Not just yet - prayer request

As we were preparing to leave this morning, we noticed that Jacob's stoma has again prolapsed out. The doctors a advised that we should meet them at the ER. We are here now, waiting to see what Dr Lau suggests. Outside of this, Jacob is doing quite well. He ate a little this morning and has been playing quite a bit.

This setback is definitely frustrating, but we are confident that God will work in and through even this that which brings glory to His Name.

Mommy and Daddy

Marching On

Jacob was released from the hospital this afternoon (Thursday). Praise the Lord. His stoma looks really good and he seems to be on the mend. When he first left, he attempted to take a few steps, but then wanted to ride in the stroller. When we got back to the Children's House, he took a "short" four hour nap. Wow. But this nap really made a difference for him, though. Plus, it allowed Daddy some time to do a little bit of work (part of his job can be done remotely). When he woke up this evening, he was doing a lot more walking and even managed to walk up two floors worth of steps, with just a little help. If all continues to go well, we will be making our way back toward Chattanooga tomorrow morning (Friday). Here are a few prayer requests and praises:

1. Please pray for safety as we travel, especially for Jacob. We do have some good meds in case he gets a little nauseated, but pray that he will handle the long trip well.
2. Praise the Lord that we only had to spend three nights in the hospital this time and hope to be heading toward home tomorrow.
3. Please continue to pray for James. He started some medicine today for the cough that he has been dealing with for the past two weeks.
4. Praise the Lord that Jacob has started eating a little and drinking quite well.
5. Along those same lines, though, please pray that his bowel function will soon return to "normal." He has not had a lot of output so far relative to what has been going in. This may take a little more time, but we pray that his full appetite will return and that he will not experience anymore of the bowel/stoma related discomfort that he had after his 2008 surgeries.
6. Praise the Lord that Jacob may not need any more surgeries for a couple of years.

Above all, though, Praise the Lord, for He is Good. Praise the Lord, for He is full of mercy. Praise the Lord for HE ALONE is worthy.

Mommy and Daddy

Today's Update

Jacob had a pretty good night, although our next door neighbors did make it a little challenging to sleep. Dr. Lau came by and is pleased with his progress. He feels like Jacob may be able to be released tomorrow. Jacob has started to eat a little, but still had not wanted to drink much, yet. He continues to receive pain meds through the IV, but may soon switch to oral meds. Jacob was able to get up out of his bed for a little while today and go into the play room. He walked a short distance by himself, but is still regaining his strength. We are not sure how long we may need to stay here after he is released, but there seems to be a good chance that we'll be able to leave by the weekend.

Please pray that this surgery will "work" in the long run. Dr. Lau seemed to imply that there is still a chance that his stoma might prolapse again, although he feels like it won't get to the extent is was prior to the surgery. Also, please pray for complete healing in and around the site of his incision. We were advised that there are a total of four stitches and we certainly don't want the area to become infected or open up.

We, do, of course, have some praises as well. Jacob has been once again "spoiled" by three of his favorite nurses and certainly a number of others that have cared for him over the years. We are so thankful to have individuals who are so committed to his post-op care.

We are also thankful that both James' and Gran's coughs are doing a little better.

We are able to love and serve one another because He first loved us.

Mommy and Daddy

Post surgery update - Praise

Jacob went back for surgery, with Daddy, at around 7:40 this morning. The surgery began just before 8:30 and Dr. Lau came out at around 9:00 to advise that he was finished. We were pleasantly surprised that he was able to finish so quickly, but definitely thankful. He advised that he was able to simply move Jacob's bowel/colon and attach it to his abdominal wall rather than having to place mesh or anything like that in there. He feels like this will prevent his stoma from prolapsing or at least keep it to where if it does, it will only come out a little. Jacob stayed in recovery for about an hour and now has been brought back to his room. The plans for now are to keep him in the hospital for a couple of days. The Lord graciously helped keep Jacob fairly calm throughout the entire process. He will be receiving paid meds, probably continuously, for the next 24 hours or so. Unless there are complications, Dr. Lau feels like we should be able to go home shortly after he is released from the hospital.

Thank you for your continued prayers and remember - Pray to the Lord and Praise His Holy Name.

Mommy and Daddy

The Admission and Prep

Jacob was admitted to the hospital a little after 2 pm today. The nurses have started an IV and put in the NG tube. The IV went in fairly easily, but the NG was a little more challenging. They have begun giving him the stuff with the strangely appropriate name -Go Lightly.

Thank you for your prayers and praises this evening as we prepare for the surgery in the morning. Pray for Dr Lau that he will have a steady hand and a solid plan for the revision. Praise Him for opening the doors for Jacob to receive his care at Johns Hopkins and providing for all of our needs (abundantly).

Almighty God is He.

M&D

A Safe Trip Up

Mommy, Daddy and Jacob arrived safely in Baltimore this evening. Thank you for your prayers. We are most thankful that we ended up missing the strong storms that came through the area. We saw quite a few trees down near Charles Town, WV. We do have one huge praise to share - on our way up this morning, we received a call from the Children's House, advising that they had a last minute opening for us. This is a blessing for all of us. Jacob loves being here because there are tons of toys to play with and new friends to meet. He has been asking us over the past few months - when are we going to go back to The Children's House? We certainly wish that we were just here for that, but at least he looks forward to this part of out journey.

