New Schtuff

I am happy to inform you all that Ariel Vanderhorst, one of my friends from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has just started a new blog. Many of you are already familiar with Ariel's present "Bitter Sweet Life" blog. He is going to continue with the "Bitter Sweet Life" blog, but he wanted to start a new one that would focus primarily on things having to do with Christianity. If you have been as blessed with Ariel's creative and profound writing as I have you might want to check it out. You can access it by clicking here. As with any human being, I do not agree with everything that Ariel says, however his content is worthy of a hearing.

Also, be praying for my dad. He went in for surgery last night to get some kidney stones removed. They ended up having to stop the surgery because the stones were too large to take out of his kidney without the large possibility of causing uncontrollable bleeding. He has been on a hospital bed all night with a tube sticking out of his back. He should be having the surgery some time today. Pray that the doctors would be able to operate with precision and wisdom. Pray that the Lord would grant my dad a quick recovery--I guess this surgery is painful.

Also, continue praying for us. James is doing quite well, but is struggling with reflux again. Also, we meet with his neurologist this coming week to discuss the tests they took last week.

James Update

I am happy to inform everyone that this past Sunday the elders at my church laid their hands on James and prayed over him for God to heal him. Kristal and I have just recently been talking about how we really wanted to see this being done. Well, the Lord answered our prayers. For those of you who are suspicious of laying on of hands: read James 5:14-15. Prayer is not some magic button, but God does answer prayer.

This past week James had to be put under anesthesia for about 4 hours in order to have some tests done. They gave him a spinal tap, an MRI, a hearing test, and they set him up to do an EEG test. Those of you who have followed these updates know that James has already had a couple of EEG tests. Basically the purpose of the EEG test is to see if James is having seizures or not. Because James has been doing things that seem so seizure-like, they wanted to keep an EEG monitor connected to him for two and a half days. Thank the Lord, he tolerated it well.

Today the doctor will be reading the results of the test. He will also be getting back to us soon regarding his spinal tap and the MRI. Pray that we would get good, confident news back from the doctor. His hearing test went well. The doctor said his ears work perfectly.

Also, many of you have probably heard of James' recent struggles with vomiting. He has simply not been able to hold his food down. This lasted over a month. Well, sometime last week the Lord supernaturally fixed James' vomiting. He hasn't thrown up for almost a whole week. This is such a blessing because we were starting to think that he was going to have to have a permanent surgery done in order to fix it.

The Lord has been good to us. Continue to pray for James. Thank you for persisting with us in prayer.

Enter Ivory Tower

If you haven't noticed, I haven't written in a while. Right now I am in the heat of battle with my classes at seminary. My "Introduction to World Missions" course has been sucking every spare minute of my life away. I have never had a class that has expected so much work out me. I have literally given up every aspect of my life to merely do the minimal work for the class. I have never had a class that has pulled me away from what is most important (family, ministry, etc.) as this one has. I have been studying from 8 am till 10 pm, Monday through Saturday (Ok, so I don't go straight through: I take a 30 min break for lunch and an hour break for supper). The good thing is that I have learned a lot. But, as a result, I have not been writing much on my blog. This class will be over in less than two weeks--until that time I will not be very regular in my writing. In the meantime I will be putting up pictures of James and stuff like that (I know, thats the main reason most of you come here anyway.)

Please pray for me during these next two weeks. Pray that the Lord would give me supernatural ability to get all of my work done on time--pray that I would produce quality work. Most of all, pray that I would retain it and that it would be useful for ministry in the future. Pray for Kristal as I am not able to help much with James. Pray for Kelly (my mother-in-law) as she is having to pick up where I cannot help.

Also, James is doing really well. Please continue to pray. He is starting to get congested and is throwing up again. We are praying that he is not coming down with RSV again (the doctor said it was a possibility). Aside from all of this, he is really progressing. Kristal has been working with him a lot lately on his motor development. She is such a good mommy.

Anyway, pray for me as I enter my theological ivory tower divorced from the world, family and ministry. I have already been in the tower for a few weeks and cannot wait to get back to normalcy.

An Update on Ol' Poopy Pants

For those of you who are still waiting for another update on James: He is now out of the hospital. We left at 8:00 pm Wednesday night. James is doing really well. His congestion is much better and he is back to his smiley self. The only thing in need of prayer at this point is his eating. For a while there, he wasn't able to eat anything without throwing it up. Right now he is eating a little over half of what he was eating before he was sick. We are increasing his feeds little by little everyday, but we have to go slow with it because he struggles with holding it down. Pray that he would continue to increase to where he was before he was sick. Also, pray for him tomorrow: Kristal is going to start trying to feed him orally again tomorrow. He absolutely refused to eat orally while he was sick (we fed him solely through his g-tube). Pray that he learns to enjoy eating orally again.

The Lord has been so good to us. The Lord clearly did a miracle on Tuesday night. When Kristal and I went to bed he was in desperate need of oxygen and an IV. Well, when we woke up he was breathing 5 percentages better without the oxygen than he was the night before with the aid of oxygen. Thank you so much for your prayers. Both Kristal and I have learned so much through our trials with James. We had a couple lengthy conversations about what the Lord has been teaching us through our struggles. Both of us are encouraged more than ever. We serve a faithful God.

DJ Jazzy James

The Lord has been good. Last night when we went to bed we lamented the fact that we would probably not be leaving the hospital for a while. Well, this morning when we woke up the nurse came in and told us that they took James off his oxygen early this morning. They still have the tubes in his nose just in case, but his breathing is much better.

