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Update
- 9/8 12:00 am. Timothy is out of the operating room but in *critical*
condition for the next 12-24 hours - please continue to pray.
Timothy is in cardiac ICU - very
intense place with his own room and lots of doctors and nurses working
around him to try to stabilize him over night. Complications in
the operating room kept him there until 9:00 p.m. - much longer than
expected. His chest is still open and you can see his heart
beating (some kind of clear tape over the opening).
It has been quite a roller coaster
today. We didn't know what was going on and the longer we didn't
hear, the harder it was. Timothy will of course never remember
this time but it is shaping his parents forever. In the midst of
the bitter, there is also the sweet as we learn to trust the Lord in new
ways. Over the course of the very long day I read, from cover to
cover, The Hidden Smile of God, by Piper. This was nourishment to
a needy soul. Must reading for anyone going through a trial or
wisely preparing for that day. Perhaps I can include a few
thoughts from that here when there is more time (I've
started). Now to bed and
early to return to the hospital in the morning. Those in Israel -
please pray for Timothy as we sleep.
Update
- 9/8 6:45 am. The doctor says that Timothy did well during
the night. They're going to lower his medication to try to help
lower his blood pressure, but otherwise he is stable.
Update
- 9/8 3:15 pm. Timothy is in similar condition, which is
good. He has stabilized but is still in sensitive condition and is
connected to dozens of machines or tubes. The plan from here is to
just monitor his progress and gradually reduce his dependence on the
medicines and machines. Time this will take is unknown.
Some answers to prayer:
1. Timothy has made it through the most critical part of the
post-surgery phase.
2. The prayers for faith and peace for Kelli and me, esp. yesterday,
were effective and the Lord greatly strengthened us.
3. A place close to UCLA was opened up to us and could be helpful to us
in resting or overnighting at points in the week(s) to come. This
request we had shared with no one but the Lord.
We remember:
"the testing of your faith produces endurance..." (James 1:3)
Update 9/9 9:00 am. Timothy is doing ok this morning. Over
night they made changes with the ventilator to accommodate some
respiratory issues. They have decreased his epinephrine and today
they will may take out the retractor that is holding his chest open.
Update
- 9/9 8:30 pm. The doctor says, "no news is good
news." That means that Timothy is stable but sensitive
and they are making adjustments slowly. They have started him on
TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) and hope to adjust/remove the
chest retractor soon.
Timothy is in a large hospital room by
himself in the cardiothoracic ICU and he has about 18 different drugs
going into his system. He is on a ventilator which breathes for
him. He is still sedated and on a paralyzing drug to prevent him
from moving. A nurse is assigned to him at all times and is
constantly checking his monitors, adjusting the drugs and keeping
records. The nurses work 12-hour shifts and are specially trained
in pediatric cardiology.
Thanks:
We are so very grateful to the many who are lifting Timothy and us
up in prayer. We are watching the Lord answer those prayers.
Thanks too to those who have written and encouraged us. We haven't
had much time to respond, but we are encouraged and we thank you.
Please pray:
1. That Timothy will continue to improve and adjust as they slowly
remove him from support.
2. For the nurses that watch over Timothy as they have long and
stressful work and yet they must always be alert and sharp.
A thought:
"Great privilege. Great pain. God's design.
This is God's way: to take the privilege of faith and strengthen it with
trials so that we worship and witness with a greater passion for
God" (John Piper). More quotes from The
Hidden Smile.
Update
9/10 9:00 am. The nurse says that Timothy is doing about the
same and was stable throughout the night. His heart rate was a bit
fast but it is coming down now.
Update 9/10 8:30 pm. Basically more of the same - slow (unobservable
to us) progress. The doctor did pull a "stint" out this
afternoon which was helping to keep his chest open. It will be a
couple of more days before they close his chest though because his heart
is big (swollen) and closing the chest puts pressure on the heart.
They continue to observe him closely and move things forward
slowly. Overall we are encouraged with the lack of ups and downs -
steady is good.
The encouragement of our friends to us
has been like that of Jonathan's to David: "And Saul’s son
Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God"
(1 Sam 23:16).
Update 9/11 10:30 am. They're basically letting Timothy
"coast" for now, following the stint removal. They're
trying to get fluid off him to be able to decrease his medications to
decrease the swelling (of his heart).
