Going Home!

After almost three weeks here, we are finally discharged from the hospital. God is so good! What a feeling to come with a child in critical condition and to now leave with a healthy child. What a journey it has been. Josh is so excited. I find myself quite emotional. I even cried while thanking Luka's doctor and saying goodbye. He helped save our child's life. Yup, it is a strange mix of emotions. A lot to process over the next few weeks. So today we leave Gertrude's Childrens Hospital, have our last visit with Luka's kidney doctor this afternoon, then stay at a hotel until we fly out tomorrow night.

Yesterday we had a nice day away from the hospital. Our IT friends took us for lunch, to see rift valley, and the giraffe center. We were so blessed by the fun day they gave us.

Keep us in your prayers as we travel to Michigan Tuesday/Wednesday. Pray for Luka. He is still not sleeping well at night. He has a TERRIBLE cold and cough which continues to give him a fever and keep him down. Pray for Luka as he continues his medical care under the doctors in Michigan for several more weeks. Thank God his blood level is high enough to fly (high as it has ever been through this whole ordeal) and that both toxin levels are back to normal. Praise God!

Someone wrote recently made a comment about following our story actually God's story. They are exactly right. This is God's story. Our whole lives are. It is all from God and for His glory. No one ever wants to go through tragedy or have their child critically sick, but to see God at work through it and in His people is a rare privaledge. To be able to testify of God's love and power is an honor. To give Him the glory is what life is meant to be.

We cannot begin to personally thank everyone for each word of encouragement, all the offers to help and care for us, and most of all for the faithful prayers lifted up on our behalf. We have been richly blessed by all of you. Please except our heartfelt THANK YOU! You have shown us the love of Christ.

We will continue to keep the blog updated and post more pictures as soon as we can.

Fever and Blood

As ready as we are to get out of the hospital and be able to fly to Michigan, we are thankful Luka is still under a close watch of his doctors. Last night Luka got a fever again and vomited a couple times. He was not feeling well at all. We were so surprised because he was doing so well and had such a good day. I was amazed how quickly my heart went to worry and fear again. Again I was crying out to God for Luka's healing. Am I failing to learn something God wants to teach me? How many times do we need to go through this?

They took blood again this morning to check the toxin levels, hemoglobin (blood), and also looking for an infection. We already found out his hemoglobin is down to 7.5 again so we are now preparing for his third blood transfusion. We called a missionary friend to come and donate blood and he is on his way. Hopefully this will keep Luka's blood level high enough to fly next week.

-Keep praying for Luka! He is doing well but not done with this all.
-Pray for his fever and whatever is causing it to be healed.
-Pray that his hemoglobin stays above 10 after this blood transfusion.
-Pray for all of us as we are getting quite bored around here - not complaining just ready to be with family and friends again. We need to rest in God's timing.
-Thank God our girls and everyone arrived safely in Grand Rapids yesterday!

No tubes!

Luka is no without any tubes or cords! And he is happier because of it too. Yesterday he went in for his forth (and we pray last) surgery to remove the dialysis tube and center IV line. His toxin level are almost down to normal which means his kidneys are working. We have so much to be thankful for!

We got our first full night of sleep in two and a half weeks last night - partly due to the pain killer he was on after the surgery. Luka woke up a happy boy this morning. They are still watching this blood level and doing other blood work the next few days. The doctor said maybe we will be discharged tomorrow then need to stay around for a few days to keep an eye on him and continue the blood tests. So maybe Tuesday we will be able to fly to Michigan.

We had a wonderful reunion with our girls Monday night! What a joy to be with them again. They have really been great through this all. They were curious about Luka and his tubes but not upset by it at all. Josh and I were able to take them to a water park for an afternoon and just be together. We had so much fun! We are thankful Grandma could come and see Luka too. It was a nice couple days together. Last night our girls, Grandma, and Ryan and Rebeka left for Michigan. Josh and I were surprised we were the ones crying when everyone left. Thankfully the girls did well and are excited to go to Michigan.

Thank you for sticking with us as the weeks pass by. We appreciate every prayer and all your loving care.

Pray for Sleep

After two long, sleep deprived nights, I felt like we better ask for some prayers. Luka is having a hard time sleeping at night. We are not sure if he is uncomfortable, in pain, has nightmares, isn't tired, or just wants nothing to do with his room anymore. Last night he didn't fall asleep until 12:30 then woke at 3:30 crying and crying. His loving father walked him for almost two hours around the hospital. Walking outside is the only thing that keeps him calm. They gave him Tylenol and put him on a drip (IV) last night but nothing seemed to help. (They are worried about dehydration now.) The night before went about the same. The only good thing is we all sleep in til about 8:30. He hasn't napped much either. Maybe he is sick of sleeping after two weeks of being in bed. All I know is if this keeps up it is going to be a long week and we are going to be exhusted. Pray that Luka settles down and is able to sleep knowing God's peace.

