We're Home!!!

Well, James was released from the hospital this morning around 11 am. We were quite surprised--we thought we were going to have to stay a few more days. Praise the Lord! I told Kristal on the way to the car, "My favorite part about going to the hospital is... leaving."

James had a successful surgery with no complications. He experienced much unbearable pain for about 24 hours or so after the surgery. We felt bad for the little guy--he woke up at 2 am after his surgery and couldn't go back to sleep. Kristal held him from 2-7 am and then I held him from 7-10 am. He would fall asleep for about 2 minutes and then startle awake, scream his head off a bit, wail his arms and legs, and then go back to sleep for about 2 more minutes, and then he would startle awake again.... over and over and over. However, he started getting much better yesterday afternoon. He is not completely back to his normal self yet, but he is doing much much better.

A few things that you can be praying about:

1. James had a seizure after his surgery in the recovery room. The neurologist told us that it was probably just circumstantial, especially considering the fact that this was the first seizure he has had since birth. He said that he would only be concerned if it were to happen again. That's good news. Just be praying that it doesn't happen again.

2. Pray for continued recovery. He has about a 3 inch incision on his stomach just above his g-tube site (which is pretty large on a small tummy). Infection is always an issue when dealing with fresh wounds. Also, pray that the stitching of his stomach to his esophagus does not tear. If it were to tear, food and stomach acid could leak out and form an abscess, which is down right painful.

3. James has still been retching as if he were going to vomit. This is to be expected because the Nissen does not stop throw up reflexes, it just keeps stuff from coming up. However, pray that his retching stays to minimal at least until his stomach is fully healed (while you are at it, just pray that it would go away forever. It's uncomfortable for him and not fun to watch for us).

4. Pray for the Lord to take any pain or discomfort away. At this point his belly is still pretty tender when touched.

5. Pray that the Nissen continues to do what it is supposed to do (DUH! And most of you probably wouldn't have prayed for this if I wouldn't have reminded you to). It is designed to keep food and reflux from coming up his esophagus. The doctor told us that the Nissen does not work on about 10% of the patients who get it. Pray that he is not one of those 10%.

6. Pray for his feeding. They sent us home with a plan to gradually increase his feeds to where he was before he had the surgery. Pray that his retching and gagging do not increase with the amount of food that is in his belly (because it usually gets worse when more food is in his belly).

7. Pray for Kristal: She is pretty worn out. I am so proud to call her "my wife." Every single doctor we come across expresses amazement at how attentive and knowledgeable she is about James. She is such a good mommy--James is a blessed little boy.

8. Pray for me: I have a large paper due on Friday. I am making good headway, but I still have a lot left. I am starting to wonder if I will be finished by the deadline.

Thank you all for praying for us while James was in the hospital. The Lord has been so good to the three of us. I would write more but I have to get to my paper.