Dear Family and Friends,
Thank you all for praying for Isaiah and for us this past Friday. We all had an incredibly long day. We arrived at CHOP at 7 :15 in the morning for a 7:30 am check-in time. However, he was not taken back for surgery until 10:50am. The poor boy didn't have anything to eat since 11:00pm the night before, but he did great considering. Besides correcting his urological problems, the doctors found he had hernias in both groins. Thankfully, everything was fixed and put back together. We ran into one snag, though. When Dr. Zderic was operating, he found some structional abnormalities inside of Isaiah which made him think of Cystic Fybrosis (a lung disease-how it relates we don't know). We have to follow up with the geneticist again to have further testing done. Please pray that these tests for Cystic Fybrosis come back negative. Isaiah did stay overnight for observation, but we were released at 11:00am this morning. We are going to be heading home soon from the Ronald McDonald House.
We are so grateful to all for praying for us and sending us encouraging notes. God has been good. We want to say a BIG thank you to the Bergeys for watching Josiah. We know he had a great weekend with you and Daisy the dog!) Thanks also to Pastor and Rochelle (and Aaron) for coming down and praying with us. You really helped to calm our hearts. Thank you to those who helped out with meals to take some pressure off of me----that was a HUGE relief. Thanks to my father-in-law, Glenn, for watching Isaiah so I could pack and clean before our trip down to Phila. Thanks also to my Aunt Liz who spent many hours with Isaiah and me down at CHOP preparing for his surgery. And, last but not least, thanks to our neighbor Deb for watching the boys on very short notice for my doctor's visit and for Josiah's visit to the ER (he needed stitches in his forehead for a fall a couple weeks ago).
We are continually reminded of God's goodness and faithfulness. We encourage all of you to read Isaiah 43:1-4, and 7. God does not leave us in times of struggles because as He states, "You are mine..." As we continue on this journey, we hope we will always remember this promise, even when days seem dark. Isaiah is amazing, a modern day miracle!
We love you all very much.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Magazine Support - Angelina
Hi everyone,
We wanted to try to help out another couple that we met at the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia. They have been at CHOP since October 08. Their daughter had a double lung transplant. Even though she had her transplant and is doing well, her and her family are not out of the woods yet.
They are trying to raise support through magazine sales. If you are looking into getting a magazine or wanted to renew a subscription you already have, please consider ordering through the following website. Joy and I were able to renew one of our magazine subscriptions and we saved about 80% on the cover price.
http://t.konversation.com/app/t/g0g/p/q/r61wsh/q/s2g7n/t.htm
Please consider helping out this family. This family has been on Family Medical Leave all this time.
Quick Update On Isaiah:
Joy was down at CHOP all day on Friday Aug 14th with 3 appointments lined up. The first appointment was at 9am with Genetics. They looked him over and were amazed at how well he looked. They still were not able to determine the true cause of what Isaiah has. All tests thus far have come back negative. They did take some more blood to run a couple more tests. Joy and I know what really happened. We feel he had trisomy 18 and through ALL OUR prayers, God healed him. It's the only explanation. Let's continue to give our Lord and Savior the Glory He deserves. Please remember to Thank God.
After that, they met with Anesthesia to discuss his surgery coming up. Even though the procedure is supposed to be an outpatient procedure, we had concerns with how Isaiah would do, after the procedure, after being on anesthesia. When Isaiah had his first surgery (at 6 days old), Isaiah kept dropping is heart rate and oxygen level. They said that they would monitor this and if Joy and I felt Isaiah needed more monitoring, they would not force us out the door. This was nice to hear.
Their last meeting was with the Neurologist to go over the possible buildup of the fluid on the brain. After examining him, they felt that the fullness of his fontanels at times was a normal variance for Isaiah. The size of his head has not grown outside normal limits. This is just something we will just have to keep monitoring. Is was great news that there wasn't an excess of fluid, so much so, that it was actually putting pressure on the brain and enlarging his head.
The other praise with all this is we were able to get back in the Ronald McDonald House so we can be down there the night before and night after Isaiah's surgery. We don't have a time for the procedure yet but were told it could be as early as 6am (another reason we are glad to be at the Ronald McDonald House)
I will try to get more pictures up before the next surgery. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers.
Chris, Joy, Josiah and Isaiah
We wanted to try to help out another couple that we met at the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia. They have been at CHOP since October 08. Their daughter had a double lung transplant. Even though she had her transplant and is doing well, her and her family are not out of the woods yet.
They are trying to raise support through magazine sales. If you are looking into getting a magazine or wanted to renew a subscription you already have, please consider ordering through the following website. Joy and I were able to renew one of our magazine subscriptions and we saved about 80% on the cover price.
http://t.konversation.com/app/t/g0g/p/q/r61wsh/q/s2g7n/t.htm
Please consider helping out this family. This family has been on Family Medical Leave all this time.
