Delaney was headed to the Boundary Waters for a class trip this week.  On Wednesday morning, the class was in Grand Marais when Delaney started to have trouble breathing.  A school chaperone took Delaney to the urgent care in Grand Marais and called Jennifer and Brian to inform them that Delaney was in urgent care and they needed to pick her up in Grand Marais.  Brian headed for Grand Marais.  

As a result of blisters forming on her face and and her worsening ability to breathe in spite of the epinnepherine drip given to her, it became apparent Delaney needed to be transported to the hospital.  She was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Ely.  The doctors tried to intubate her but her swelling throat and neck made that extremely difficult.  All the while, Delaney continued to swell and blisters were forming.  A decision was made to call for a Life Flight helicopter to transfer Delaney to Duluth. 

Brian received a call while en route to Grand Marais telling him that he needed to turn around and go back to Duluth.  He was initially relieved, thinking that Delaney was fine and would be able to continue into the Boundary Waters with her class.  But then the chaperone told him that no, he didn't understand, he needed to get to Duluth as soon as possible becuase the Life Flight helicopter had been called.  In the space of seconds, the Kreager family's life was turned upside down.

During this time Jennifer was at work waiting for news on Delaney.  She felt helpless as she waited to hear which Duluth hospital Delaney was being taken to and wondering what was wrong with her precious daughter, whether she would even live.  Jennifer received word that Delaney would be taken to St. Luke's Hopsital in Duluth and a co-worker dropped her off at the hospital so Jennifer could be there when the helicopter arrived.

Meanwhile, back in Ely, the doctors were unable to intubate Delaney due to the excessive swelling of her throat.  One of the EMTs from the Life Flight helicopter then tried a few times but also had trouble.  He tried a third time but made it clear that he would have to perform a tracheotomy if he couldn't get the tube in.  Thankfully, he was able to intubate Delaney.

Delaney's condition continued to deteriorte during the Life Flight and it became apparent she would need to be placed in the ICU - the Life Flight was diverted to Essentia St. Mary's Hospital.  And the doctors still didn't know what had happened to Delaney or what was wrong. 

Delaney has been in the PICU at St. Mary's since Wednesday afternoon.  They had her medically paralyzed due to her continued swelling and blisters and a spreading rash.  She's been intubated since the Life Flight, been given IV antibiotics and steriods and up until this morning, the doctors still weren't sure what caused Delaney's life threatening medical emergency.  They now think its Steven Johnson Syndrome.

Delaney is now being heavily sedated.  She will be intubated until Monday morning at the earliest.  This morning they were able to start feeding her baby formula through her tube.  She is in stable condition and the swelling appears to have gone down a little, probably thanks to the steroids.  But there have been no air leaks meaning the swelling has not changed in the last day.  Blisters continue to form but not as rapidly as they were on Wednesday.

The Kreagers have a high dedcutibe health plan and, with the Life Flight and the PICU stay, will be inundated with medical bills in the near future.  This family would literally give you the shirts off their back or do just about anything to help you out.  Their faith in God has kept them strong during this trying time in their life.  Any amount of money you could donate to help them pay the medical bills would be very, very much appreciated.