I apologize that I have not posted an update sooner. I thought I had done one right after Joel's surgery, but either it didn't save or I posted it somewhere else and forgot to post here.
Update on baby Joel- Because Joel was thriving so well, the doctors
continued to delay his second surgery in hopes that his heart would grow
and he would have good weight gain before surgery. They finally
scheduled his surgery on October 4. The surgery not only required a
partial Glenn procedure for the left hypoplastic heart syndrome, but it
also required rerouting a vein which wrapped the heart instead of just
entering at the correct point. Joel also had two of the same artery
coming from his brain. The spliced those two arteries together, and the
second one flows by gravity instead of pumping into the lungs. The bands
placed in the first surgery were also removed. Joel did very well
through the 9 hour surgery. They kept him open for awhile and did a
heart cath to make sure everything was flowing right. The heart cath
showed one vein to the lungs that did not reinflate all the way after
the bands were removed, so a stent was put in. Joel was then moved to
PICU and his chest, though still open, was covered with a large bandage.
This was a precaution in case he had any emergencies and needed to go
back to surgery. Within a couple of days, Joel's chest was closed. He
continued to thrive, and most of his tubes, IVs... were removed within a
week. The doctor's had said a 4-5 week stay was the least amount of
time Joel would be in the hospital, but on October 15, just 11 days
after surgery, Joel came home! he is doing very well, and other than
some precautions about not being on his stomach and not lifting him
under the arms, he is able to live a normal life. Thank you for all the
prayers. We know it is because of the prayers that Joel is doing so
well. Continue to pray he has no setbacks.
My
mom was doing better with the therapy for her torn muscles and chipped
hip bone, but three weeks ago through strange circumstances, she ended
up having an emergency appendectomy. She still has a couple weeks of
recovery to go. Please pray that she will heal properly with no
complications.
My oldest brother, Josh, rides a
motorcycle for funeral processions for vets. About two weeks ago, he
was riding, and something flew up from the road and hit his hand. He
assumed it was a wasp or something because his hand swelled. Within a
few days it was very infected. He finally went to the hospital when his
entire arm was inflamed and he lost feeling in the hand. The doctor had
to cut the finger that was hit and part of the hand to release the
infection. After sending the infected tissue off for analysis and
putting Josh on strong antibiotics, the results of the tissue analysis
revealed that Josh had a staph infection and MRSA. The antibiotics the
doctor put Josh on had already begun working on the MRSA, and Josh's
body began to respond to them. The doctor kept him for observation a few
days, and sent him home with strong antibiotics and careful cleansing
instructions. He will be off work for a month. Please pray he continues
to heal and that God provides for his family during this time.
Now
that Joel has come through surgery, I am just watching to see how my
mom's health is doing before beginning flight bookings for some missions
trips. There is a possibility I will end up in Puerto Rico for the end
of the school year if my mom's health improves and a few other things
fall into place. Please pray that the world stays open and travel
remains possible.
I have an extremely important
unspoken request. Continuous prayer would be appreciated as the answer
may take a lengthy amount of time to come.