Quick Update On Isaiah:
Joy was down at CHOP all day on Friday Aug 14th with 3 appointments lined up. The first appointment was at 9am with Genetics. They looked him over and were amazed at how well he looked. They still were not able to determine the true cause of what Isaiah has. All tests thus far have come back negative. They did take some more blood to run a couple more tests. Joy and I know what really happened. We feel he had trisomy 18 and through ALL OUR prayers, God healed him. It's the only explanation. Let's continue to give our Lord and Savior the Glory He deserves. Please remember to Thank God.
After that, they met with Anesthesia to discuss his surgery coming up. Even though the procedure is supposed to be an outpatient procedure, we had concerns with how Isaiah would do, after the procedure, after being on anesthesia. When Isaiah had his first surgery (at 6 days old), Isaiah kept dropping is heart rate and oxygen level. They said that they would monitor this and if Joy and I felt Isaiah needed more monitoring, they would not force us out the door. This was nice to hear.
Their last meeting was with the Neurologist to go over the possible buildup of the fluid on the brain. After examining him, they felt that the fullness of his fontanels at times was a normal variance for Isaiah. The size of his head has not grown outside normal limits. This is just something we will just have to keep monitoring. Is was great news that there wasn't an excess of fluid, so much so, that it was actually putting pressure on the brain and enlarging his head.
The other praise with all this is we were able to get back in the Ronald McDonald House so we can be down there the night before and night after Isaiah's surgery. We don't have a time for the procedure yet but were told it could be as early as 6am (another reason we are glad to be at the Ronald McDonald House)
I will try to get more pictures up before the next surgery. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers.
Chris, Joy, Josiah and Isaiah
Monday, August 3, 2009
JUNE AND JULY UPDATES...
Hello Our Dear Friends,
I know it’s been awhile since we updated everyone. We’ve been quite busy, and I often don’t have time to sit quietly, think and type. So here’s June and July’s update on Isaiah and his schedule for August.
Isaiah has been doing really well. He is now 12 lbs. 12 oz. and is 25.5 inches long. He is very interactive, smiling all the time, and there is rarely a moment he is quiet---he likes to talk A LOT!!!! If he cannot see someone, he makes sure he is noisy enough for someone to come talk to him.
On June 1st, we were down at CHOP to see Isaiah’s neurologist, Dr. Szperka. She was thrilled with the progress Isaiah has been making. He is meeting all his milestones, and she signed off of his case. We were so excited to cross one more doctor off of our list. Unfortunately, we hit a small road block later on in June. Isaiah went for his 4 month check-up with Dr. Ahuja, and he found that Isaiah’s soft spots (fontanels) were full, not flat, and the back one is still open. The front soft spot can be open until age 2, but the back one is to be closed around 4-6 months. We had blood work done that came back normal, no thyroid issues that could be affecting the closing of the soft spots. However, we need to head back to the neurologist for closer monitoring of the fluid on the brain. Please continue to pray that the extra fluid Isaiah has does not increase and put pressure on his brain. I’ll let you know when we have a date to head back to neurology.
On June 25th, we saw Dr. Chang, the ortho/plastics doctor. He is happy with Isaiah’s left hand progress. We initially were going to have Dr. Chang operate on his hand to straighten it, but if he did that, Isaiah would lose function and mobility in his wrist. Right now, Isaiah uses the wrist like an elbow, because he can’t bend his elbow more than 30 degrees. He will still have surgery to make a thumb on his right hand when he is a year old.
In July, Isaiah started with physical therapy on a weekly basis. This was added to the occupational therapy that he has already been doing. This makes for busy days. His strength and purposeful movements have been improving. He is even getting his left (bad) hand to his mouth with the help of his right (good) hand.
On August 28th, Isaiah will have surgery down at CHOP to correct his urological issues. Dr. Zderick will be his surgeon. We have to go down on the 14th for all his pre-op blood-work and meet with anesthesia. I know they want his surgery to be done as an out-patient, but we would like Isaiah to stay overnight. In the past, when Isaiah had to be put under, or had any sedation, he would later drop his heart rate and oxygenation saturation. Usually this happened hours after a procedure. I just don’t want the doctors to discharge him too early and then we have a problem later on. Chris and I will hopefully be staying down at the Ronald McDonald House and Josiah will be with the Bergeys from our church.
We had a great opportunity to share our story/testimony with the students at my old high school, Upper Bucks Christian School. Many of the students there had been praying for Isaiah and for us. What a privilege it was for us to stand before them with a present day miracle that they had had a part in. It was a blessing to show them that God still performs miracles today, and Isaiah is it.
We have a few prayer requests that we would really appreciate your faithful prayers for:
1. Isaiah’s surgery on August 28th. Pray for safety as we travel back and forth to Philly, for Isaiah to make it through without any complications, for wisdom for the doctors, and for Josiah since he’s away from us again.
