It all began on Thursday May 2,1996
when Sharron was coming home from school
crying. When I asked her what was wrong,
she said "My leg hurts real bad". Tears
rolling down her face,the look of pain in
her eyes. Thinking it was a cramp or spasm
I tried to rub some ointment on it. But,she
was still is pain. Then I noticed she had a
fever. I then thought she had the flu.So I
gave her some Tylenol and clear liquids. But,
all that night she was sick.
It is now Friday May 3,1996 this is when it
all begins. 7:00 am I get Phillip off to school
as usual. He has had a cold for a couple of weeks
now.The kind with a runny nose,congestion and
slight cough. But, it wasn't too bad. His
appetite was good,his activity level was the
same. He loved going to school,so taking a hanky
for his nose off he went.
After Phillip left I begin to get ready to take
Sharron to the doctor. 9:00 am I call the
doctor's office filling them in on Sharron's
condition. They tell me to bring her right in.
Just as I'm about to go out the door the school
calls and says that Phillip is sick. So I stop
and pick him up and take them both to the doctor.
At the doctor's office I fill him in on the
symptoms they both have,etc. He examines them
and then tells me to take Sharron right to the
emergency room at the hospital. For Phillip he
me a couple of prescriptions and say they
along with rest,liquids and Tylenol will make
him better. I go to the hospital which is
about 20 min. away.
It is about 10:30 am Phillip waits in the
waiting area while I'm with Sharron. After
waiting for test results I'm told that she
needs to go to the childrens hospital and
they will tranport her there. I call her father
and fill him in. As soon as I am off the
phone I hear the helicopter outside. I don't
think anything about it until the nurse calls
me over to talk to the crew. I knew then she
was very sick. Nobody is telling me what they
think is wrong with her.
As the pilot talks to me my mind is racing.
I can't help but wonder what's wrong with my
girl.After getting some Tylenol for Phillip I
leave there to go to the childrens hospital
which is 20 min. away from the other. Picking
up my oldest daughter from work along the way.
I knew she would want to know about her
little sister.
It is now about 1:00 pm and we are all waiting
for some word on what is wrong with Sharron.
Phillip is doing okay he seems to be getting
better.I was concerned about him also, for
he was still a little sick too. He was
beginning to sit up more and was laughing at
his favorite tv show.
Then about 5:00 the doctor comes to tell us
he thinks Sharron has meningitis but they
needed to do more testing to be sure. He
says the results will be a long time. Her
father and I decide that it would be best if
he took Phillip home and I'd call him as soon
as there was any news about Sharron's condition.
Just as we turn to Phillip he was going home
with his dad. We see him shivering like he
was cold and then right in front of our eyes
he turns pale white. The nurse walks in just
then and sees the horror in our faces and then
sees Phillip. She says to take him straight
to the emergency room. By 10:00pm Sharron is
in ICU and Phillip is on the 3rd floor both
with meningococcal meningitis.
Sat. May 4th 4:00 am the doctor calls to say
Phillip is worse. Sharron's condition is
unchanged she is heavily sedated as is Phillip.
They are both unaware of what is happening.
By 10 pm Phillip is given a 50/50 chance
with his kidney already shut down.
During the day on Sat. we learn how the news
of the children having meningitis has affected
the community and school. Soccer games are
concelled, friends of ours and the children
are being mistreated. Just because their
chldren play with ours. Hearing this makes
me angry, then somehow the media finds out and
there is even more panic.
Sunday May 5,1996 3:oo pm the doctor says
that we have two choices for Phillip.
1) leave him hooked up to all the machines
which will buy him only a few extra hours
before he would eventually drown in his own
fluids. or 2) turn everything off and he
would go in minutes. Unknown to us our church
was having a special prayer time for us.
During that time the decision for Phillip
had been made and for the first time Sharron
shows an improvement. Later that evening over
220 people gathered together at the children's
schools and formed a prayer circle out front
of them. Again Sharron improves.
The weekend of May 3-5 1996 was the longest
weekend in my life. I saw my little girl go
from being an active happy 9 year old to lying
still on a hospital bed. I saw my 16 year old
son go from being happy and full of life
deteriorating before our eyes within 48 hours
he dies. Then on top of all this the media gets
wind of all of this and stirs up the community
more than was necessary. All because they
didn't get the facts accurately. Everytime
we watched the news there was our children.
I didn't mind it too much,for if they were
looking for something bad about my kids.
I knew they wouldn't find it.
Through everything I trusted the Lord and
He saw me through it all. I saw the Lord's
work time and time again. In many ways He
worked miracles with my girl ,community and
maybe in places I don't even know yet. This
weekend would be only the beginning of a
new world that I was to face.
It's been a year now and I think I've come
a long way. And through it all I have
become stronger,closer and I know that I
still have a long way to go. Thanks to the
Lord I know I will make it. For I know He
is always with me everyday. The end
May 1997
by Carol Hoag
click pages below
Phillip (mom's view)
Meningitis Foundation of America
Sharron Hoag Page
Phillip Hoag page
Homepage