About 15 minutes after posting yesterday, the doctor decided it was time to put an IV in. They did not want him to get more dehydrated and thus go further backwards. Well, the IV is still in, BUT James has been holding his food down really well. He hasn't thrown up since last night around 8 pm (and his 8pm barf fiasco was on the smaller side of things). The doctor just (as I am typing this) came in and informed us that they are going to start trying to feed James 3 oz (about 1/4 of a can of soda) every 3 hours. She said if he can keep 3 oz down without throwing any up until this evening, we might be able to go home.

Since we have been to the hospital James has not cracked one smile (which is unlike him). Well, this morning he has been smiling all over the place. He is much more awake and energetic.

Things seem to be looking up for DJ Jazzy James. We are not sure when we will be leaving, but we are hopeful that it will be sooner than later. Please continue to pray that James would continue to fight through this nasty RSV.

Also, they took another x-ray of his chest and his lungs were Kristal clear (haha)--no more pneumonia.

Heck, what do you know, God does answer prayer. I guess it is not a waste of time getting on your knees praying to the invisible God. Hmmm... I guess his promises are true.

Well folks, continue to pray. Continue to sick God on James--He seems to know how to deal with that "untreatable" monster, RSV.

Prayer Update 2/1/07

Time for a James update:

We had to take James to the doctor today because he had a 101.8 degree temperature. Last night he started throwing up and was having troubled breathing.

The doctor took an x-ray of his lungs to make sure he didn't get anything in his lungs while throwing up last night, and she also sucked some boogers out of his head to see if he has RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus). Well, leave it to James: He's got both--he has pneumonia and RSV.

The pneumonia has not had time to get very bad and so will be easily taken care of with the help of antibiotics. The RSV is untreatable. The doctor said that some kids with RSV are hardly effected by it all--the only symptoms they get are a snotty nose, congestion, and a cough. Other kids, however, are much more effected by it--the Doctor said that some kids with RSV spend up to 2 weeks in the hospital. The main concern is that we do not want the congestion to get so bad that it makes breathing difficult.

Please pray for James and both his pneumonia and RSV. Pray that he does not become severely effected by the RSV. We are thankful that he is not in pain--he's just lethargic and coughfy (new word--chalk me up).

Also, continue to pray for my parents. My dad is really not doing well health wise. His medical problems are not emergencies, but he is very uncomfortable. He has a blood clot in his arm and a kidney stone surgery in about 2 weeks among many other things. Also, pray for my parents as they look for a place to move. Pray that my dad finds a job.

Thanks for persisting with us in prayer.

Baby James Prayer Update--1/18/07

It has been a few weeks since I have done an update on James. You can see the hose part of James' g-tube in the picture. If you can't tell, he was being fed when the picture was taken--hence the syringe full of formula.

1. Praise the Lord! James' EEG test results came back and there was absolutely no seizure activity. This was a huge answer to prayer.

2. Praise the Lord! James had a vision test and everything is normal.

3. Praise the Lord! James is growing now that we can feed him through his g-tube.

4. Continue to pray for James' motor development--he is still way behind. He is making little, yet noticeable progress every week (except in the area of eating orally). James' therapist and doctors fit him to an adaptive chair to specifically help his motor development. Be praying that it comes in faster than it usually does. They told us 3-6 months.

5. James is really starting to come out of his shell. He is such a joy to have around. He always laughs. He is much smarter than I thought--he thinks I am the funniest of all. He takes after his father--good discernment.

6. We are looking into getting him a helmet to fix his flat head. Pray that the Lord would give us discernment on this.

7. Praise the Lord! James is FINALLY letting Kristal and I sleep through the night.

8. James' neurologist wants to do another MRI of James' brain. He also wants to do another spinal tap, blood work, and urine sample to continue to make sure that they haven't missed something. They also want to do a hearing test. We do not know when this will happen. Be praying because they will have to sedate him to do all these things.

9. Pray for my parents. My dad is having a lot of health issues (kidney stones, numbness throughout his body, sleep apnia, etc.). Also, my dad is looking at getting a new job. The economy in NV is so poor that the fencing industry has almost stopped. They are looking at jobs in both the Seattle, WA and the Phoenix, AZ areas. Pray that the Lord would grant him a job that both pays well and is easy on his body. Pray for them financially as it is expensive to move. Also, pray for my mom as she is taking care of my 15 year old cousin.

God has been so good to us. Thanks for your persistent prayers.

Urgent Prayer Request

One of my good friends from high school, Katie, has some urgent medically related prayer requests. I will briefly state the requests:

-Her grandma had a heart attack and is having quadruple bypass surgery.

-Her dad, on his way to the hospital to be with her grandma, had to go to the emergency room--they think he has a bleeding ulcer.

-Her mom, at the hospital with her grandma, is having heart palpitations.

Please pray for Katie and her family. Katie has been keeping everyone updated on her blog.

James Update 1/3/07

An important update: James has been doing some things that made the doctors think he might be having seizures (if you have been keeping up with James' progress you will know this). Because of this, they hooked him up to a take home EEG unit (thingy). Well, an EEG reads the electric impulses of his brain. It can detect seizure activity. A standard EEG test lasts about 20 minutes or so. James already had one of these and the results were normal. The doctors thought it was necessary to have him put on a 24 hour EEG test to get a more thorough examination. This is a necessity because the EEG can only detect the type of seizure they presume he might be having in the exact moment he is having it. Thus, they sent us home with a mobile EEG unit (thingy). We just had it taken off yesterday. Be praying the results come back normal.

The EEG was absolutely inconvenient. His head was completely wrapped in gauze, because the EEG is merely a bunch of long, skinny wires glued to his head. Without the gauze he looks like a machine man. If they didn't gauze his head up, his hands would be so entwined in the mess of wires that not even the jaws of life would get him out.

