James is making steady progress today. Almost all of his levels are where they were before the surgery. He is still needing platelets, but that is expected after the surgery, and he is not needing them as frequently as he was prior to the surgery which is a good sign. Overall the doctors are very pleased with his progress considering how sick he was and how much dead intestine they had to remove. Lisa went to see him this afternoon and he was coming out of the anesthesia, so he was able to wiggle his arms and legs a bit and open his eyes to look at her when she was talking with him. :-) Based on his progress I am guessing that on Wednesday or Thursday he will have the second surgery to close the incision and align the two pieces (catheter from the colon on one side and end of small intestine on the other side) more closely together. On Wednesday, Lisa and I will be talking with the doctor to find out what the expected long term effects will be from having such a short intestinal track.
Overall there are a few specific areas for which we would appreciate your prayers:
1. Prayer that the doctors successfully removed all of the NEC-infected areas and that the continued antibiotic treatments remove any lingering infection
2. For James' continued healing and comfort/pain control and for his platelet count to begin to recover on its own
3. That the long term effects will be minimal and easy for James to manage
4. That the doctors will have wisdom about when to go ahead with another surgery to close the valve between his heart and lungs (probably within the next 2 weeks, when he is strong enough). That this valve will remain strong and not cause any complications either during surgical procedures or during his recovery periods. (One of the reasons he was so touch-and-go during his surgery was due to major fluctuations in this valve when he was under extreme stress, so he was alternating between sending too much blood to his lungs and not enough to the rest of the body, and then the reverse.)
I probably won't have another update until Wednesday night unless there is a dramatic change.
We sincerely appreciate the outpouring of support and prayers for James, Madeline and ourselves.
Love,
Keith and Lisa
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2 comments:
PRAISE GOD! Love to read of the improvement. We are committed to praying for you all. Keep us updated. We LOVE you!
best of luck w/ the doctors today, sending positive vibes your way.
Caroline, Matthew, Cat & Cam
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