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.