Before getting the EEG on his head, we had an appointment with the infant developmental team. The meeting was both informative and a bit challenging. It was informative because Kristal and I feel like we know more about James and his needs. It was challenging because both of the doctors on the developmental team spoke with us about James' progress down the road.

Up to this point the developmental doctors have been telling us, "All kids with brain injuries heal differently from their specific injury. There is no way to predict how James is going to jump back from the injury he incurred as an infant. There is nothing we can do but to wait for James to call the shots. James is at high risk for severe motor skill disabilities. We are not sure how severe his disabilities will be, but we know that he will have them."

Well, James is almost 9 months old now and so the doctors on the developmental team are beginning to see exactly how his brain injury has impacted him. As of right now, they are convinced that James' motor skill inabilities are going to be more on the severe side.

This came as a sort of a "rude awakening" for Kristal and I. It is one thing to hear the doctor say, "Your son is at high risk for severe motor skill disabilities." it is another to hear, "Your son is now showing us that he does and will continue to have sever motor skill disabilities."

They are not sure what aspects of James' motor skills will be effected severely, they just know that he will struggle for the rest of his life. Right now they know enough to tell us that his brain damage has impacted him greatly, but they do not know enough yet to tell us precisely where it will effect him the most.

They confirmed that his problems with eating, his inability to hold up his head consistently, his inability to roll over, his inability grasp toys, and his inability to hold concentration are not the result of getting a late start, these things are the result of his brain injury. It is not as if James is too fat to move, or that he is not motivated to grow developmentally, it is that he has had brain damage, which is effecting almost every aspect of his motor development.

The doctor said, "James' issue with holding up his head and eating are not going to be fixed over night. He is not going to merely just learn to do these things--his brain injury is preventing him from doing these things."

One positive thing that the doctors told us is that James' cognitive abilities will not be greatly hindered. The doctor said, "James' ability to reason etc. will be essentially normal. He will probably have missing pieces here and there, but will have normal reasoning abilities, for the most part." This was encouraging to hear.

The developmental doctors are also concerned about his hips. One of his legs seems longer than the other. They are concerned that his hip may not be forming correctly. We are going to look further into this.

James' physical therapist (who is really cool) is looking into getting him some adaptive equipment. Adaptive equipment is designed to help people with disabilities cope with life easier. He will be getting a special adaptive feeding seat, bath tub seat, and things like this.

Although much of this news sounds a bit scary for us, we are happy to at least know where we are heading and how to take care of him.

Yesterday we had to take him back to the hospital to get his EEG unit (thingy) taken off. We were away from the house from 11 am to 8 pm. James did super well. This is the longest he has been away from the house since he went to the hospital before Christmas. He is getting much easier to take in public. This is a huge blessing.

We know that God is super huge and super compassionate and hears our every little prayer on behalf of James. We pray expectantly, knowing that God will only do what is best for His glory and our growth. We know that God is in the business of playing "April Fools" jokes on doctors. Considering the fact that He is infinitely powerful and infinitely compassionate, we know that it would only be for an infinitely good reason that God would not heal James from his brain injury.

We thank the Lord for giving us James. The Lord has already used him in more ways than we can count.

James Home From the Hospital Part II

I just wanted to let everyone know that Kristal and I decided to keep James off the monitor last night. We plugged him in before going to bed and he tripped the alarm almost immediately after doing so--we knew that we would get no sleep if we kept him on it. We were a bit nervous about keeping him off it, but before going to bed we prayed that the Lord would protect him as He has since the day he was born. Anyway, the Lord was good to us to keep James safe last night. James did wake up in the middle of the night because of pain from his g-tube surgery. We gave him some Tylenol, fed him, and sent him back to bed.

We took his Holter monitor off about 2 hours ago and I just went to the post office to send it back to the hospital. Pray that this helps the doctors better diagnose him.

It was such a blessing this morning to be able to get food in him even when he didn't want to eat. We are so thankful for the g-tube. Please please please continue to pray that he continues to want to eat through his mouth. We love that we have the g-tube as a cushion to feed him when he won't eat, but ultimately we want James to eat enough orally to sustain himself.

That's all I have for an update.

Thanks for praying.

James Home From the Hospital

Sorry I haven't updated for so long--I have been sorta busy--sorta. Well, James was discharged from the Hospital today at 5:30 pm. It is so nice to be home. Thank you all so much for praying. I will give a brief rundown of what happened and what the doctors are telling us.

1. In regard to the g-tube: James got had his g-tube surgery on Monday and everything went really well. He experienced a lot of pain on Monday, but now is doing much much better. It has been so nice to use the g-tube. He is full now all the time and seems to be so much happier. Continue to pray that James continues to eat orally. He ate a large amount through his mouth on Sunday, but has not eaten much orally since. Pray also that he does not get an infection from the g-tube. Over all, we are super thankful that we decided to put the g-tube in.

2. In regard to seizures: They did an hour long EEG to see if James was having seizures. The good news is that the EEG suggested that James is not having any seizures. However, the EEG only tested James' brain activity for the span of an hour. We are going to talk to our neurologist, who is now on vacation, about having a 24 hour long EEG just to make sure that he is having no seizure activity. We have an appointment scheduled with our neurologist on January 15. We are also going to discuss the possibility of taking him off his valium again in order to better detect seizure activity while hooked up to the EEG. We are not yet sure if our neurologist likes this idea or not. They are not sure if James' low heart rate was seizure activity or not at this point. It is still a possibility to them, but they seem to think of it as a super small possibility. They are still concerned the starring spells he has been having while awake--we will be talking to our neurologist about this as well.