2. For me—I am still struggling with some issues. I don’t want to go into great detail, but I have good days and bad days. I want to have complete faith in God, but often I don’t.
3. We have several unspokens. Pray that God provides our needs as He sees fit, and that we will be satisfied with His decision.
4. That Chris’s job remains solid and safe. They have down-sized twice this year already.
5. For my cousin, Joshua Solt. He was in a critical accident approximately 2 weeks ago. He was driving a motorcycle with his girlfriend when an unlicensed 17-year-old boy pulled out in front of them. You can read his updates at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/joshuasolt. He is currently at a rehab center in Bethlehem. He has a trach to help him breathe, and he is awake and alert. Pray for his family as well, and for his girlfriend, Vicky, that she makes a complete recovery.
Thank you again for all your words of encouragement and for checking in on us periodically. We cannot thank you enough.
I know it’s been awhile since we updated everyone. We’ve been quite busy, and I often don’t have time to sit quietly, think and type. So here’s June and July’s update on Isaiah and his schedule for August.
Isaiah has been doing really well. He is now 12 lbs. 12 oz. and is 25.5 inches long. He is very interactive, smiling all the time, and there is rarely a moment he is quiet---he likes to talk A LOT!!!! If he cannot see someone, he makes sure he is noisy enough for someone to come talk to him.
On June 1st, we were down at CHOP to see Isaiah’s neurologist, Dr. Szperka. She was thrilled with the progress Isaiah has been making. He is meeting all his milestones, and she signed off of his case. We were so excited to cross one more doctor off of our list. Unfortunately, we hit a small road block later on in June. Isaiah went for his 4 month check-up with Dr. Ahuja, and he found that Isaiah’s soft spots (fontanels) were full, not flat, and the back one is still open. The front soft spot can be open until age 2, but the back one is to be closed around 4-6 months. We had blood work done that came back normal, no thyroid issues that could be affecting the closing of the soft spots. However, we need to head back to the neurologist for closer monitoring of the fluid on the brain. Please continue to pray that the extra fluid Isaiah has does not increase and put pressure on his brain. I’ll let you know when we have a date to head back to neurology.
On June 25th, we saw Dr. Chang, the ortho/plastics doctor. He is happy with Isaiah’s left hand progress. We initially were going to have Dr. Chang operate on his hand to straighten it, but if he did that, Isaiah would lose function and mobility in his wrist. Right now, Isaiah uses the wrist like an elbow, because he can’t bend his elbow more than 30 degrees. He will still have surgery to make a thumb on his right hand when he is a year old.
In July, Isaiah started with physical therapy on a weekly basis. This was added to the occupational therapy that he has already been doing. This makes for busy days. His strength and purposeful movements have been improving. He is even getting his left (bad) hand to his mouth with the help of his right (good) hand.
On August 28th, Isaiah will have surgery down at CHOP to correct his urological issues. Dr. Zderick will be his surgeon. We have to go down on the 14th for all his pre-op blood-work and meet with anesthesia. I know they want his surgery to be done as an out-patient, but we would like Isaiah to stay overnight. In the past, when Isaiah had to be put under, or had any sedation, he would later drop his heart rate and oxygenation saturation. Usually this happened hours after a procedure. I just don’t want the doctors to discharge him too early and then we have a problem later on. Chris and I will hopefully be staying down at the Ronald McDonald House and Josiah will be with the Bergeys from our church.
We had a great opportunity to share our story/testimony with the students at my old high school, Upper Bucks Christian School. Many of the students there had been praying for Isaiah and for us. What a privilege it was for us to stand before them with a present day miracle that they had had a part in. It was a blessing to show them that God still performs miracles today, and Isaiah is it.
We have a few prayer requests that we would really appreciate your faithful prayers for:
1. Isaiah’s surgery on August 28th. Pray for safety as we travel back and forth to Philly, for Isaiah to make it through without any complications, for wisdom for the doctors, and for Josiah since he’s away from us again.
2. For me—I am still struggling with some issues. I don’t want to go into great detail, but I have good days and bad days. I want to have complete faith in God, but often I don’t.
3. We have several unspokens. Pray that God provides our needs as He sees fit, and that we will be satisfied with His decision.
4. That Chris’s job remains solid and safe. They have down-sized twice this year already.
5. For my cousin, Joshua Solt. He was in a critical accident approximately 2 weeks ago. He was driving a motorcycle with his girlfriend when an unlicensed 17-year-old boy pulled out in front of them. You can read his updates at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/joshuasolt. He is currently at a rehab center in Bethlehem. He has a trach to help him breathe, and he is awake and alert. Pray for his family as well, and for his girlfriend, Vicky, that she makes a complete recovery.
Thank you again for all your words of encouragement and for checking in on us periodically. We cannot thank you enough.
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