| Update 9/17 10:30 pm.
Doctor said today they hope to gradually be
closing his chest with tape over the night and if things go well then to
sew it shut tomorrow. We'll see, but the doctor definitely was
encouraging about Timothy's progress. The picture to the right is
still how things look from afar, but to us up close, things look quite
different! Timothy's health overall seems so much better -
swelling is down, profusion is good, and they've given him a good
scrubbin! :-) And today he was opening both his eyes (blue!) real
wide and smiling at us (well, the ventilator tubes make it hard to prove
he was smiling, but his face was happy!).
We're thankful for:
1. Timothy keeps doing better
2. Excellent doctors and nurses
3. The tremendous support of our family, friends and the college
Update 9/18
9:30 pm. Timothy's chest is still open but not as much as
yesterday! Slowly, slowly (as they say in Hebrew). Tomorrow?
We've been asked:
1. How is IBEX managing without you?
Actually, they are thriving. The whole team has pulled together,
one of my classes was cancelled, and they seem to be doing just fine
(maybe a little more tired than usual). This weekend, however, the
TMC admin decided to remove all IBEX students from Israel at the end of
September because of Bush's buildup to war, and consequently the college
has asked us to remain in CA to finish teaching the semester courses
here. This of course fits perfectly with our desire to continue
Timothy's recovery, appointments and the next surgery at UCLA.
2. Does Kelli still intend to try to
nurse Timothy? Yes. She is keeping up her milk
supply in hopes that Timothy will be able to start feeding after he is
off the ventilator. This isn't a given because sometimes the
baby's stomach isn't used to it and because it is more difficult for a
baby to nurse than to eat from a bottle.
A long(er)-term prayer request:
The doctors and surgeons expect that Timothy will require two more
operations to make his body function on the right half of his heart
only. However, it is possible (but unlikely, says the surgeon)
that a repair could be done so he uses both sides of his heart.
This would require the left side of Timothy's heart to develop
significantly in the next few months. Obviously this would be (much) better and we pray that if it is the Lord's will, he would make
Timothy's heart develop appropriately.
Update 9/19 10:00 pm. Today was a bit disappointing. The doctors
tried aggressively to close the chest, but Timothy was unwilling (blood
pressure drop). So they'll try again tomorrow. Please pray
that they can get it so they don't have to try more invasive (in the
operating room) techniques. It's been 12 days since the operation
and it's time to get him closed up.
(For those of you who pray medical
prayers, what we're asking God for is a reduction in the amount of fluid
in Timothy's body so that there is less pressure against the heart when
the chest is closed; you can tell your kids to pray that Timothy will
urinate more).
Update 9/20
10:30 pm. Today was discouraging on several fronts. The
doctors have opened the chest up more than yesterday (now 1/2 inch) and
they're waiting for Timothy to release more fluids. They have him
on a number of medications to help this, but so far they have not been
effective. They won't try before Saturday to close him. Our
family would appreciate your prayers.
Update 9/21
9:45 pm. You can tell your kids that their prayers are working
- today for the first time in many days Timothy's intake/output level
was negative. Continue to pray for more of that, so they can close
his chest. Because his white blood cell count was higher, they
sent samples to the lab to see if there is any infection. They
also changed several of his medicines because he's been on them a couple
of weeks and they don't want him getting to used to those.
On a separate page tonight we've
answered some questions we've been asked
several times (and a few no one asked).
BTW, unrelated, but Todd is so sick of
everyone and their brother (from the honorable President Bush on down)
saying that Islam is a religion of peace. The only time it is that
is in a few modern aberrant forms; true Islam is a religion of the sword
- always has been and always will be. It is part of the Islam
religion to disguise their true intent if it will help them achieve
their goals. Sorry, just had
to get that off my chest.
Update 9/22
10:15 pm. Timothy's chest is open more than yesterday.
Continue to pray that his body would allow the doctors to close his
chest.
Update 9/23
9:45 pm. Nothing new. Parents discouraged.
Timothy's chest is open about 1 inch and he still has swelling.
Some of his medicines have been reduced. Pray that swelling
of his bodily tissues would be reduced so that his body will tolerate
closing of his chest. The longer his chest is open, the more
potential problems there are (such as the need now to move the femoral
IV because it is leaking, and potential infection).
Update 9/24
10:00 pm. Today may have been the one step backward in order
to get the two steps forward. At least we got the step
backward. They opened up Timothy's chest fully so they could
tighten a shunt in order to help raise his oxygen saturation
levels. I suppose it's good they hadn't closed him already and
have to cut him open to do this. Because of the work on his heart,
it is swollen again and will take probably a couple more days before
they try to close his chest again.
They have lowered some of his
medications - always a good thing. The nurse said this morning
they doubled the narcotics he was getting and she said he was
"feeling real good." Tonight we met the cousin of a
friend who works in the cardiac ICU - small world!
We got our first "bill" today
for Timothy. Anyone have an idea what a medical helicopter ride
about 45 miles would cost (not medical personnel - just the helicopter
and pilot)? Make a guess and then check your answer here.
Update 9/25
8:30 pm. After yesterday's procedure Timothy is back to
recovering. Last night did not go so well and they had his
respirator up to 100% oxygen; now he's down to 60% (the goal is about
20% - that of normal air). They've taped his chest a bit more -
now it's about a half inch open. Pray that soon his body would
tolerate total closing of his chest.