3. In regard to his low heart rate: They are not sure what caused James' low heart rate. They all agreed that Kristal and I did the right thing by bringing him to the emergency room. They think his low heart rate could be one of four things:
A. Seizures--I've already discussed this above.
B. Abnormal heart rhythm--We had an EKG to test his heart rhythm etc. The test came back normal, which is good. The cardiologist said that the right side of James' heart seems to be a bit weaker than the left side. They are going to do some more tests this coming Monday to make sure that this is not the cause of his low heart rate. The cardiologist was confident that although the right side of his heart seems to be a bit less strong, it is not so much weaker that it would cause great problems. We are going to be doing the further testing just to make sure. We are thankful that the Cardiologist is going above and beyond just to be safe. The Cardiologist also sent us home with a Holter monitor. The Holter monitor records James' heart activity for a 24 hour period. They put him on it this morning at 9:30 and so we will take it off tomorrow at 9:30 am and send it in the mail back to the doctor. He will read the content of the Holter monitor sometime this or next week. This will provide him helpful information in assessing James' heart.
C. Reflux--All of the doctors have suggested that James' low heart rate could be the result of acid reflux that irritates some nerve in the esophagus which causes the heart to temporarily beat at a lower rate. They are not sure if this is what it is or not, but they all think that it is a good possibility. Kristal and I are not necessarily sold on this possibility, because he has been on acid reflux medicine for a long time now. But anyway, who knows.
D. They are not sure--Ultimately they are not sure why his heart rate was so low. We still have some tests to take to exhaust all of our options.

4. As of right now they seem confident that although James heart rate was abnormally low that there is nothing for us to worry about. We feel satisfied knowing that the Doctors truly are doing everything within reason to find out what is causing his heart to have such a low number of beats per minute.

5. If you read this tonight be praying for Kristal and I, because they have not yet had the chance to change the alarm settings on the monitor that detects his heart beat and oxygen saturation. We are confident that James will be tripping the monitor all night tonight, which means we are stuck with the option of staying up all night or having him go to sleep without the monitor on him--we don't like either option. If James does keep tripping the monitor we will probably just turn it off so we can get some sleep. But we are not sure yet what we will do.

6. The doctors really want us to keep him on the monitor. They suggested that we take him to the emergency room if his heart beat is consistently in the 50 beats per minute range, or if his oxygen saturation goes down. They told us not to worry about his heart being as low as 60 beats per minute so long as his oxygen saturation remains at a high level. Pray that we have no more emergencies with his heart rate.

7. Thank you all so much for praying for Kristal and I. The Lord was very good to us to give us excellent health care. We had excellent doctors and nurses while up at Darthmouth. All of the doctors were compassionate. We were thankful that they all told us that we did the right thing by taking him to the emergency room because of his low heart rate. We are also thankful that the g-tube surgery went well. We are also thankful that we can now continue to keep James nourished even when he doesn't want to eat.

The Lord is so good to us. Hopefully I can write some of the stuff Kristal and I talked about while at the hospital. Each and every trial is a blessing from the Lord. They are not fun, but they are so effective to produce Christ-likeness in us when we let them do their work on us. We love Jesus. Pray that the Lord would continue to draw us closer to Himself. My friends, endure your trials with joy. Don't get masochistic, but endure them knowing that they are useful to draw you close to the infinitely glorious King. Pray for us that we would continue to have a biblical view of suffering no matter how bad times get.

James to the Emergency Room

Please be praying for James. Last night we had to take him to the emergency room around 11 pm and are still at the hospital.

Here's what happened: We hook James up to a machine that detects his heart rate and the percentage of oxygen in his blood. This machine has an alarm that goes off if his heart beat gets too low. Well, the alarm kept going off last night. This happened a few months back and we brought him to the emergency room--they told us that babies have low heart rates so to not worry abou it. Well, his heart rate continued to plummet last night and at one moment it hit 55 beats per minute, which is 25 beats lower than the alarm settings. We tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't wake up. It took a good 40 seconds of rubbing and talking to him to get his heart beat back to the safe zone. I called 911 during this time. By the time the ambulence got to our house he was fully awake and crying his head off.

They took him to the emergency room. They put an iv in him because he was dehydrated, took some blood, and analyzed the data. Right now they are concerned that James is having what is called "Silent Seizures." Silent Seizures are seizures that cannot be detected. They are going to send him up to a different, more-specialized hospital (Darthmouth Hitchcock--the same place he went after being born) in order to do an EEG to see if he is having seizures.

We are going to be leaving from this hospital (Concord Hospital) in a few hours and will be up at Dartmouth until, Lord willing, Tuesday. As you already know, James' surgery to put in his g-tube is scheduled for Monday. They are still planning on doing the surgery.

We thank the Lord that Kristal went against the advice of the Doctors and continued to hook him up to the machine that detects his heart rate. If she did not continue to do this, we would not have been able to tell that his heart rate went so low.

We are also thankful that they put an iv in him, because we have been concerned about him going into surgery dehydrated. In regard to James' iv: He has already been stuck 6 times with the needle to get an iv into him. He is going to be on an iv until Tuesday and so will possibly have to have the iv moved a time or two more. They are having a hard time finding and hitting his viens (as Kristal was concerned). Pray that his veins hold out so that he can continue to be hydrated throughout his surgery.

Also, be praying that the doctors would get to the bottom of what is happening with James. Pray that they come to a solution. Pray that if he is have seizures that they are not harmful to him.

The Lord has been so good to us to give us hospitals. He has especially been good to us to give Kristal such a sensitive motherly instinct. I am so very proud of her and her boldness--she knew that the doctors would see her as an overly protective mother if she called 911, but did it anyway knowing that James' issues were bigger than they were made out to be.

