Day 50

Jen & I cannot thank everyone enough for your prayers for Robert - and us. I know that God has sustained R and us over the past 50+ days of this journey. I'm sure you have noticed that the frequency of our updates has diminished the past week or so. I don't know that I ever imagined how much energy this would take out of us. We sometimes feel weak, but know that the Lord will show Himself faithful and strong in the midst of our weakness. Lastly, we plan to take a break from August 1 -7. We'll be taking some time as a family to get away and recharge.

On to the little man...

For the past few days, R has remained relatively stable. He has an occasional leap of heart rate or blood pressure, but a quick drink of something in his IV usually fixes it. Issues with his heart seem better - not nearly the irregularities that have been present in the past. His lungs seem to be doing very well. Even today during rounds, there was some discussion of taking him off of the ventilator, when the rest of his body is ready. His kidneys continue to be on vacation. Again, doctors say they will start when they are ready. We hope it is soon.

The biggest area of concern is his gut. He has a perforation in his bowel. The normal remedy would be surgery, however, because he is so fragile in there, the doctors fear that any surgery might do more damage than good. There is pressure in R's gut that is pushing the stool out of his intestine and through the incision that was made for his surgery. This sounds rather gross and looks even worse, but the doctor is pleased that the body is getting it out, one way or another. As long as he can stay stable and infection free, they will be pleased and see if the body can remedy the problem on it's own.

Thank you for continuing to pray with us. Each day that goes by, our anticipation grows for the days that are coming where he makes great strides toward a full recovery!