Prayers for our Nanny!

I write this post with a sad and heavy heart.  We have had a rough week this week.  On Monday morning, we awoke as usual to begin our weekly routine of getting ready for work, getting Evan ready for school, and getting Brody up and fed.  Our sweet nanny called at about 7:00 a.m. sounding just awful and informed us that she was too sick to come to work.  We, of course, told her to stay home and rest and get well.  Eddie had a work meeting to attend that morning so I stayed home with the kids until he could get back at lunch time.  I enjoyed the morning with Brody as I cherish any extra time I get to spend with him, and when Daddy returned, we picked Evan up from school and ate lunch together.  Afterwards, I headed to work and then school.  We didn't hear anything from our nanny the rest of the day but just assumed she was resting and taking care of herself.  She is a sprightly 60 plus year old lady who lives alone but has children and family close to her.  On Tuesday morning, we didn't hear anything from her so I called but did not get a response.  I left a message and then went on to work because Eddie was available to stay home with the kids.  I did not return home until almost 10:00 p.m. (my usual Tuesday/Thursday work/school schedule), and we still had not heard from the nanny.  I had an inkling something was wrong, but I assumed her family would have checked on her.  Wednesday morning I again attempted to reach her by telephone and received no answer.  I then proceeded to call her daughter (I had her number in case of emergencies) and left a message for her.  Then, I called my office to let them know I would be home with the kids again and left a message for my co-worker who was our nanny's friend and former employer.  She got in touch with the nanny's daughter finally, and someone went to check on her.  Apparently she didn't respond to their knocking on the door so the door had to be broken down by emergency personnel to go in.  She was found unconscious and in very bad shape on her couch.  She was immediately transported to the emergency room where tests were performed which revealed she had suffered from kidney/renal failure.  She had always been in reasonably good health for her age except for some arthritis and orthopedic problems with her knees and legs that is expected in a woman of advanced years.  She had also been battling some colds and bronchitis this winter.  We just don't know what could have caused her condition to deteriorate so quickly.  Dehydration, maybe?  She was transported to a different hospital with an acute care facility and has been kept sedated as they track her enzyme levels and monitor her.  Her enzyme levels are almost back to normal now, but she is still very sick and sedated and faces a long road to recovery.  The doctors are also worried now about some potential internal bleeding.  We are praying for a speedy and full recovery for this dear lady who has been such a blessing to our family.  After coming to work for us this summer, it didn't take long for us to realize that she considered us part of her family.  She loved her boys right from the start and gave them the loving care they need and deserve when their parents could not be there.  She worked with Evan this summer while he was out of school on his reading, writing, and letter recognition.  They made many art projects for me too.  I know the boys cherished their time with their "Nana."  She was just another grandmother to them!