Monday, December 15, 2008

Day 10 Post Transplant

Well, Luke's exterbated from the breathing machine. This is a great milestone towards getting downgraded from ICU status but due to the fluid overload he's not out of the woods yet. Please pray that he will do well tonight that he will not have to go back on the ventilator. I'm praying for my greatest Christmas present ever -- Lukey home for Christmas!! And cancer free!!!

Today was rather an off day for me, as I was little agitated with Luke's nurse. She was tossing and turning him this morning and when I saw Luke's tears it just broke my heart and the warrior in me came out! But unfortunately it was just the beginning. She left Luke for hours at a time, unattended. Finally, in the evening, I had a chat with the charge-nurse and made sure that my boy and this nurse cut ties in the future :) You can see that I had logged too many hours at the PICU and need a chill pill!

In one of my previous posts I had mentioned about a child that was put on the life support... well, she's a miracle baby! When her cancer (Neuroblastoma) just about consumed her, the dr at Georgetown had the wisdom to seek help for her on an international drs blog (I think). And a dr in England had seen this and called Georgetown with the drug he used on a patient with a similar cancer in the UK, and when they gave her the drug, she had immediately responded. Timing couldn't have been better, as she was just about to go through a major/risky surgery. Too much providence in this to be called good old "lucky." Tonight she's a miracle child fighting hard to hold on to her life. They have reduced the support by the machine and she's getting better! The parents are praying hard and they were jubilant of the hope they now have. Please say a prayer for this family for strength and healing.

Michael continues to improve at home. He's getting pampered by mum's care! I hope he will get dr's approval to fly home soon to be with his wife, Ellen and little Emmy Lou. We thank God for them and the healthy liver Michael so wonderfully took care of! We were told that Lukey's new liver is functioning almost "normal." It will take a few more days to reach the "normal" status but as the surgeon outlined..."it is beautiful!" Praise God! The journey was rough but it was well worth it and most of all, life saving. Through it all, we give God the glory. We thank Dr. Crowley at Ashburn Pediatrics for discovering the tumor at the 6-month "well" baby visit and giving us the time to fight it. I'm not the one to call this -- "lucky."

Hope your Christmas plans are coming along well. Thank you so much for stopping by to read about our journey. We appreciate and love you very much. Good night!

2 comments:

Tony~Hatmaker said...

Wonderful news guys!! God is an awesome God!! Praying for a peaceful, uneventful night and praying for strength in little Lukey and Michael. Share hugs with each other as always!! Tony & Vern

Veronica Welch said...

We are so glad that we were able to come for a visit!! You all are in our prayers!!! Ben and Veronica