Praise the Lord! James' primary care doctor just came in and said that Dr. Morse, James' neurologist, is on call this weekend! This is a blessing because this means that they will be able to look into this suspected seizure activity once we get up there, Lord willing.

Pray that James gets rest. Pray that the Lord provide him comfort--he is pretty uncomfortable right now. Pray for me, I got about 1 hour of sleep last night. Pray for Kristal, she got about 10 minutes of sleep last night.

Thank the Lord that I am finished with school for the semester. I have no obligations and so am able to devote all my time to Kristal and James at this point.

I will be keeping everyone updated via this blog. As soon as we find out anything more, if I am able to grab a computer, I will update.

Last night, Kristal rode with James in the ambulence and so I drove myself to the hospital. In the car on the way to the hospital the Lord put it on my heart to belt the song "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." I think I added a verse: "He's Got James' Health in His Hands." Why on earth would anyone find any comfort in the thought that God is not absolutely in control of all things.

Surgery on Monday at 11 am

Kristal just scheduled James' g-tube surgery for Monday at 11 am. We have to get there early to put an iv in. Kristal, the phlebotomist, says that James' veins are really small and hard to find and that they will be smaller and even harder to find because he has been eating and drinking so little. Pray that getting the iv in will not be an issue. Also pray that James does well with the surgery--he is already weak and not eating which could cause complications in surgery.

James will be in the hospital overnight and we will be staying with him in his room.

He will have the slinky hose like g-tube for 4-6 weeks and then we will get to switch it out to a Mickey Button.

The doc said that there is a 15% chance of James getting an infection in the stomach wall during surgery.

We are going to try our hardest to lay low and protect him from stimulation before his surgery. He is not really in a good spot health-wise to be having surgery so really be praying.

James into Surgery

Thank you all for diligently praying for James. Yesterday he had a doctor appointment with his primary Pediatrician. We talked to her about his eating problems. She assessed and concluded that James is not eating enough to sustain himself. She suggested that we put the g-tube back in his belly. After talking to the doctor Kristal and I both concluded that not putting the g-tube back in his belly is not an option. The fact is that James is not eating enough, and has never consistently eaten enough since the day he was born. The doctor told us that if he gets sick and has no g-tube to rely upon he will surely end up in the hospital with iv's and everything else. We told the doctor that we are ready to schedule an appointment to put the g-tube back in. She said she was going to schedule it for sometime next week. We are not sure what day or time the surgery will be (I will make keep you all updated via this blog).

There are some good and bad sides to the g-tube. As you probably remember, James had one for the first 3 months of his life. We hated the g-tube because it is uncomfortable and is hard to manage. However, we will be getting a different type of g-tube this time around. He is now old enough to get what they call a Mickey Button. The Mickey Button stays flesh against his skin and cannot move in an out of his belly--unlike the g-tube he had when he was younger. The other g-tube was a long hose that stuck out of his belly about 7 inches or so. It was a hassle and caused great discomfort. They may, at first, have to put in this longer tube until a track is formed (takes about 4 weeks) before they put in the Mickey Button.

The one major positive aspect of the g-tube is that we don't have to worry about James getting dehydrated or malnourished. If he won't eat we simply hook the tubing up to his g-tube and pump it right into his belly. His not eating has been all-consuming for us at the Snowden household, because he has been on the verge of dehydration for such a long time now. We are always concerned that he might not be getting enough to sustain himself. The g-tube will take away these worries.

The doctor said that James' refusal to eat is his way of protecting his airway. Every time James swallows food it goes into his lungs. The reason this did not stop him from eating before was because he was on his muscle relaxing medicine, which numbed his senses. Once we got him off the medicine his senses were heightened and so he could feel the liquid get into his lungs--which is uncomfortable. The doctor said that James has to choose between the discomfort of getting fluid in his lungs or going hungry, and he has chosen to simply go hungry. I feel bad for the little guy--either he eats and is extremely uncomfortable or he doesn't eat and is constantly hungry.

I will list some of the concerns we have:

1. If we put the g-tube in James' body may reject it.

2. James has to have anesthesia for his surgery.

3. Putting the g-tube in is a surgery and there can always be complications with surgery.

4. The doctor told us that many kids stop eating through their mouth altogether after getting the g-tube because they realize that they can feel full without having to eat through their mouth. Sometimes this can cause kids to absolutely hate anything going into their mouths. This reality hit Kristal and I last night. We both realized that James may never eat through his mouth again once we put the g-tube in--he may be dependent upon a g-tube for the rest of his life. This is a hard thing for the both of us to think about.

5. Even though James is getting fluid into his lungs every time he eats we still have to work on feeding him orally. Our doctor told us that if we do not continue to work on his oral feedings now then he will never eat through his mouth--for some reason kids who are not used to oral stimulation reject anything entering their mouths. I said, "Well, isn't he at high risk for pneumonia?" She said, "Yes he is." She then went on to tell us that as bad as pneumonia is, it is a worthy risk to train him to eat orally. She said that we will have to stop if he starts getting pneumonia chronically. But she said that we need to do whatever we can to get him to eat orally so long as he doesn't get chronic pneumonia. Even after we put the g-tube back in his belly, we will still have to work on his oral feeding--so putting the g-tube in is not going to lessen his chances of getting pneumonia.

6. Pray that the surgery does not stunt James' developmental progress. He has been making huge strides developmentally over the past few weeks. Strange, he is happiest when he eats less--he definitely did not inherit this gene from my side of the family--I don't think such a gene even exists in the larger part of the Snowden family. He is super happy and has learned to interact with Kristal and I so much better. Thank the Lord for this, and pray that the surgery doesn't ruin his developmental progress.

