Marcus #14

Hello. Just wanted to let you all know how Marcus is doing. He is doing well now. He did get a mild case of pneumonia again at the end of June. He did not have to be hospitalized this time.

He is up to about 12 1/2 lbs. He is still on oxygen all the time, and the apnea monitor at night (monitors his heart rate and breathing). He is the happiest baby! He is truly a blessing and a joy in our family.

He has come a long way. He has appointments with a few specialists this week. His cardiologist on Wednesday up here in Prescott, and then in Phoenix on Thursday he has appointments with his Neurologist and his Pulmonologist at the Phoenix Children's Hospital. I anticipate all good news.

Please continue to pray that the holes in Marcus's heart will close by God's hand rather than by the doctor's. I really don't want him to have to have open heart surgery. It scares me, to be quite honest. I trust completely in the Lord and know that either way He chooses will be for my good and for His glory. So maybe you could pray for me too. That I will have peace, that my faith will be strong and that I will not fear if he has to have the surgery.

Thank you. I'll update again soon.

Kim

Marcus update #13

Hello. Sorry... again... for taking soo long to update this. I still don't have email access at home. Marcus is home from the hospital. He came home June 1st. He is doing very well. In fact we took him on his first camping trip last weekend. He has some followup appointments in Phoenix this week - Pulmonology and Gastrointerology. Thanks for your prayers for us. God bless. Kim

Update #12

Hi... Sorry it's been soo long since I've sent out an update. Things were going very well. They are still going pretty good, but I am sitting in a hospital room again with Marcus as I type this. He has pneumonia again. He is older, bigger and stronger this time - 10 pounds 5 ounces now. It is not as bad this time and we are in the hospital in Prescott. He was admitted yesterday and will probably only have to be here for a few days. We would still appreciate your prayers for him and for our family.

We are doing pretty well. The Lord is good and faithful to keep His promises. Isn't it comforting to know that He loves us and cares for us? This life, in this world is so full of trouble and pain - no one is immune, it comes to everyone. I don't know about you, but I know I need a crutch. I'd never have made it this far without God. John 16:33 - "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 14:27 "Peace I Leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." I could not have peace without Him.

Thank you for your prayers for us. I will try to get some pictures on here again soon. Marcus has grown and changed so much. Thank you again.

Philippians 4: 4-7 "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Bathe your mind in scripture and rest peacefully in Him.

Kim

Marcus update #11

Hello. Marcus saw the pulmonologist and nutritionist on the 19th. Then he saw his pediatrician on Monday the 23rd, and the cardiologist on Wednesday the 25th.

He is doing well. He wasn't gaining weight though, so the nutritionist said we needed to start fortifying my milk every other feeding. So he has been getting bottle fed every other feeding to give him more calories. I guess breast milk is 20 calories per ounce, and they are having my mix the bottle to 27 calories per ounce. He weighed 7 lb. 4 oz. on the 19th. He weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. on the 23rd. So I guess that it is working.

He had an echo cardiogram on the 25th. It looks like the VSD may be closing some, but the cardiologist hadn't looked at the previous echos and needs to review the records. He said that if Marcus needs surgery it won't need to happen soon. He can wait until he's at least a year old. Keep praying. Maybe he won't have to have surgery at all.

Thanks for your continued prayers for our family and for Marcus. We appreciate you very much.

Marcus update #10

Hello again. Things with Marcus are going very well. Praise God. He is still home and still healthy. We even went to the Phoenix Zoo a couple of weeks ago.

Marcus is down to .1 on his oxygen and doing well. He has some follow-up doctor appointments coming up soon. He will have an echo cardiogram on the 25th here in Prescott. Hopefully we will see that the holes in Marcus's heart are getting smaller. I will try to let you know soon after the appointment.

He is scheduled with Pulmonology next Thursday in Phoenix. Marcus will have to have an MRI next month - April 23rd - and follow up with Neurology. For this he will have to be under general anesthesia.

Marcus is doing well but isn't gaining much weight even though he is eating well. So we started supplementing him a bit again with a bottle a few days ago. We will see if this is enough.

