Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Wednesday Evening Update

This has been a cool day of encouragement. The Lord has given Jon a sense of HIS peace in a very amazing way.

There are two major prayer requests for tonight:

1. Pray that God will heal the infection.

2. Pray that Lindsay will be able to urinate on her own (Someday she will shoot us for putting potty requests about her on the blog!) This will sure help reduce the swelling.

Praise the Lord that the technicians were able to spot a clot in the ECMO tubing and replace the tubing. God has blessed us with many special caregivers.

Here is a picture of two of my favorites ... Heather is on the left, and Moira (Meow) is on the right! Praise the Lord for these special angels of mercy.
Thanks again for your love and prayers. Over 10,000 people have checked out the blog.

Wednesday afternoon update #4

This is Jan coming right from Lindsay Bear's bedside. Bill and Zach are en route to NJ so I am bringing good news and praising God.
Lindsay's nurse, Moira, backed down her medication to see what movements we could get out of her. WOW.....God is awesome! She moved every part she could possibly move. She even opened her eyes slightly as they are still very swollen. They have brought in the CD player and she is right now listening to one of her favorites, Boz the Bear. They gave her some liquid on a pink spongy thing which she wasn't too fond of. (Sorry to all the doctors and nurses about that, but Granny's talk like that.;) She tried to wave bye-bye as Grandma and Grandpa were leaving and raised her hand when Daddy let it go. Lots of tears for JOY as this is another tiny step forward.
We have a long way to go but we are so grateful to God for HIS faithfulness to Lindsay and us. This is a special place and we are thankful that we are here. The doctors, nurses and everyone here at Children's have been wonderful.
Continue to pray for Lindsay's room mates, Elijah, Logan and new one Emma. Laura and Jon have been such encouragers to these families.
Thanks for your prayers and kind thoughts to Bill and I these last couple of days. It was another teary parting again but know this is where God wants me for right now.
I am praising God for all of you and that HE will work His perfect plan in each of your lives. God is daily using Lindsay's precious little life to bless us all. I love you, Lindsay Bear. (Granny)

Wednesday morning Update #3

We had an opportunity to talk with Dr. Mayer, and compared to where we were last night, the reality of the verse "weeping endures for the night, but joy comes in the morning ..." was very real.

He said that he was very concerned last night, but was amazed at how she has stabalized throughout the night. The bleeding is under control. ECMO will be doing most of the fluid work today, but they want to begin getting her kidneys to function.

The major prayer for today is that they will be able to get the infection in the chest under control and healed. That will make the whole scenario improve drastically, both with the heart and lungs. Once the infection is taken care of, then she will be a better candidate for the Berlin Heart or a transplant.

Laura reported that Jon had incredible peace last night. Jon told Laura that he didn't care if she lost a foot or even her legs as long as he could bring her home and take care of her.

Thanks for your prayers. Now you all have had three updates this morning!

Wednesday Morning Update #2

After seeing Lindsay this morning I am encouraged. The circulation to the foot seems much improved, her coloring is much better, and Moira, her nurse, was mildly optimistic. We all have our favorite nurses, and Moira ranks up there!!! She is so tender and caring, and I love the way that she talks to Lindsay as she cares for her.

We have not seen the doctors yet, but the bleeding seems to be under control. Pray that she will be able to urinate better. Pray that the infection will continue to be healed. Pray that the bypass will prove to be effective and provide strength and healing to the heart.

We asked if she was still a candidate for a transplant. Moira said that she is still on the list, but that they would not accept one right now because of all she has been through combined with the infection.

I know that the kids will need your continued encouragement today. Pray for Zach and me as we travel back to NJ later this morning. I will update you as I get information.

Wednesday Morning

Good morning. I was blown away again this morning by the outpouring of love in seeing over 9,000+ visits to the blog and 37 messages last night after the last update.

Laura and Jon were finally able to see Lindsay sometime around 1:30 AM after a long talk with one of the doctors.

Lindsay's situation as of last night is very critical. While the bypass surgery technically was successful, the challenges that are before her HUMAN SPEAKING seem so huge.

The ECMO cannulae's were moved to the groin and neck. During surgery the team felt that this was the only way to go, however, the circulation of the one leg has been compromised, which is of great concern.

The battle she is fighting has only just begun. Coupled with the infection, she has lost a significant amount of blood, and the next several days will be very challenging, as in any major surgery.

From the HUMAN perspective -- the news is overwhelmingly discouraging, but we don't know what God has in store. I don't have my concordance with me, but two verses that appeared on the blog are -- "Weeping endures for the night, but joy comes in the morning!" "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases ...His mercies are new EVERY MORNING."

To say that we were not all emotionally impacted by the news would be misleading. The news was certainly not what we had hoped for BUT we know that God is at work, and while we do not yet understand or can discern HIS plan and will at this point, we do have confidence that HE IS IN CONTROL.

I believe that I can speak for everyone in that we desire HIS WILL for Lindsay's life. Please pray for strength for Laura and Jon and for all the doctors and nurses tending to her.

Thanks, Warren, for spending the night with Lindsay.