Sometime in the morning, we will be calling the hospital to find out when Jacob is to be admitted. Please pray that this process will go smoothly. Also, please pray especially for Jacob as he will have a full bowel prep and possible NG tube put in. The surgery time is scheduled for 7:30 am on Tuesday.

We also like to ask your prayers for James and Gran as both have been battling coughs lately. Please pray that they will recover soon and the Lord will keep everyone else healthy, especially Jacob. James is staying with Papa and Gran this week in Knoxville and while we know he will have a great time with them (having a small pool there doesn't hurt either)t we will certainly miss him.

We heard a good sermon on the radio while driving up today. The theme of the message was this - no matter what the circumstances, there are two things we should always do - pray and praise.

Praise the One who, by His blood, allows us to come boldly before His throne of Grace.

Mommy and Daddy

Update on the next surgery

As of our last update, we were planning to call Dr. Lau's office this week (or thereabouts) to schedule a surgery for Jacob's stoma/colostomy repair. However, we received a call this past week from his office, advising that they already have a date for us (this is where we insert a commercial break and keep everyone on edge, waiting to find out the date).

Ok, so without commercial interruption, the surgery date is next Tuesday, the 27th. The doctor anticipates that Jacob will need to be in the hospital for about three days. Since a bowel prep is required for this surgery, he will actually be admitted the day before (the 26th) at noon. We will probably travel up on Sunday. We were pleasantly surprised and thankful that the Lord opened up a date much earlier than we expected. In the past, when we called to schedule surgeries, it was rare that it would happen sooner than 3-4 weeks after we called to make the appointment.

We certainly covet your prayers and have compiled a list of specific requests. They are as follows:

1. For Mommy and Daddy as they pack and prepare. Gran is here in Chattanooga this week and has helped tremendously by watching the boys. We are very thankful for all that she has done and is doing.

2. For good health for all of us, especially Jacob.

3. For safety in travel as we go up to Baltimore this weekend.

4. The Lodging situation - The Children's House, where we typically stay, is very busy this time of year and it doesn't appear that we will be able to get in there (although nothing is impossible with God). However, there is another family who has offered to share part of their town home with us. This town home happens to be the exact same one we stayed in during the 2008 surgery. It is close to the hospital. We would still like to get into the Children's House, but are thankful for the generosity displayed by this family.

5. For James as he will be staying with Gran and Papa in Knoxville.

6. For the bowel prep - anyone who has ever had one of these knows how unpleasant it is. With Jacob, the doctors will probably have to put a tube in his throat, and that part is very tough on Jacob.

7. For the surgery itself (including the anesthesiology) - Dr. Lau may have to put some mesh around Jacob's stoma to offer it greater support, and so this surgery may be fairly extensive. Also, in addition to praying that this surgery will be successful, please pray that he will not back track with his eating and weight gain. Ever since his stoma has been prolapsed, he has been eating well and gaining weight. Part of this may be because everything is so open and therefore things are able to "move through" easily. While we realize that his colon needs to be inside of his body, we pray that putting it back him will not cause him to go back to where he was last year (tightness, uncomfortable during the night, unable to sleep and eat well, etc).

8. For recovery - please pray that Jacob will recover quickly and that we can return home soon. James has a birthday coming up on August 7th and school starts for him on the 11th. We'd love to, Lord willing, be home before then.

Praise the Lord, for He is gracious and merciful. Praise the Lord, for He is good. Praise the Lord, for He works in and through every circumstance that which pleases Him and accomplishes His good purposes. May His Name, that Name that is above all others, be glorified and lifted up throughout this journey.

Mommy and Daddy

Last weekend - the outcome

The scope that Jacob had last Friday went very well. Other than getting an ultrasound done in about six months (which we will have sent to Dr. G), the Urology side of things looks very good. Dr. Lau, who handles the colostomy and stoma side of things, came in during the scope to evaluate that situation. He still feels like surgery will be necessary in the coming weeks, but wants some additional time to think about the best course of action.

Jacob does not have a lot of muscle tissue in his abdomen area to help hold his colon/stoma inside. So, it is not simply a matter of putting it back in, because it may prolapse (come out) again. What he may do is put some sort of mesh in that area to be sort of a make-shift abdomenal wall. He said this is a little more complex of a surgery that the revision that he had back in January. He has asked us to call him back towards the end of this month, and make the arrangements at that time. We will let everyone know once we have a date and so forth.

As for the remainder of last weekend, we did get to attend the Exstrophy picnic that was held on Friday night and Saturday morning. Daddy BA had his five minutes of fame and delivered what he thought was an OK speech. This year was probably one of the best so far because there were about seven families there, in total, who have someone with the same condition as Jacob. They ranged in age from under one year to about 17. There were many others there, too, that have a slightly more common condition called Classic Bladder Exstrophy, but actually having our own group session with the Cloacal Exstrophy patients and families was really great.

Saturday afternoon we left Baltimore and headed toward Papa A and Grammy's home in Virginia. We stayed there Saturday night and headed out Sunday morning. We stopped by Knoxville to see Papa and arrived safely back in Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon.

For now, it is back to the summer routine. Thanks to everyone for your prayers during this past week.

"He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay - He is Jesus, Our Lord and Savior."

Daddy and Mommy