Like I said the doctors are now a bit concerned about Luka getting dehydrated and then ends up back where we were. He is now urinating so much that he is not keeping up with fluid intake. They said that sometimes the kidneys over react when they start working again and Luka was on meds to encourage urine so they took him back off of that. For days Luka wanted to drink so bad but was limited and of course now that he is allowed to drink as much as he wants, he doesn't want to. He no longer wants his pediasure either but is eating more. The doctors have him on an IV drip today. They are watching the toxin levels in the blood closely the next few days. His hemaglobin (blood) level went down alittle so they are also watching that. Pray that Luka drinks well today and does not become dehydrated.

We were so excited to see Luka walk yesterday holding our hands! He is weak and off balance but he can do it. He also sat up in bed to play. It is great to see such progress. Thanks again for all your prayers. We will try to get some more picture on soon and keep you up to date.

Can't wait to see our girls tonight!

Doing Well

Luka is out of ICU! Actually, we kinda got kicked out because they needed his bed for a child who was sicker than Luka, but Luka was well enough to move to a ward.

Luka is now off of dialysis for the next 24 hours to see how his kidneys will work. So good to be free! He loves taking walks and being held. Every car we pass on our walk he wants to get in and get out of here. He continues to urinate and his toxin levels are now down (3 times higher - when he came they were 8 times higher than they should be). His blood and oxygen levels are stable.

And our baby boy is back! Luka is Luka again. He is smiling, playing, laughing, and we are even happy to see him cry again. It is so good to see. He is annoyed with nurses and doctors again and has enough energy to fight.

Thanks for still praying for us! Luka had a ruff night last night. He woke up all sweaty yet cool and crying. Also, pray for grandma and our girls as they travel to Nairobi tomorrow. The doctors will continue to monitor Luka this week with blood work and keep him on antibiotics, but if all goes very well we MAY BE able to fly to Michigan by the end of the week where the doctors will finish his care (several weeks). Amazing. Time will tell if Luka will have long-term problems or complete healing. We will keep you posted.

Yeah!

Luka is out of critical condition! What an answer to prayer and a reason to glorify God. Everything continues to progress in the right direction. Toxin levels are coming down, urine increasing, oxygen stable, and blood count stable but low. The doctor thinks maybe five more days on dialysis. After that we continue to do blood work, see at what precentage the kidneys are working, and continue to monitor. He even said we can take Luka off dialysis once a day to hold him and walk outside. Luka is really weak but loves to play ball with us. I even got my first smile today! Luka loves to drink (gets pediasure). He started by allowing 30ml every three hours now he is getting 100ml. He isn't eating much. He only likes watermellon right now.

We are so thankful for the doctors here, all of your prayers, and God's love and healing over Luka. We still have a long road ahead but at least now it isn't so unkown and scary.

Lydia, Grace, and my mom will arrive here Monday night and fly out again Wednesday night with Ryan and Rebeka. We look forward to seeing our girls (it will have been two weeks). It will be good for them to see Luka too and understand what is happening. Then someday we will meet up with them again in Michigan when Luka is stable enough to fly. We will do follow up care with the doctors there.

-Pray for us as we try to close up our house and wrap up details from so far away.
-Thank God for Tim and Angie, Bobbi and Rachel, and the Dwire family who have helped us so much.
-Pray for us as we deal with health insurance. We are so thankful they are paying but we need to figure out how to get the money here. Just one more thing to think about and do.
-Pray too for the girls and my mom to have a safe trip. We heard today about some possible riots in Kampala where they have to travel through to get to the airport, so pray for a peacful and safe journey.
-Continue to pray for a full recovery for Luka
-Pray for Luka to get stronger physically and heal from this trama mentally and spiritually
-Pray for us as we are here and continue to figure things out and make plans for the future.

Thanks again. We serve a great God!

Praise God!

I am so excited that I just had to write and let you know. I have had a real burden for Luka's doctors here because we love them so much but they don't know the Lord. Last night as we prayed over Luka I asked the Lord to do some healing that was such a miracle the doctors had to see it. Today Luka's oxygen came up suprisingly. The doctor came in for the normal check up and talk and he asked Josh if he had any explanation for the change in oxygen. Josh said a lot of people were praying. The doctor said you have powerful prayers? Josh said no we have a powerful God. He yes it does appear that way.

I am so excited! Praise be to God. Keep praying!

While I am writing anyway, Josh and I are beginning to feel a lot of emotions. With all the decisions we have to make for our girls, details to take care of with shutting up our home in Soroti, and not know how long we will be here we are feeling a bit stressed. Please pray for God's peace over us, wisdom to do what is right for our family, and help to do all the detail. We are busy and tired. Thanks.