Day +20

Greetings Prayer Warriors....it's Bill this time,

You can usually tell when I do the blog because it is always posted later than normal. Sorry about that but thanks for checking in with us. You know I am not a doctor but I have watched "House" on TV and I think Erin has shown some slight improvement over the past day and that is a huge praise! Her voice is a little stronger, she has some of her feistiness back and she walked 4 laps yesterday and another 3 this morning at 6:30 a.m. She committed to add a lap every day! Erin's doctor came by this morning and said she felt like Erin is starting to turn the corner and that she was hoping to see Erin in the clinic next week. Her weight is up a pound from yesterday but at least it is less of a gain than previous days which hopefully means that her body is starting to deal with the fluid buildup. They are discontinuing the TPN (IV feeding) as they feel her nutrient levels are good and they want to reduce the fluid intake through the IV to help with the recovery process. Erin's counts continue to hold steady or show improvement across the board: WBC at 10.7, HCT 42.2, Bilirubin is down from 2.3 to 2.0 today. She had a relatively quiet night in terms of pain level but she ended up waking up at midnight and wanting to watch a couple episodes of "The Office". I think her day/night schedule may be a little out of whack. She has been sipping on smoothies and juice and water but still not really up to eating solid foods. The doctor is less concerned about solid foods and will be satisfied if she can take in some nutritional supplements like Ensure or Boost shakes. So we will work on that today. We were on the same wavelength with Aunt Deb and asked her doctor this morning about the paracentesis (removing the excess fluid in her abdomen with a syringe). She explained that they would only take that measure in extreme circumstances where there was imminent threat to her organs. She said that the fluid would return within 12-24 hours of being removed and the risk of infection or damaging an organ outweighed any temporary relief benefit.

I guess that is all the news for now. Thanks for the tremendous love and support and most of all for the continued prayers that sustain us and help us persevere! We count you among the many blessings that God has poured out on us as we weather this storm!

We pray God's blessings on each of you! - Bill

My scripture focus for today returns to perseverance :

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12: 1-2

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." - James 1: 2-4

P.S. Our heartfelt thanks go out to the mysterious masked lawn mower who once again visited our yard! How do we know he wore a mask you may ask....because he left the mark of "TORO" on our lawn!! (Okay...give me a break, I am sleep deprived.) Anyway thank you so much for your generosity!!