Please continue to pray for James. Pray for his surgery. Pray that his body doesn't reject the tube. Pray that he learns to eat--Pray that he will not need to g-tube for the rest of his life.

Urgent Prayer Request--12/09/07

If you are not up to speed on our present situation with James then read this post.

As you know, we finally weened James off his muscle relaxing medicine about two weeks ago. As soon as we did so he stopped eating and sleeping. We knew that he would go through withdrawals, but his refusal to eat and sleep got worse and worse throughout last week--he was getting up 4 times a night and eating only about 7 or 8 ounces of formula a day. We took him to the doctor on Thursday to see if there was anything we could do and to make sure that he was not dehydrated. The doctor gave us some acid reflux medicine thinking that this might be his problem. He affirmed that he was not dehydrated. The doctor also told us that he was not sure if James' eating problems were related to reflux or not, and thought that it might have something to do with taking him off his Vallium (muscle relaxing medicine). The Vallium was prescribed to James in order to calm down the effects of his brain injury. The doctor thought that by taking him off the Vallium we were unmasking the effects of his brain injury. One of the effects being an inability to eat and hold food down. He told us to try the reflux medicine, but to keep a close eye on him to make sure that he does not get dehydrated. He also told us to consider the thought of putting him back on the Vallium if need be.

Well, we got home and tried the medicine and nothing changed. Yesterday Kristal noticed that James had only went pee twice in the past 24 hours--His mouth was dry, lips chapped, and he was getting a fever--he was beginning to get dehydrated. So yesterday we decided to put him back on his Vallium hoping that it would help. It has been about 24 hours since we put him back on it and he is still not eating, and when he does eat, throws it up.

We did receive one blessing from the Lord by putting him back on it--James slept from 9:30 pm to 6:45 am. Kristal and I both got a full nights sleep--first time in about 2 weeks.

Please pray that the Vallium would help James eat and hold it down again. He is really starting to hate eating, and whenever he does eat usually throws it up. It is absolutely critical that James start eating. If he does not start eating again we will have to put the g-tube back in his belly. Also be praying that James does not get dehydrated.

We are thankful that James is happy and energetic when he is not eating. He has really come out of his shell.

James has a doctors appointment on Monday with his primary care doctor, and one on Tuesday with the speech pathologist. The speech pathologist is going to see if there is anything she can do to help James eat. While we are visiting with the speech pathologist we are going to see if his neurologist can squeeze him in for a tiny visit. Please pray that the Lord would direct and give our doctors wisdom.

Kristal and I are a bit nervous--we really don't want to have to put the g-tube back in. We are thankful though that we live in a day and age where we have a g-tube to fall back on. Please pray though that the Lord would help James eat and sleep.

Thank you for your prayers. I will definitely keep you posted as things progress.

Prayer Requests--12/04/07

I wanted to give everyone an update on our situation with James (sorry it has been so long).

1. About a month or two ago James got pneumonia. We caught it before it got bad and so the healing process didn't take very long. However, he learned to despise food during the time when he was sick. About two weeks after healing from pneumonia it seemed like he was starting to like eating agian. However, this was short lived. Right now we are struggling to get him to eat more than 8 ounces of milk a day (he should be eating this much in one meal). We try and push the baby food, but he refuses that as well. His eating has gotten much worse over the past 3 days or so--he will drink maybe two ounces at a feeding. As soon as he eats the little that he does, he starts flaking out as if his limbs were being ripped from his body. We are going to contact the speech pathologist to see if there is anything that can be done. We are not sure why he is rejecting food like he is. We are not sure if it hurts to eat and swallow, or whatever. Pray that the Lord would help James in this area.

2. Because James is eating so little in the day, he is waking in the middle of the night at least 5 times a week. He usually goes to sleep at about 10:00 pm or so, wakes up around 2:30 am for about an hour and a half to only eat an ounce, and then goes back to sleep until about 6:30 am to be up for the day. I am in the thick of school--my finals are next week and so Kristal and I both are really getting worn out. On average we both get about 4-6 hours of sleep every night. At night we have tried to force feed him so that he will sleep the whole night, but as you may know, this is just making him hate his food more and more. Especially pray that the Lord would grant Kristal rest. She is such a good mom--she is so good with James, but she is getting worn thin.

3. Also, James refuses to eat or sleep with anyone but Kristal. For some reason, he simply will not eat or sleep when anyone else is holding him. This means that when he wakes up in the middle of the night, if Kristal is not holding him he completely unravels and is up screaming for hours. The other day Kristal and I left to go on a date and had to come home two hours after leaving because James literally wouldn't settle down. We are happy that James finally has something that sooths him (his mom), but Kristal is getting run down. Pray for Kristal and I that we might get more sleep. Especially pray for Kristal--I am the sort who sleeps heavy and so I need less sleep--she is a light sleeper and so requires much more than me.

4. Also, pray for James' head size. Since day 1 the doctors have been telling us that James is at high risk for having slow development. This is already a reality considering the fact that he is almost 8 months old and can barely lift his own head. One of the concerns has been that the brain injury could cause his brain to not grow as it should. Every time we go to the doctor they measure his head. It appears as if his head growth is starting to sort of plateau a little more than they would like. Ultimately, we do not know what this means. If his brain growth continues to plateau it could mean more development problems later in life. The thing is that they have no way of knowing how his brain will grow from this point forward. Since day one, the doctors have been telling us that James' progress and development is completely up to him (and the Lord)--there is nothing the doctors can do, and there is nothing that the doctors can predict. This is something that Kristal and I have been praying about, but it is not something that we let bother us, because there is nothing we can do about it anyway.

