Tracheotomy tomorrow

Jonah will have his tracheotomy tomorrow.. not sure of the time, but want you all to know so you can have him in your thoughts and prayers for a smooth, easy and successful surgery. This is a big step for Jonah and it should be a good change for him. I'm sure Scott and Amy are so excited to cuddle him up close again. We will see him on Saturday and will get some pictures of that adorable little face without the ventilator in his mouth. Yay! Pray on friends and family. With love and much appreciation, Nancy

Happy Anniversary Scott and Amy!

Today is Scott and Amy's 3rd wedding anni and we hope it's a wonderful day for two wonderful parents. Scott has told me recently that Jonah is stable and is on hemodialysis most days for a couple hours a day. The infection seems to have subsided but I will let you know more when I do. Something I read on Robynn's blog Yesterday is very good advice, so I will share it with you:
Happy moment, Praise God
Difficult moments, Seek God
Quiet moments, Worship God
Painful moments, Trust God
Every moment, Thank God
Thank you for continuing to pray for Scott, Amy and little Jonah. We will be going down to see them this weekend so I may get some new photos.. :)

Surgery is over

Jonah's surgery is over and the catheter has been removed. He is already waking up and coming out of the anethesia. Scott said it went well and he made it through fine. The next step will be tomorrow most likely, when they will hook him up to the hemodialysis machine again. Hopefully they will use the site which is already there and won't have to insert another tube/line into him. He will be on this each day for 2-4 hours a day because it is not as comfortable as the peritoneal dialysis. That's the latest until next time. Still praying with much hope for the future,

Change of plans

Well... here we go on the roller coaster ride again. Scott called and said they need to do the surgery now to remove the catheter because the infection is still there and the numbers are at 2000 (white blood cell count) now. They are worried about scarring of the membrane around the stomach where the dialysis takes place. If that is compromised, then dialysis will not be possible. It sounds like this is very necessary for Jonah. Pray that the procedure goes well and Jonah is comfortable. He will go on hemodialysis again until he is healed and can get another catheter placed in a different spot. Thank you friends and family. In His love,

surgery postponed 48 hours

Wow... This has been quite a day in the UCLA picu! Amy just called me and said that the doctors have postponed the surgery to remove the dialysis catheter because.... his white blood cell count went from 4000 down to 400 this afternoon! That I am guessing is a huge drop in medical #'s.....Thank the Lord and Thank you, thank you to whoever was praying this afternoon. This has been a sad, nerve-racking kind of day, BUT now we are so thankful that he may really be on the road to recovery from this infection and will be able to keep his peritoneal dialysis going....We know who is in control once again... we do need to be reminded now and then, don't we? We will let you know in a couple of days how it's going. Keep the faith and keep those prayers going, please! In case you are just checking the blog for the first time today, check out the earlier posts so you'll understand what's been going on....:)

Catheter out tomorrow

The Doctors have decided to remove the catheter tomorrow and put him back on hemodialysis. Scott thinks he may have to be on it for quite a while. Once the infection is gone and they think he is ready, they will put another catheter in for the peritoneal dialysis again. This could be quite a while, but we are taking it one day at a time as always. It has been 4 1/2 months since Jonah was born and gave a cry when he entered this world. This was not expected and we all were so gratefully surprised that he was alive. He was taken by helicopter to the UCLA NICU where he has been improving steadily.

At this moment I am reminded of the storm at sea that Peter and the disciples were in. Jesus was asleep on the boat and they were so afraid that they would all die. They woke him up and "he rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided and all was calm." He then asked his disciples, "Where is your faith?" Luke 8:24-25 We are in a storm again with Jonah, but our hope is in God and his faithfulness. We will continue in hope, knowing that Jonah is loved by our Lord more than all the love we all have for him put together. That is HUGE! Please continue in prayer and support for Scott, Amy and little Jonah. Thank you.

Jonah needs your prayers.

Scott just called me at work and said that blood tests came back and showed that Jonah has too many white blood cells which are fighting his infection. If the next test shows the same, then they will take the peritoneal catheter out and he will have to go back on the hemodialysis again which is through the blood rather than the stomach. This is a setback and our prayer is that the infection will go away with God's healing touch and the antibiotics that Jonah is on. Thank you for lifting him up and I will let you know soon what decision has been made. Proverbs 3:5-7 is one of Scott's favorite verses. With love and prayers,