HOME ON THE SAME DAY...

God heard your prayers and Isaiah did extremely well through the procedures/surgeries. This is the first time he recovered from general anesthesia without any episodes. Also, for the first time, we were able to come home on the same day!!! Yep, we can't believe it ourselves! All three procedures went well.

The ear tubes went in without complication and Isaiah had much less pain this time than the first time. Dr. Germiller was very happy with the results. Dr. Flick performed the upper endoscopy with biopsies. He said his esophagus/intestinal track looked healthy and normal. The only slight abnormality he saw was a puckered pyloris, but he doesn't know what that means yet. The next step is to wait a week before the final results from the biopsies come in.

Interventional Radiology, Dr. Keller, placed the GJ tube. He had trouble threading the tube because of Isaiah's abnormal intestinal structures. He is hoping Isaiah will tolerate this new tube. There is a chance this new tube is the wrong size---Isaiah fell in between the 2 sizes they use. Just our luck, huh!?!? Pray that with this new tube there will be no shifting, migration of the tube back into the stomach, leaking, vomiting, diarrhea, infection, or increased pain.

Thank you again for all your prayers, support, emails, notes, and meals. You encourage us more than you will ever know. You are all a part of our extended family. It's great to be loved this much.

SURGERY TOMORROW...

Thank you for your continued prayers. Josiah went back to the doctor's office today. His right arm was reexamined and re-xrayed. Thankfully, the ulna bone has not shifted and Josiah DOES NOT need surgery at this time. He will continue with the hard cast for another 2 weeks, then be reexamined and recasted in a water-proof cast. Dr. Minnich was optimistic that Josiah's cast will be fully off by the time of our vacation on July 13th. Please continue praying for a quick and full recovery for Josiah.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 8th, Isaiah goes in for his 3 procedures. We have to be at CHOP Main (in Philadelphia) at 6 AM....ugh! We have to leave the house around 4:30am. Pray for safety as we drive that early in the morning. Also, please pray for Isaiah, the doctors/specialists, and that the procedures go smoothly.

This past weekend we were able to participate in Chris's sister's wedding (Amy) in Lancaster. My 3 men looked awesome! The boys did well and were adorable in their tuxes---will post pictures later. I do have to admit they were quite busy and were always running in opposite directions--pretty difficult when trying to take family pictures. Our friend, Jamie, came with us for the weekend and was a great help. Thanks Jamie!!!! Thanks for praying us through this past weekend.

We will update tomorrow, via the blog, on how Isaiah does through the surgeries. Continue to pray for us as we are quite often too exhausted to pray ourselves. We need the support of our brothers and sisters in Christ. God bless!

MORE THAN PRAYERS ARE NEEDED...

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. Right now things are incredibly stressful and I am especially struggling with God's goodness. Thankfully, Isaiah is doing better and has been gaining the lost weight back slowly, since his last hospitalization. We've had to adjust feeds and try new formulas. The doctors don't know why Isaiah cannot tolerate some feeds and can tolerate others. We've been working with a new nutritionist and new GI specialists. Hopefully, they will be able to find a reason for Isaiah's chronic vomiting.

On Wednesday, Isaiah will be having his 6th surgery. He is having 3 procedures done: ear tubes replaced, upper endoscopy with biopsies, and having his G-tube changed to a JG-tube. Isaiah's original ear tubes no longer function (one is out and the other clogged). Fluid is collecting behind the tympanic membranes and he has had multiple ear infections with hearing loss. The endoscopy is to check for damage from all the vomiting. The changing of his G-tube is for a diagnositic study--the JG-tube should only be in for 4 weeks. The JG-tube bypasses the stomach and the feeds go directly into the intestines. If Isaiah stops vomiting completely, then it means that the source of the vomiting is from the stomach and he will need additional surgery on the stomach for the Nissen Fundoplication.

Just today, God decided to push us again. Josiah decided to climb a table outside that we are constantly telling the boys to get off of. Well, he fell breaking the ulna bone of the right arm. Thankfully, he was able to be casted in the ER and he doesn't need immediate surgery. He will be rechecked Tuesday. If the bone has shifted, he will need corrective surgery.

We have an incredibly packed summer and we are just so overwhelmed with all the trials. Please pray for this weekend: Chris's youngest sister is getting married and both the boys and Chris are in it---kinda tough with a cast and tube feeds. Then, surgery for Isaiah on June 8th, MRI of brain/spine with general anesthesia on June 29th. Also, it looks like Josiah will need surgery to remove his adenoids---they are enlarged and he has been having trouble breathing, pain in his sinuses, and snoring for the past year. Finally, it has been exhausting with all the trips back down to CHOP. Pray for strength, safety, and grace.

Please pass on to friends and family. We need all the help we can get. Thanks!

Home Again

Hi everyone,

We just wanted to send a quick post to say Isaiah is home. Joy brought him home last Wednesday(4/20) around noon. He was doing well with his feeds and was re hydrated, so the doctors felt he was ready to be discharged. Since he's been discharged, he's hardly thrown up during the last few nights. This has been a blessing.

Unfortunately Joy caught some kind of bug and was bed ridden starting Thursday night into Friday. This is why you have not heard from us until now.

We wanted to express our gratitude to everyone who helped provide meals, those who sent encouraging emails and most of all prayed for us and our little boy. We always feel blown away by the number of people who want to help us in this journey.

Chris and Joy

Apparently Isaiah misses his doctors and nurses....

....and feels it's time for another visit.

Hello everyone,

I know it's been a while since we posted an update on Isaiah. We will try to send an update later which will bring you to where we are today, since our last post was on Oct 21, 2010. Unfortunately this update is not a pleasant one.

Earlier this week Isaiah started with a fever and increased vomiting. He was still throwing up nightly prior to getting sick but lately it has increased to a few times over the night and sometimes during the day. He has not been able to keep hardly any food down and has had decreased urine output. He possibly has C-diff again and he has abdomen pain and restlessness while sleeping. He has lost 1.5 lbs in 2 days and therefore we are back down at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Chris took him down Saturday afternoon to the ER. Later that night Isaiah was admitted. They are currently giving him just IV fluids to reverse the dehydration and are talking about slowly introducing tube feeds sometime on Sunday afternoon to see if he can start keeping anything down.

We are asking if you can start praying for our little boy again. We don't know how long he will be down at CHOP right now. Probably as soon as he can tolerate nightly feedings again.

Our primary focus is for Isaiah to get better. On a side note, we were scheduled for a bunch of CHOP doctor visits the next couple of weeks. Hopefully some of the doctors that are following him can see him while Isaiah is admitted which will make for less visits the next couple of weeks.

Thank you in advance for your prayers to our Mighty, Loving, and Gracious God on our behalf. Through him all things are possible.

Chris and Joy