August 27, 2005 - News from CA

Greetings from CA!!!! It has been an interesting day! Erik’s procedure started around 4:00 instead of 11:30. This was okay though because we used this time to talk with some of the other doctors we will be working with over the next few weeks. We were also able to set up an appointment for an EEG on Monday to get things started looking at the neurology side. As for tonight, around 8:15, the doctors came out and told us they were done. They were surprised at what they saw once they looked at Erik through the angiogram – his anatomy is very complex. We were once again told that they had never seen an anatomy like Erik’s. This being said, they had to adjust their treatment plan quickly. They were extremely pleased with the results. They were able to block off the entire problem area which is more that they expected to do in one procedure. There may still be some areas that need to be addressed but they are on the vein side instead of the a rtery side. We will have to let time pass before we see if it will be necessary to address this. They also said they don’t expect to have to do this again and that if they address the vein side, it will most likely be in 3 weeks or so. All is up in the air though depending on how he comes out of this the next few days. For now, Erik is highly critical for the next 72 hours. He may be the same, better, or he could experience excessive clotting or a bleed – both could be really bad for him. They will allow him to start waking up some tomorrow to see how he is doing. There is an entirely new blood flow pattern established now and we just need to pray that Erik’s body will accept this new pattern. Everyone here is very interested in Erik and his prognosis which we now are optimistic that it has a good chance of improving. We also learned today that much of the weakness and inconsistencies of abilities Erik has been experiencing may have been due to the blood flow issues and not necessarily the medicine alone like we suspected. We can’t know for sure but we are asking for prayers to specifically be for Erik’s body to positively adjust to the new blood flow pattern over the next 72 hours and that when he awakens he will show physical signs that there is improvement. The CT scan immediately following the procedure showed no signs of a bleed and the doctors appeared greatly pleased with this. Right after we talked with the physician, we had an image of Erik waking up with his arms moving around and his eyes open and looking around. It was like a dream without sleeping. Perhaps this was God showing us what is to come! Please pray for Margot, Brigitte and Nick to continue doing well and for Jaymee and Doug who are caring for them to be rested and strengthened during this time of a temporarily extended family! Please also continue to pray for us and the physicians and staff here who have just been wonderful! We appreciate you continuing to lift us up in prayer and ask that you help us continue to move through this until we see the end results of God’s manifestation of healing in Erik! PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Erik's Family