Update from this week

Jacob's scope this past Wednesday went well. Thank you for your prayers. He did not have to be admitted to the hospital afterwards, and we certainly praise God for that. The doctors inserted a catheter that will remain in place until around the 29th of this month. At that time, he will have another scope done and we will again practice doing the catheterizing on our own. There may be one additional follow-up shortly after that and then by God's grace, we hope to come home.

I drove back to Chattanooga this past Thursday and will be working here and helping Gran take care of James. It will be great to have James here with me, but much more so when all four of us can be together again. Please pray that this will be soon. Please pray specifically for Courtney and Jacob as they remain in Baltimore during these next couple of weeks. Jacob continues to be on three medications and is being weened off of two of them. Please pray that he will not have any of the symptoms that can occur when coming off of pain medications and that he will stay well over the next few weeks. Please pray for Courtney, too, that God will grant her the strength she needs to care for Jacob and herself. I am thankful that we have family up there who live pretty close and can be an outlet for Courtney and Jacob to be able to get out and about. We thank the Lord often for leading us to Johns Hopkins and, despite all of the challenges involved, also allowing us to be in a place where we have family close by.

In addition to the things mentioned above, please also pray that one of Jacob's pin sites will heal. This was the same pin site that we trouble with when the pins and fixater were still in and now that the metal is all out, the "wound" continues to have trouble closing up. When he had the procedure done this past Wednesday, they gave us some things to help treat this site because it has shown signs of infection. Please pray that it will heal quickly and completely.

One last thing for now, and this one is a praise. In about five more days,we will be able to remove the wrap from Jacob's legs and he can begin to put some weight on them. He has been moving his legs quite well since the pins were removed and we truly look forward to getting him "back on his feet."

"Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord, so that we can see you high and lifted up, shining in the light of your glory."

Daddy BA