Update 9/11 9:00 pm. More waiting. Timothy's condition
continues to be stable. Now they're waiting for the swelling in
his heart to decrease so they can close his chest. That may take a
couple of days. We talked with a couple of doctors today including the
surgeon and they are guardedly optimistic of his condition. The
next big step though (and that which will put him past this most risky
phase) is closing the chest. The doctor said today that in some
hospitals the mortality rate with this type of operation is 50% (UCLA
does better but they didn't say how much). I asked if Timothy had
"made it" and the indication was that we could say that once
his chest was closed.
Please pray:
1. For the swelling in his heart to decrease rapidly so they can close
his chest.
2. For the nurses who do such a crucial job in monitoring him, the
medicines and the machines. (They too are human and are distracted
by today's awful events.)
A thought:
He
tends his flock like a shepherd:
He
gathers the lambs in his arms
and
carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young (Isa 40:11).
Update
9/12 10:30 am. Progress! After asking for prayers last
night for his heart to decrease swelling, the doctor was able this
morning to tape his chest shut a little. Continue to pray for
this.
Timothy is still quite sedated but is
no longer on the paralyzing drug. The doctors are now waiting for
some spontaneous movement.
Update 9/12 10:15 pm. Timothy has tolerated the taping well and hopes
are they can continue to close the chest more tomorrow. If that
goes well, total closing could be late tomorrow or Friday.
They stopped his sedation for a while
today and he apparently woke up and looked around (we weren't
there). The doctors wanted to see this and then started the
sedation back up (he would be uncomfortable and in pain).
Update 9/13 9:45 pm. Not much new today; they didn't try to tape his
chest any more closed (it's about 1 inch open now) but the doctor said
they hope by the end of the week to have him all closed up.
Apparently his sedation is also lower now too and while we were there
Timothy opened his eyes a little bit such that we could tell he was
"awake." They were just tiny slits but we could tell he
was responding and that was a treat for us. It's still hard to
imagine having a normal baby and holding him and everything, but today
was a glimpse of that.
Strength
for today:
"One
thing God has spoken, two things have I heard:
that
you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving"
(Ps 60:11-12).
Update 9/14 8:00 pm. We're a little discouraged that there isn't more
progress on closing Timothy's chest. The doctor says that this
slowness is not unusual. Today when we arrived Timothy's eyes were
opened and he was looking around. He still has something of a
glazed look and of course he can't move his body (at least very
much). He even squeezed Kelli's finger at one point. This
was a nice surprise and we look forward to more :-).
A Thought:
"God's providence is always
executed in the wisest manner possible. We are often unable to see and
understand the reasons and causes for specific events in our lives, in
the lives of others, or in the history of the world. But our lack of
understanding does not prevent us from believing God" (Don
Fortner).
Update 9/15 8:00 pm. The doctor was encouraging (in tone of voice)
today and Timothy's chest has been closed a bit more (now 3/4"
open). They apparently tried to close him all the way last night
and his heart stopped, so they backed off. It'll be a couple more
days on that it looks like. Certainly his heart is smaller than it
was a week ago! Timothy is getting less sedation and thus is more
alert in general.
A Thought:
My (Todd's) prayers for the birth of Timothy focused more on the timing
and ease of delivery and I did less praying for a healthy baby. I
certainly don't believe that that is in any way the reason for this
problem, but it is a good reminder to me to take nothing for
granted. Good health is a gift from God, as is grace in time of
health difficulties. We very much want to live taking nothing for
granted but giving thanks for each day we have with Timothy (and Mark
and Luke).
Update 9/16 10:00 pm (2 weeks old!).
.......uh.... ...let's see... uh,
no change......which is good! :-) No backward steps!
The nurses say that often in cases like Timothy's, there may be one step
backward to take two steps forward. We believe too that there is
forward progress even though we haven't seen much lately. We do
think that it is getting closer to when they'll be able to close
him up (tomorrow??). Timothy is more alert than before (no more of
that glazed eye look). I suppose too that the ability to
have a bit of humor is a big step forward too; a week ago now everything
was so very different. We praise God for his continued goodness
and mercy.
Please pray:
1. Progress for Timothy: closing his chest and then weaning him off the
ventilator. We'd love to have him home before the end of the
month, both for our own joy and because our insurance company changes
10/1.
2. Our testimony to the doctors, nurses and other random people we run
into; that they would see a sovereign, kind God through us.
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