It's hard to believe that Faith is 19 years old and has never had a major illness or extended hospital stay since she was in the NICU. The only other time she had to stay in the hospital was when she had her g-tube placed when she was two years old. That is, until now. And to think it all started with her having a simple outpatient procedure that had nothing to do with the reason she was hospitalized. Day 1: Thursday - the Procedure Faith and I got up extremely early as she had to be at the clinic for her outpatient procedure. The procedure was a lumbar puncture in order to do a test dose of medication called baclofen, which would help reduce high muscle tone and spasticity. If the results were good, and it helped her muscles relax, we would have the option (in the future) of inserting a baclofen pump so that she could receive the medication continuously via a catheter in her spine. I stressed the importance of giving her anti-nausea medication before the procedure because I know how anesthesia affects her. The procedure was very quick and after she woke up, she was happy and relaxed. Her physical therapist came to see her and seemed impressed with the results. The physician who ordered the test also came to check on her, and he was happy with the results, too. I was relieved, because she seemed to have sailed through this without any major complications. She had to lie on her back for about 6 hours before she could sit up. For Faith, this is not an easy thin...