05/18/2026
Kirk & Amanda Hacker’s
prayer request for Gracie:
Update Thursday at 1:20pm - they released Gracie and told us to monitor her at home. Still the same symptoms so they are hoping it gets better with time but no real answers. She is just excited to be able to see outside for the first time since Sunday. Her room had no windows and it was hard on her. Thank you so much for everything, we are going home to try and relax 💗
Update Thursday - Neuro says that they believe it has to do with the viruses and psychiatry just came in and also said the same thing. They hope with time she will be back to normal but it’s just a watch and wait thing. They still have to continue to fight the viruses because she’s still sick 😞 she’s gotten so many calls, texts, flowers, gift deliveries and people stopping in to pray with her. It’s meant so much to us to have such an army of prayer warriors behind us! We love you all and I’ll post an update once we find out the rest of the plan 💗
Wednesday update part 2:
Gracie actually played a lot this afternoon, danced, sang in the shower, but as soon as she got sleepy she went right back to the confusion and “I don’t think, maybe, I’m not sure” statements. The pediatrician up here came and did a vision test for her blurriness that she said she had and she has 20/20 vision so that’s good. Psychiatry hasn’t come yet though… still waiting on answers and nothing concrete yet. Her lumbar puncture panels are slowly coming in and so far everything is negative and her MRI didn’t show anything except a few micro artifacts that they don’t exactly know what they are. Other than that, that’s all I know as of now but I’ll try to keep you all posted when we find out more💗
Update Wednesday:
For about 5 minutes this morning Gracie was back to her old self right after she woke up and now she’s reverted back to questioning and confused 😕 the doctors came in and said all the panels have come back negative so far so they aren’t sure if it’s the enterovirus but it could still be a possibility even if it’s not in the spinal fluid. The MRI came back reassuring and the only thing they saw were some small artifacts that are unknown. They are going to have ophthalmology evaluate her eyes because she says they are blurry at times. Also, pyschiatry doctors will be in to evaluate and they are triple boarded to also take into account viral things or sickness that can affect her mind. They are going to collect more blood for some more specific blood tests too. We are waiting on some of the more precise panels like autoimmune things to come back but those could take days. Still no clear answers yet 😞 thank you for all the prayers, texts, and calls checking up on our girl 💗
Update Tuesday:
She had her sedated lumbar puncture and MRI this afternoon and they said everything went well. She’s been sleeping since she got back but they brought her icecream, cheeseburgers and grapes and she woke right up for the icecream lol. We are waiting on the results still so as soon as I know something, I will update! Thank you for all the prayers, texts, and calls 💗
Update Monday:
They admitted her around 8 this morning at UK and she’s had doctors coming in and out. She originally tested positive for strep on Wednesday and has since rapidly declined mentally and her illness has gotten worse. She is not the same bright little happy girl. They are going to reswab her nose to test for more viral things to see if she has something that could cause encephalitis. They also said neuro team will be up in a couple of hours to evaluate her and most likely will be doing a sedated lumbar puncture and an mri. They said she’s sharp but they are also noticing things too that are concerning with what she’s saying. She has been severely confused and can’t answer yes or no questions. It’s been terrifying to see such a dramatic change in her so quickly. They said encephalitis can also cause the confusion which is easier to treat or mentioned it could be pandas but they are hoping it’s not that. We will keep you all updated as soon as we know more! Just continue to pray for our sweet girl 🙏🏻