Please pray for Marcus that the holes will close in his heart, that he will stay healthy, that he won't need the oxygen soon, and that he will start gaining weight.

Thank you again for your prayers for our son and our family. We really appreciate it. God bless you all.

Marcus update #9

Hello again. For those of you sho don't know yet... Marcus is home again! He came home February 13th, so he's been home for a little over a week. He is doing well. Thanks for your prayers.

Marcus weighs about 7lbs. 7 oz. now. He is nursing full time - since Thursday morning when he pulled his feeding tube out. I will put it back if necessary, but he is nursing so well that it is not necessary now.

Please continue to pray that the Lord will close the holes in his heart soon, without surgery. Also, pray that God will protect Marcus from sickness. Even little things for us are major for him right now, and we don't want him to be sick in the hospital again.

The rest of our kids are healthy and doing well. Please continue to pray for more hours at work for Chris, or for a different job.

We still don't have internet at home, so please be patient with me if you email. God bless.

Kim

Marcus update #8

Hello. I am sorry that it has been so long since my last update. Much has happened. We do not currently have internet access at home, and have been very busy.

So... in my last update I told you that Marcus was coming home on Sunday, January 18th. He did. He was home for about 9 days. We had a really good week with him, it was great to have him home.

On Monday, Jan. 26th, when the home nurse was examining him, we noticed that his chest was retracting when he was breathing. He still seemed ok though. Later that night he was breathing really fast and labored. We didn't get much sleep that night, and took him to the doctor Tuesday morning. She sent us for a chest x-ray which revealed that his left lung was either collapsed or full of fluid. I looked at the x-ray, and couldn't see the left lung at all, it was just white. They told us that this was either an indication of pneumonia or heart failure.

They proceeded to send Marcus and I to Phoenix Childrens Hospital by ambulance Tuesday afternoon. They admitted him back to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). So he is being cared for by the same doctors and nurses that cared for him before he came home. I stayed with him until Thursday when Chris and the kids came and picked me up. Side note... I had to take Aliyah to the doctor right after we got home because she has an ear infection (so please pray for her too).

He had an echocardiogram and his heart function looked ok. They were calling it pneumonia although he wasn't really as sick as they would've expected his to be if he had it. So they were also looking at other reasons why his lung would look that way and he would be laboring to breath.

He looked a lot more comfortable and seemed to be breathing easier yesterday before I left, but today he was doing worse. They called us today to talk to us about what was going on and to get permission to do a medical procedure. I believe it was called a broncioscopy (or something like that). They did it at 3 today and it went well. Basically what they did was put a fiberoptic scope down through his nose to his lungs. They did have to put him to sleep for the proceedure. They got a sample of whatever is down there. They should have the results in a few days. They said that he seemed to be a bit better after the proceedure.

My dad visited him today after they were done, and he said that Marcus looked better, and that the nurse said that he seemed better than he had been this morning.

Today they also found that Marcus has a urniary tract infection. So they put him on antibiotics for that today.

I am having a difficult time not being able to be there constantly right now. It is Mikaila'a birthday on Sunday, February 1st, and I need to prepare for that. And it was my birthday today - I turned 40! Also Aliyah is really having a difficult time with mommy being gone so much. She is too young to understand what is going on and why I have been gone a lot. It really doesn't help when she doesn't feel good either.

So, please pray for Marcus. Pray for his left lung to open back up, or clear up, or whatever it needs to do in order to function properly again. Also pray that his urinary tract infection will clear up. Pray that he will be healthy.

Also, pray for our family. Our kids were all very upset when Marcus had to go back to the hospital. Pray for Chris as he is also having a difficult time. Pray that he will find more work, that his back will feel better (he's had back issues for many years), and that he will be able to really trust God with Marcus's life (me too on that one). We've both been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster through all of this. We have strong, good days, and weak, tearful days.

We truly believe that God is in control. Thank you for your prayers. I will try to get back online and put on another update next weekend. Thanks again and God bless you. Kim