Good News

Well. Abel is home. The doctors yesterday said that his numbers were down. He needs to have blood drawn every week for a while. We are very thankful that his numbers have kept coming down. We definitely know it is an answer to many people's prayers. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for continuing to pray!!

The doctor also said that he could find a job if he wanted to without limitations.

He will have a 1 year liver check up about the middle of March. We will let you know as we continue on this journey.

Surprise

Well, we thought Abel would be released and coming home on Tuesday but he surprised me by showing up last night. The doctor is not sure why but his numbers went down 3 days in a row. He has another check up in Dallas on Tuesday. We obviously are hoping for good news that his numbers are still going down. This would be a huge answer to prayer.

We are not sure what the next step is if his numbers are up. This week, because his numbers were going down, they did not check his bile ducts. We are assuming that may be first on the agenda but after that we don't know what to expect.

We don't know what God has in store for us but all we can do is wait and pray.

You're going down!!!

Well the update for today is they did not check his bile ducts, they decided to wait until tomorrow.

Good news is his liver numbers are down today and the doctor can't explain why; however the doctor was very pleased with his liver numbers. The doctor can't explain why but we all know it is because of people's prayers. We are very thankful for everyone who has been praying. The prayers are working.

That's really the only news for today.

Finding nothing

Last night I tried to sleep but was wide awake. I just started writing in my journal and here is my entry (about 1:45 in the morning). 

"Laying here trying to sleep and I just want to shout for joy. God has blessed us so much. (singing) 'God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me.' I am so thankful for what God has done in our lives. Even though our world maybe shaken, He will not ever let us go. We are always on his mind. We have to remember to be thankful in good times and bad. Obviously it is easier to be thankful in the good but keep praising God. Whatever you are going through - there is a reason. God does not abandon us we just need to fix our eyes on Him and thank Him for situations that come up. He knows what he's doing and does not make mistakes. Now I'll sing an "old school" song by Amy Grant 'God is in control. We believe that His children will not be forsaken.'"

Last night obviously I was very thankful. Do not think that I never get discouraged because that is not true. Sometimes, discouragement creeps in but I know who my hope comes from and have to remember that; even if it is difficult.

Now the update:

Monday night, dad and Abel left for Dallas. They did a biopsy (the 3rd one in a month) and everything still looks good. This means the liver is functioning well and they don't see a problem. They also drew blood and his liver numbers were up. They decided to admit him but he will be out sometime this week. 

Today, the doctors checked his blood flow and everything seems fine. Tomorrow the plan is that they will re-check the bile ducts to see if there is any obstruction. They have already done this and seen nothing so they don't expect to find anything tomorrow either. 

It is both good news and bad news that they can not find anything wrong. Good news is there doesn't seem to be a problem. The bad news is.....there is a problem and the doctors can't find it. They know there definitely is a problem because his liver numbers continue to increase. We are unsure what the next step will be. 

The doctors plan is just to wait and see what develops. They said that whatever it is causing the numbers to go up is in the beginning stages. Because it is just beginning to develop, there will not be much damage to the liver if they just wait for a little while. 

Even with all of this going on, we have definitely seen God's hand through it all. He has been with us every step of the way and strengthening our faith along the way. 

I will let you all know what continues to develop. 

Where do we go from here?

December 9th we were driving to Pampa to drop off our foster daughter Shaundra, when I noticed that Abel's eyes were yellow. It was very close to 5 on a Friday afternoon and knew I needed to act fast before the doctors office closed. I called the doctor here in Amarillo and the doctor in Dallas. They said to get blood drawn which we did. As a result Abel was admitted to Baylor on December 11th. Doctors said it was rejection which we knew would happen eventually. Doctors were to treat the rejection by changing his medicine and release him about a week later. This was our plan but obviously did not happen.

We are unsure why but his immune system is extremely high. The medicine they were giving him had no effect on his liver numbers (which were still high).  Because his numbers were still high, they gave him a medicine called Thymo which is used to treat Leukemia patients. This medicine was given to Abel to get his white blood cell count (immune system) down and prevent rejection which would also get his liver numbers down too. They gave him the medicine from Saturday to Friday (7days). The medicine is so potent that it costs $6,000 per day and takes 8 hours to infuse. The first day of the medicine was very tough on Abel. He became nauseous and got the chills but was much better everyday after that. They kept watching his blood pressure and temperature daily to be sure everything went smoothly.

On day 6 and 7 instead of going down (as it had most of the other days) his liver numbers were still going up. As a result the doctor released us on Saturday (knowing there was nothing that could be done over the weekend) much to our surprise. The doctors do not know why his numbers are going up.  We had 2 liver biopsies while there and another one scheduled for Tuesday (in Dallas). From they biopsies, they are concluding that the liver is working fine. One option is that it could be a blockage in the bile ducts or an infection but of course we don't know.

The good thing is Abel is feeling well. He is bored in the hospital but he knows he needs to be there for his health. He also used to get very upset when he had to be in the hospital but he has just come to accept this fact.

We arrived home just in time to celebrate the Puerto Rican's new year (2 hours before ours). Very nice to be back home!

Abel will go back on Tuesday to have blood work drawn and a biopsy. We are not sure if they will admit him or not. I guess we just have to wait and see. I will keep you updated as we get more information!

The song from Whatever You're Doing by Sanctus Real comes to mind:

Whatever you're doing inside of me 
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me 
Larger than life something heavenly

Please continue praying!!  We have seen God work in amazing powerful ways and we have no doubt that He is going to use this too. I honestly can't wait to see how God is going to use this experience to show His power yet again. All we can do is wait and trust.