Doing Well...Pressing On

Every once in awhile, we get an email: "Hey, I noticed you haven't posted anything on Caleb's site in awhile. I hope that means everything's going well."

We're always thankful that people are praying and are concerned about our family. And yes, Caleb is doing well. He's moving alot! Laughing, growing, and pulling his sister's hair. He eats, but not really well, always with a spoon. We press on, though. Janet is an amazing woman that is perserving in the daily grind of Caleb. She continues to take him to therapy three times a week and the occasional doctor's visit. He's only on Captopril and Aspirin.

Thanks guys!

Caleb Goes To Church

We have been happy that we have been able to bring Caleb to church. He likes it, too.

In Jesus' Arms

AJ went to be with Jesus at 8:10 this morning. We have not had the opportunity to talk or see the family.

Please Pray for AJ

This is going to be a tough week. One of our friends that we met at Miami Children's Hospital will be losing their 18 month old in just a day or two. The doctors have done everything they can do. There can't be anything more difficult than losing a little child. Our hearts are heavy for them. They have been a strength to us; we can only pray that we will be able to provide some small degree of comfort.

That special little boy will be in heaven this week. That's pretty amazing.

Still Vomitting

Caleb is still vomitting quite a bit. He is also having a hard time eating by spoon. We still have not been able to manage to feed him baby food since his last surgery. Sometimes progress comes s l o w l y.

Nine Months

Caleb is now nine months old. He's been out of the womb longer than he was in. He's doing well, still vomitting a bit. We're trying to fatten him up.

"His Entrails Gushed Out"

We were expecting Thursday to be a pretty normal day. Pat went to work expecting a call from Janet early afternoon to come and pick her and Caleb up from the hospital. Well...

The resident came to remove the tube and drain out of Caleb's side. Unfortunately, the tube was not the only thing that came out. Yes, our apologies to all our weak stomach friends, but Janet got her first look at the inside of Caleb. Whether it was muscle, fat, or other we know not. The resident didn't know what to do - he tried to stuff it back in - I'm not kidding - reminds me of one of those stuff your own teddy bear places at the local mall.

Well, they finally cut it and stitched it up, and we stayed yet one more day at Jackson.

We did go home Friday.

Caleb is doing well and eating better.

ERCP Completed

Dr. Kramer and his team did a great job. They were able to navigate in and take some pictures. They saw several stone fragments. Using the adult probe, they were able to attach a basket and sweep the common bile duct, removing most of these fragments. Further pictures revealed one little stone that they were unable to get; it may not even be a stone but an air bubble, Dr. Kramer said. This additional stone should have no problem passing because part of the ERCP involved cutting the sphincter.

If Caleb does well and shows no sign of infection or any complication, we should be going home today.

It's been a brutal two weeks: three hospitals, one surgery, three general anesthesia, inummerable "pokes" for blood and IV, lots of hospital food, and a battle to see one another. Of course, there was lots of prayer; and One faithful God who comforts us and never leaves us.

Vitals Up

Caleb's heartrate has been up, and he's been breathing fast. They took a chest x-ray and found some fluid. He hasn't been peeing enough either. So they decided to start him back on Lasik and Digoxin. Lasik helps him get rid of fluid and Dig helps his heart to beat correctly.

We were excited that he was off of all his meds, but if he needs them, he needs them. We want him to be very stable for his ECRP. Hopefully, he can start to be weaned off the meds at a later point.

ECRP & Transfer Scheduled

Caleb's ECRP has been scheduled for 11:00am on Wednesday at Jackson. We will be transfered tommorrow, Tuesday, afternoon.

Eating

He eats well when he's on pain medication or sedatives. Otherwise, his eating is an ounce here an ounce there. Perhaps his pain is from the stone that is still in his common bile duct. We'll ask the surgeon this today, hopefully. He did tell us yesterday that the feeding problem is probably not associated with his stones. That was surprising.