5. Pray for our marriage. Our struggles and trials with James have drawn us closer together. One of the effects of the fall is weariness. I have learned that nothing reveals sin in our hearts like two people working together while being dog tired. When I get my sleep I am a happy-go-lucky ultra-corny husband, but when my tank is running on empty frustration, shortness, and irritation surface. Every time I get short or irritated with Kristal I always IMMEDIATELY confess it to her and ask forgiveness. Please pray that I would never take this side of me lightly. Pray that the Lord would grant me the grace to not express frustration, and that He would continue to help me to confess it when I do. I have noticed that frustration generally subsides when it is dealt with on the spot. Also, Kristal and I desperately desire the ability to go on dates, but have been prevented because of James' refusal to be happy without mommy. Pray that the Lord would make this a possibility again. We haven't had a date since before James had pneumonia. This is not a necessity, but it sure would be nice.

6. James is officially off his muscle relaxer medicine. It took nearly two months to ween him off the stuff because it is so addictive. Much of his eating and sleep problems could very well be from withdrawals. The medicine has a half life and so is not yet completely out of his system and won't be for another week or so. Pray that his withdrawals would calm down. He usually cries and screams at night from about 5-9 pm.

7. Pray for me this next week as I have finals to take. My decision to transfer to Liberty University has proved to be a good one. I have thoroughly enjoyed my classes, and am excited to take more next semester.

8. We do have some praises:
-James is completely off his muscle relaxer medicine
-James is more active being off the medicine than he was before, and is using his muscles more. He also now desires to life his head, look around, kick his legs, and touch things.
-James is also recognizes faces better, and is now able to know when someone is talking to him.
-We are thankful for his doctors and physical therapist.
-Kristal and I have found a church and are feeling at home there.

9. The Lord has truly given Kristal and I a task by giving us James. I thank the Lord that He blessed us with James. I am especially thankful that Kristal is his mom--I am not sure I would trust many women with a child with needs like his. She is an outstanding mother with a boat-load of a love and compassion for James. I was tempted to not put any of my thoughts or prayer requests up on the blog for our situation with James because I do not want to appear as if we think we have a parenting experience worse than everyone else. I don't want to appear as though I am complaining. Truly, some of James' issues are normal 8 month old issues, however James has a lot stacked against him physically and is still in need of mega prayer. Because of James unique situation (with his brain injury), many of the things that seem like "normal" baby issues are not normal. Surely, many 8 month olds don't sleep, but the reason for why they don't sleep is completely different than the reason why James doesn't sleep. James has had an injury to the brain and, as the the doctors warned us, is suffering many side effects.

10. Kristal and I know that the Lord has given us this situation for a good reason. Maybe someday I can sit down and write all of the things I have learned through our situation with James. This has not been a wasted trial. I do not love trials--I HATE TRIALS, but I love what they bring about. I love thinking about that day when I will stand in glory to hear the Father reveal all the work that was accomplished through James and his situation.

11. One of the biggest things that I have learned is to not assume that I know how bad others have got it. I have a tendency to down play others pain and suffering. The Lord has given me this trial to teach me compassion and silence (by silence, I mean that He has taught me to stop trying to immediately identify with those in pain, but rather to simply listen, pray, and hurt with them).

12. Thank you all for your constant prayers for James. You have all been a huge blessing to us. Please continue to pray. Pray for Kristal and I as well.

An Update and Some Thoughts

This past wednesday Baby James had an appointment with his neurologist and pediatritian. Overall, things are looking up for Baby James. Dr. Rhodes (his pediatritian) was overly surprised to hear that Baby James no longer needs his g-tube. She referred to him as the "Miracle Boy." We talked to her about his g-tube. She recommended that we keep it in for another month to be safe. Kristal and I both agreed with the Doctor. As much as we would like it out, we know that, for the sake of the unexpected, it is best to keep it in. He has been eating on his own now for over two and half weeks, so we know that he will most likely not need it. Our meeting with the neurologist (Dr. Morris) was extremely informative. Immediately after looking at Baby James Dr. Morris made some general observations. First of all, he informed us that he could instantly tell that Baby James had a brain injury. Although most babies cry, Baby James cries like a baby who had a brain injury. Although most babies move their limbs, Baby James moves his limbs like a baby who had a brain injury. Babies with brain injuries cry and move their limbs, which is normal, however, they cry and move their limbs in frantic/spastic ways. Because of this, he decided that it would be best to put Baby James on some muscle relaxing medicine. The medicine is suppose to help him, umm... relax. All I can say is, "Thank you Lord for muscle relaxing medicine!" Since we have been giving him medicine, he has been sleeping normally and crying much less. At first, when we gave him the medicine, he was having a hard time eating because he was so tired. He is starting to get used to the medicine and is now eating more than he was before he was on the medicine. Before giving Baby James this medicine, he was too frantic to look us in the eyes. Now he looks at us. Before giving Baby James this medicine, he would only sleep about 2 hours a shot, now he sleeps about 4 hours at a shot. Baby James is finally happy. Make no mistake about it, he is still Mr. Cranky Pants, but he is much more civil about it. He is much more aware and happy when he is awake, and he actually sleeps when his eyes close.