Elsewhere, we had a very good
day. We had several blessings from unexpected quarters that showed
much love and revealed a bit more of God's design.
Timothy's situation has not kept our
minds entirely off of the terrorist situation. For an excellent
message on how Christians should respond (and not respond!) to the WTC
attacks, see John Piper's recent sermon.
Update 9/26
11:00 pm.
Short summary: Timothy's
progress continues to be s-l-o-w; the longer his chest is open the
greater the risk is for infection (exponential, doctor says). Pray
that Timothy's body would respond to the doctors' treatments so chest
closure is possible in the next few days.
More medical details: A couple
of days ago the doctors narrowed the shunt they inserted in the
surgery. This was because too much blood was getting to the lungs,
his heart was working too hard and swelling of the heart resulted (which
therefore resisted the closing). But in reducing the shunt size
(and we're talking millimeters total size here), they have to balance
his need for oxygen in the blood. The last couple of days his
oxygen saturation has been running lower (too low) and they've been
giving him more oxygen.
The doctors have changed his medicines
around some to try to effect some change. A reduction in the
swelling of his tissues ("edema") is essential and soon.
The doctors want to be aggressive about this. We want them to be
also, and everyone wants to make sure that Timothy is on board with this
program :-).
The passage of time hurts in various
ways - the location of the IV has to be changed, he starts to tolerate
certain medicines and so those have to be changed, and today his
ventilator tube through his mouth started leaking significantly, so they
had to change that (a bigger tube through his nostril). The longer
this takes the more complications that could occur.
Tidbit
The above-mentioned shunt the doctors inserted in the surgery is pretty
important. It has been referred to as his
"lifeline." If it were to one day clot, Timothy would
die. Thus he will take an anti-coagulant (aka aspirin) every day
for a long time.
Reality: This may be a challenge
for the world's best doctors (we have them!), but it's not for
God. God makes hearts every day and he can have this problem
solved tomorrow and allow us to hold our son very soon. If you
would ask Him for this for us, we would appreciate it.
We don't know exactly how God works our
prayers together with his sovereign will, but we trust Him when he says
to come repeatedly to Him with the desires of our heart. Thank you
for asking with us.
Update 9/27
10:00 pm. No changes today. Half the hospital staff was
on vacation it seemed (today was Yom Kippur). No traffic on the
freeways either made the commute much nicer. The (and whenever I
say "the" in regard to a doctor or nurse I mean whichever one
is working that shift - we have had many different ones) doctor was
running Timothy's ventilator at different levels of oxygen to test how
well the shunt was working. Todd's prediction: another adjustment
of the shunt is coming :-(. Otherwise, the ventilator tube is now
in his nose which means his mouth is empty. Still his cries are
noiseless - he turns red and looks mad but no sound comes out - because
the tube goes by his vocal cords.
Encouragement for today:
"Beloved, God is in every event, and
circumstance, and incident of your life. Whatever that history be, God
arranged it, shaped it, and tinted it.
"Is it dark? He penciled it, with
its somber hues.
"Is it bright? He has thrown upon
the canvas those beauteous colors.
"Are they blended? He mingled and
harmonized them.
"Recognize and acknowledge, adore,
love, trust, and glorify Him for all, and in all" (Winslow, Glory
of Christ in Heaven).
Update 9/28
10:40 pm. The doctors adjusted Timothy's shunt today (took out
the "stitch" they put in Monday; this makes the shunt bigger
which is necessary his oxygen saturation levels were too low.) Dr.
Laks was here for this procedure, a first for such since the
surgery. There is "interest" (better word than concern)
in moving things along with Timothy.
After the procedure, Timothy had blood
pressure problems, but by tonight those seem to be resolved (with the
medications they gave him). The hope is that 1) the saturation
levels will be better than before AND 2) his heart/tissues won't swell
thus preventing the closure of the chest. If you pray simple
prayers, ask God to allow Timothy's chest to be closed.
On another front, we learned today of
the new "home" we'll be bringing Timothy to. The
Master's College is arranging an apartment near the campus for us to
live in. Kelli likes the full-size washer and dryer that come with
it; Todd likes the fact that you can't do everything in the bathroom
standing in one place. It's a spacious three-bedroom with two
baths and closets bigger than Israeli bedrooms. Both of us are
extremely impressed with the great lengths to which the college is going
to provide a place for us to live and the many things that go in
it. We're hoping to move in about 2 weeks. Now to tell
Timothy of the playgrounds and swimming pools there which he will be
missing out on should he tarry.
New pictures have been posted.
Update 9/30
8:30 am. We talked at length with a doctor yesterday.
The gist was that because of the past failures, they're going to try
some different approaches (to get his chest closed). It's very
much a trial-and-error approach in an attempt to find what Timothy's
body will allow. The current approach is to significantly change
his ventilator settings (reducing the amount of oxygen he gets) and
gradually, over a 72-hour period or so, try to tape his chest
closed. It's a complicated problem as they try to balance the
pressure in his lungs with the pressure in his body in order to control
how much blood goes through the shunt.
That his chest be closed quickly is
important because of the rising risk of infection. Thank you for
your prayers.
Update 9/30
9:15 pm. Experimentation continues. Today they taped his
chest closed at the top but open at the bottom. We're for anything
that might work. Timothy is still sleeping most of the time (as
they are afraid that awake he will have some discomfort), but there are
snatches when he wakes up and says hi :-). We love that.
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