everyone know that I am just fine. I'm not going to crack or break down and go
crazy like some might think and I don't need to be on medication. HA! I have
days that I break down and CRY along with Delaney when I'm doing therapy or
changing her garments because it hurts her therefore it hurts me! I think
it's only natural that I do hurt with her and I would be worried about someone that
didn't cry for their hurting child. I involve the other two children in
everything and tell them everything we're told from the doctors. They are
such a big help in therapy. They play and act goofy while the therapist are
working on her. She loves it. As far as the house is concerned, that is
something we started before this even happened to Delaney. We don't expect
anyone to help us out. That was something Deven and I started together and
we've had some help from our parents and a couple of friends. We are about
2-3 weeks away from being in it. So please don't think we're desperate and
need the help. We are fine where we are at right now. We are staying with
one of Deven's best friends and his wife and children. It is 6 miles from
our house so we work on it every evening and his buddy Clayton (who we're
staying with) has done all the electrical work and air conditioning for us.
Please don't anyone worry about us. Deven and I have a very strong, open and
loving marriage. We talk to each other all the time about how we are feeling
and things that are going on with our lives and family. Right now we are
just concentrating on our family and what needs to be done to make Delaney
all better. As far as other surgeries go, we went to Dallas yesterday
and the doctor that performed her other surgeries looked at her and they
are very concerned about her hand and elbow. He says they would like to do
surgery right away. They are afraid that her middle finger and little ring
finger won't grow with the rest of them because the scar is so thick. The
finger will not straighten out at all. Her elbow won't either. They put
her elbow in a cast hoping to straighten it out a little so they can wait
on surgery on the elbow until the scar matures. The finger can't wait and
needs to be done by the end of the month. They are going to try to talk
to the insurance about letting them do the surgeries in Dallas. We would
feel a lot better about that because they did such a wonderful job the
first time. Again please pray that we're able to go to dallas for her
surgeries. I will let everyone know what we find out and when it will all
take place. Thank you all again for all the wonderful e-mails, thoughts and prayers.
God Bless, Deana

August 9, 2001

Hi I just wanted to let everyone know that Delaney's arm looks to be doing
very well with the cast on. They removed the cast Tuesday and I was amazed at the
softness of the scars and how straight the arm was. After a while of leaving it
off you could tell it was wanting to drawl up again and was starting to get
hard again. They made her another cast that we can take on and off as
needed. Hopefully this will prevent her from needing surgery on that arm to
soon. The finger and hand still need surgery right away. We are still waiting
on the hospital and insurance co. to call. I put in an application at Shriners
to see if they can take a look at her. I've heard they do wonderful work.
I'll update as I get more information.
Thanks, Deana

August 22, 2001

Great news! Delaney has been preapproved by Shriners Hospital.
There is a Shriners Hospital in Austin, and they will drive out
to Lampasas and pick Delaney up for her therapy, or will pay gas
for Deana to drive her into Austin. We are hoping that she will
fully approved by September 7 when her next surgery on her hand is
scheduled. She has been wearing a cast on her left arm and not
only is the arm incredibly straight, but the cast is smoothing out
the burned areas! There is also a lotion called Demarkable made by
Beauty Control that is causing the scarring to smooth out and return
to normal color faster than anything they have used so far. Deana
and Deven should be moving into their house in the next two weeks.
God has truly worked miracles through this family and again, we
can't say enough......thank you for your prayers, and may God bless
each of you to overflowing measure.

September 3, 2001

They will spend their first night their tonight. 90% of the tile is in,
kitchen cabinets are in, someone donated the second commode for their
mudroom, Deana's sister and brother-in-law gave them 4 inside doors.
They are all very tired, but so relieved to be in their house.
We rejoice with them! Thank you all again for your prayers!

September 13, 2001

Just wanted to apologize for not updating recently.
Deven and I have been really busy lately. We have
finally moved into our home, just in time for
Delaney's first birthday Sept. 1. Delaney has been
doing soo well and she is sooo happy. She had surgery
today the 13th of Sept. The surgery went extremely
well. They took layers of skin from her groin areas
and cut the palm of her hand to put some skin in that
area. This will allow the skin to losen up and not be
soo tight. Her arm is in a cast as this procedure
begins to heal. Delaney was in surgery for 3 hours.
They did more than what they anticipated, but the
doctors say all went very well. Yesterday she started
to crawl again for the first time since the accident.
Since having this surgery I guess it will take some
time before she tries to crawl again. We are just sooooo
happy that she is doing soo well and is in good
spirits. We are very happy to finally be in our own
home. It is such a great relief. We do not have a home
phone yet. The phone company has to do some line work
first and we were told it could take up to a month. As
soon as we get phone service we will let everyone
know. Once again Deven and I wanted to thank everyone
for their tremendous support and prayers. Once we get
settled we will be sending out thank you cards. The
cards just dont say enough how much we thank everyone.
We will update as often as we can. GOD Bless everyone.
Thank you all soo much,
Deana and Deven Parrish and family

