The latest news...

Well, as many can tell, we are not the best "bloggers" in the world and we do apologize for the lack of recent updates. However, we do want to give everyone an update on how everything is going. Jacob has made very good progress from a mobility standpoint. He crawls well and has begun climbing again (something he was pretty good at prior to the last surgeries. He walks very well with the help of his little walker. He has stood and balanced by himself a few times, but hasn't quite taken any unassisted steps, yet. He seems to be close, though. We are very grateful for all the Lord has done for him. Thanks to everyone who continues to pray for Jacob and our entire family.

His stoma, however, continues to be an area of concern. Just this past week, we drove up to Baltimore, where we are currently, to have the General Ped Surgeon check it out. We have been dilating his stoma regularly, but we have been praying for another solution. It has been torture on both he and us having to do this and also it has become more difficult as he has become stronger. Thankfully, the doctor here feels like a stoma revision is in order and has scheduled this for Feb 3. We have one additional doctor visit this coming Tuesday, Jan 20, then we plan to return home until a few days prior to the next surgery. The doctor feels like the revision to the stoma will help with his gas and general "plumbing" issues he has been having. He is not 100% sure what this revision will like, but it may involve moving the stoma slightly below where it is currently. He feels like the recovery time in the hospital will not be more than about 5-6 days for this surgery. Please pray that the surgery will be a success and that the recovery time will be no more than expected.

Oh, and we should mention that the doctor visit this week will be with Dr. G regarding the Urology side of things. Jacob is still using the SP tube and bag, and we feel like we will likely continue. However, he has had some "scant" bleeding (kind of like spotting) from his urethra, and so we don't know if this will be a concern or not. We will try to post some more details on this later this coming week.

We once again thank you for your prayers, despite our less that stellar efforts to keep everyone informed.

God is faithful and will accomplish more than we can every ask or imagine.

The Arringtons