Here is a list of things to pray about: 1. Pray that Baby James would continue to heal. He has come a long way. God has done some wonderful things. There is still a lot of healing left. All of the doctors are telling us that Baby James will for sure have issues later on in life because of his injury. What a wonderful thing it would be for us to be able to, 10 years down the road, tell them that Baby James has no issues because God is mighty to heal. 2. Pray that God would continue to allow this medicine to be effective for Baby James. Pray that he would continue to sleep soundly. Pray that he would continue to be happy. 3. Pray that the Lord would continue to teach us wonderful things in light of what we have gone through. 4. Pray for me as I look for a job. I hope this doesn't sound too picky, BUT specifically pray that I would land a job where I would have plenty of time to study. I am specifically thinking of a job doing security at a guard post. I have been applying for security positions. Pray that the Lord would open up for me a job where i would be able to work and study. I would either like a job like this, or a job doing ministry of some kind. I really would like a ministry position, but I do know that not many churches would feel comfortable with a 25 year old in leadership. 5. Kristal and I are ready to get on with life. We really want to get back to church etc. Tomorrow we are planning on going to church. Pray that it would go well and that Baby James would be handleable (yep, I made that word up). 6. Kristal is still healing from delivery. She is getting around great, but there is still a lot of soreness and pain. Pray that she would completely heal quickly. 7. Pray that the Lord would continue to strengthen our marriage. This circumstance has grown us closer together. Pray that our love would deepen even more. 8. Lastly, pray that God would provide a place of fellowship for us. This is something I have been desiring since we have been in NH. Pray that the Lord would lead us to the right place. We have visited many wonderful churches since we have been up here, but we are still not sure where we are going to go. Kristal and I are both hungering for some good godly fellowship.

Thank you all for continuing in prayer for us. We love you all. Thank you also for praying for my finals. I did well on my ethics final, but felt a bit unsure about my Christianity and Culture final. The Lord provided me much study time. I have learned so much through my classes this past semester. Oh, and pray for my seminary--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Dr. James Emery White was named the new president of the seminary last July. Well, he just resigned as Gordon-Conwell's president. Dr. Haddon Robinson has been named the new interim president. Pray that the Lord would put the right man in this position. Pray that the Lord would put a man in who is doctrinally sound, emphasizes the original languages, and helps train students be culture engagers.

More Prayer Requests

An update on Mr. Cranky Pants: Things have been going well since I last updated. Baby James is still eating through a bottle, and is still quite a bit more calm than he when we were feeding him with the g-tube. His g-tube site looks quite a bit different from when he pulled it out a week ago. This past week we sort of forced a check up with the nurse practicioner who helped put it in. She said it looked fine, but Kristal and I were still a bit uncomfortable. Yesterday we had an appointment with James' Pediatritian and asked her to take a look. Of course, Mommy knows best. The pediatritian said that there was a small infection. She hooked us up with some antibiotics. Please pray that the infection healscompletely.

Kristal and I have quite a bit to think about before our next appointment with the pediatrition who took care of him while he was in the Intensive Care Unit (which will be this coming wednesday). We are going to talk to her about taking the g-tube out. Please be praying that the Lord gives us and Dr. Rhodes the wisdom to know when it would be best to take it out. We really want it out as soon as possible. However, there is a concern. Most of the doctors we have talked to so far have suggested keeping it in for a few more weeks or months (awww). Kristal and I have noticed that he has been fighting the bottle much more than he has before. Even when Baby James is starving, he will usually take no more than 10 ml without flaking out and turning his head from the bottle. A lot of this could be his brain injury. Of course taking the g-tube out could help his fighting the bottle, but there really is no telling. The last thing we want is to take the tube out and then have to put it back in--putting it back in means another surgery. With all of this in mind, we want to take it out so that he will not be in so much discomfort. No matter what anyone tells you, g-tubes are uncomfortable.

Another thing we will have to talk to Dr. Rhodes about this wednesday is muscle relaxing medicine. Baby James is abnormally stiff. This is something the Doctors have been concerned about since day 1. During our last meeting with Dr. Rhodes, she mentioned something about giving him muscle relaxing medicine to help calm him down. We think this may improve his bottle feeding quite a lot. Much of the reason he has such a hard time with the bottle is because his body tweeks out and he cannot stop it. Also, the doctors are concerned about his muscles being so tense for so long. Try and flex your muscles for more than 30 min at time--good luck. This is what Baby James does though. There are serious long term effects concerning his motor skills if he is too tense for too long. The doctors are taking their time with the muscle relaxing medicine because they don't want push pills if he doesn't need them. Their thought is that Baby James will calm down the more he matures. So far the doctors have been right--he has calmed down quite a lot since we brought him home. However, he is still mega tense. Pray that the Doctors would medicate him correctly.

Also pray for Kristal and I. Both of us have been having stomach issues. I have not felt normal now for over two weeks. I have been abnormally tired and lethargic because of it. My stomach doesn't feel right and my bowels are flipping out. John and Kelly (my in laws) had a flu bug before we brought Baby James home a few weeks ago. I think I might have picked it up from them. Last night Kristal woke up thinking she was going to throw up. Also, pray that Kristal would continue to heal from the delivery. She is still quite sore.

Finally, pray for me that I would do well on my finals. I take them this Tuesday. I have been trying to study, but with everything going on studying has proved to be a bit difficult.

I am almost done with a post entitled "Prayer, Suffering, and the Will of God." I will hopefully post it here in the next day or so. I encourage you all to read it. It is sort of a summary of some things that Kristal and I have been mulling over since the day James was born.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. The Lord has blessed us with the most wonderful friends and family. He has given us the most studly little boy. Please continue to pray for Baby James. I feel like he is at a plateau right now, which is difficult for us. Please pray that he would not regress--this is our worst fear. The Lord has done so many wonderful things. I cannot wait to see what He has in store for Baby James. My prayer is that he would "appear as a torch bearer in the world, holding fast the word of life" (Phil 2:15-16). Oh, and I also pray that he would be a master of the Greek and Hebrew languages.

Thanks for Praying?!!!!!?!!!!

Look At Him Go!