Can You Help?

Our missionarry friends from India are in the states for a few months on furlouwe to have their fourth baby and to transition to another mission field. They left everything that they could not take with them on the airplane and are in need of the following items. If you have any that you are not using and want to lend or give away, please email Pat at psieler@gmail.com. Thanks for your help!

Infant car seat; unisex baby clothes; booster seat for a 5 year old; car seat(s); boy clothing size 6-7; girl clothing size 3T-5T; heavy winter jackets for the kids; general baby stuff

some steps forward ... others backwards...

First of all thank you all for praying for us and for your willingness to help out with meals and whatever else we needed. We have been home since Friday afternoon and are very grateful that our stay in the hospital was short. This was actually one of the shortest stays we've had!

Caleb is doing well cardiac wise. His oxygen levels are in the low 80's and he looks amazing for having had heart surgery less than a week ago. He is getting the post-Glenn headaches that we were warned about so he is not sleeping much and is extremely fussy and not very happy. The headaches will stop around 1 month after surgery when his body gets used to "the new piping". Tomorrow we have our post-op cardiology visit and expect a good report from Dr. Mas.

GI wise...Caleb's terrible reflux is gone. Thank you Jesus! The bad news is that we had to re-insert the feeding tube Saturday night. Caleb has been eating without the aid of a feeding tube since the night before Thanksgiving and doing great, but the stomach virus he got the week after Christmas totally threw him off his groove and he has not recovered. Recently we realized that his feeding problem is far from being over. He has to have some type of eaing disorder perhaps due to all the negative stimulation he has recieved to his mouth - being entubated so many times and for long periods; the feeding tube; the about 15 doses of terrible tasting medicine he takes a day; all the milk they have put him on to get him to stop throwing up... The last 2 months the speech therapist and we have tried everything we can to get him to swallow baby food, but he just won't. And now we are back to not wanting even milk. Once again we feel the threat of having to operate Caleb to put a G-tube (permanent feeding tube that goes directly into the stomech). It is super sad and frustrating for us so this is a major prayer request. If you have any suggestions, we welcome them.

Thank You Very Much

We've been moved to a regular room and we're going home tommorrow. Thanks to all!

Caleb's Doing Great

He's drinking milk, he's not on versed, or any other "relaxers". (They weren't doing much anyway.)
He still has a couple IV lines, but that's it!
The nurse said that Caleb was in 24 hours where most babies who get his operation are in 2-4 days! Wow, Lord. Thanks for answering prayers and for raising up so many to pray!
We're not in a hurry to go home, but it will probably be by the end of the week.

Chest Tubes Removed

Caleb's chest tubes were just removed. Everything is progressing on schedule. "This is just where we want to be. He's doing very well," says Dr. Raju, one of the CICU doctors whom we have gotten to know throughout our numerous stays here in the hospital.

The biggest challenge has been keeping him stationary so as not to cause the tubes to bleed. Now that they are out, we are moving towards being able to untie the restraints on his hands that had to be placed yesterdayso that he wouldn't remove the tubes himself!

There also seems to be no lingering hypotonic (flopiness/weak muscle tone) effects from the anesthesia or surgery. For this we are grateful. We are also grateful for the opportunites to be a light for others here in the hospital.

Dr. Anthony Rossi, the head of the CICU, says that by this time next week we should be home!

We say, thank you Lord for these great blessings!

Post Op Report

Caleb is now in the CVICU recovering. Dr. Burke connected his superior vena cava to his right pulmonary artery; patched up the left pulmonary artery that was collapsed and ballooned when he had his last cath; and permanently closed his main pulmonary artery so that there is not too much blood flow going to the lungs. They were able to extubate him which is a big step and all his numbers look good except his oxygen saturation levels. They were usually in the mid to high 80's and are now in the low 70's. We pray that as he recovers they will increase to be 80's again. He is not very sedated so he is a bit cranky. One of the most common side effects of the Glenn operation is strong headaches since the blood from the top part of his body (mainly his head) is flowing into a smaller area (the right pulmonary artery) than normal (the right atrium of the heart). The blood backs up in the head and can swell causing these painful headaches. Hopefully they can keep him sedated enough to allow him to sleep and not fuss or move around which can make the headaches worse. We are doing ok. Based on past experience the easiest part is over-surgery. The more dificult part for Caleb and us is recovery so please don't stop praying! Thank you for all your love and encouraging words.

11:00 Update

Caleb is now being sewed-up. The surgery is going well. The internal work is done. We should see the surgeon in an hour or so; we should see Caleb shortly after that. Please pray for a full and speedy recovery.

Go Caleb!

For a story of how God is using Caleb's life, see our homepage www.sielerfamily.com.

Surgery Begins

We just kissed Caleb good-bye. The next time we see him, he will be heavily sedated and have the IV lines, etc. etc.

We had a good time of prayer in the car on the way over, just thanking the Lord for him.

We should get our first update from the nurse in about an hour. The surgery should last until about 1:00pm. It will take Dr. Burke almost an hour just to cut through the scar tissue from his previous surgery.

We're trusting in the Lord to touch him and heal him.

Pre-Surgery Update

Janet took Caleb to the hospital today to do all the pre-op stuff. We also wanted to talk to Dr. Burke, the surgeon. They told us that wouldn't be possible until Monday. But the Lord worked out very naturally!
We check into the hospital very early on Monday. Please pray for Caleb, he's still not eating and seems to be losing weight.

Surgery Re-Scheduled

On our way to Miami Children's Hospital today, we got word that his surgery has been moved to Thursday. We asked for a different day and ended up rescheduling it until next Monday, the 16th of January. So that's the latest date. The doctors will discuss his case in detail during their weekly conference this Wednesday.

Caleb continues to grow and move and "talk". Genesis absolutely loves playing with him; he laughs at her alot.

Feeding Problems

Caleb hasn't really been eating very well recently. It's amazing how there are so many ups and downs. Since he's been sick with diarrhea, his eating has not been what it used to be.

On the brighter side, we have not seen so active and happy as he has been recently. He moves his arms and plays so much!

So please pray that he eats well and doesn't throw up anymore. Thank you.