October 9, 2001

Delaney had her first visit at Shriner's in Galveston today.
They said she looked great and Deana could discontinue the every
day therapy at Scott and White in Temple. She has been doing this
since June! They gave her some new anti-itching medicine, as Delaney
has not had many full night sleeps because of the itching. They
have also placed her on a high fiber, high calorie diet because burn
victims lose muscle and bone the first year after the trauma. They
also fit her with a new Jobst garment and splint for her hand.
This is a huge answer to prayer for us because Scott and White was
NOT meeting her needs. In fact the last surgery they did was not the
correct procedure for burn patients today. However, this hospital
would not admit to a lack of knowledge for pediatric burn care.
Shriners will come and pick up Delaney and my daugher-in-law in Lampasas,
take them to Galveston, put them up in a motel for the night and
take them home the next day. They will have no more financial outlay!
Praise God, He does take care of His little ones! Thank you again for
all of your prayer and voices of inquiry and concern! God Bless You!.

October 11, 2001

Hi everyone,
Well there's a lot to tell everyone. I guess that's
what happens when it takes a month to get a phone line
put out in the boonies and no one provides the
Internet out here. Delaney is doing so wonderful. I know she's
my child but that has got to be the most strongest and
happiest baby I've ever seen. So many people can't
get past that smile of hers to even see that she's
burned. It is such a blessing. Another blessing is
that We took her to Shriners in Galveston on Tuesday
10/09/01 and they were the most amazing group of
people. We were there for 6 1/2 hrs. They showed me
what to do and watch for so I can do therapy at home
everyday instead of driving over an hour there and
back everyday. I only have to take her to see the
Drs. once a month in Galveston and they will come get
us the night before and take us back the day after and
pay for everything hotel and all. It was such a
blessing for them to accept her and do all of this.
Deven and I were starting to get a little worried
about all of it because we've been paying $800-$1000 a
month on co-pays, gas, food, meds and lotions.
Shriners pays for everything. I'm not gonna know what
to do with all the time I'm going to have. Yeah I do,
spend it all with my babies!!!! Deven and I feel like
a ton of bricks have been lifted off our shoulders. I
know it was everyones thoughts and prayers. Thank you
so much. I do have one more prayer to ask and that is
will you please pray (if your not already) that Deven
and I don't feel so much anger towards GOD. We are
both having such mixed feeling right now. I thank GOD
everyday that she is here and she's doing so well, but
five min. later I'm so angery at him I just want to
scream. I guess it's normal to feel this way but it
sure hurts to have this kind of anger built up inside
and I know it hurts him(GOD)as well. Thanks again,
Deana Parrish

February 14, 2002

Just wanted to let everyone know how Delaney is doing.
She is walking and into everything, she has turned
into a very strong willed little girl. Totally
different than the other two. She is a little bundle
of joy. Her scars are starting to heal, there are
some areas that are still pretty thick and red but
the doctors at Shriners said when we go back in three
months they should be almost healed. They really give
us so much hope for our darling. We actually look
forward to her visits. There is so much they already
have planned to do for her. As soon as the scars are
healed (not red) they will be able to go in and remove
the thick ones. One of the nipples still have not
come through. They said something is there, either a
breast bud or the nipple. If it is the bud and the
nipple is gone they said they will be able to tattoo
an areola on and put a nipple on. You won't be able
to tell the difference. They said the thickness of
the fingers and the amputated ones will slinder down
to almost normal. The coloring of the grafted areas
are pretty much the normal color of her skin. You can
still tell she's been burned, but if you see her from
a distance it's not the first thing you see. She is
still itching a lot. We try just about everything but
sometimes it does no good. That does get hard.
Shriners did tell us on our last visit (Feb.12) that
she doesn't have to wear her pressure garments
anymore. They said it is just so hard on her beca use
she hates them so much and I'll be able to massage her
so much more that we could do without. We were really
happy to hear that. She would cry when I put it on
and I'd still cry putting it on. Things will start
getting better now, I know they will. I again want to
thank everyone for continuing the prayers and cards
for her. I keep them all in a big box. I can't wait
for her to understand how many people were praying for
her. She now tells everyone hi! wherever we go. It's
really cute. Also if she's wearing a shirt that she
can lift up, she will flash you. We can't get out of
the stores without her flashing someone and then of
coarse I have to explain what happened to them. I
definitely don't discourage her from doing that.
She's acts like she's proud of her boo boos and wants
to show them off. Her sister and brother are doing
really well. They still talk about the day it
happened, but you can tell they're forgetting little
bits at a time. They love to explain to other kids
about what happened and what Shriners are going to do
for their little sister. They go into such detail
explaining, that the little kids look at them like why
did I even ask? It's pretty neat. I just let them
say whatever their little hearts desire. Well I'll
update again soon. Thanks for wanting to be kept
updated on her. If anyone doesn't want to be sent
these letters please let me know. I just send the
e-mail to everyone on our list from when we were at
the hospital. Thanks again.
Deana and Deven