December 3, 2005 Erik is resting at Duke Children's Hospital

Hello all. Erik had a follow up appointment with the Neurologist Friday afternoon and they decided to keep him over for observation. The back of his head, where is CA surgery was, was a little puffy again and they thought it may be infected again. It is not as puffy as it was 8 weeks ago but it was a concern. Sooooo, he is back on the antibiotic to see if that helps the swelling to go down without any surgery. He will be on the antibiotic for 4 weeks and then we will see if the swelling went down. If not, then they will need to go in and clean out the infection like they did 8 weeks ago. It is really hard to get an infected bone clean and to stay clean. Please pray that the infection will go away and stay away. On a good note, they did a CT Scan on Erik Friday night and his ventricles looked really good. The Neurosurgeon was really pleased on how everything looked. It looks like the shunt is working great. He has eaten really good for Wendy and seems to be making a lot more sounds today. He is such a fighter. He may be able to come home tomorrow, Sunday, but the Infection Disease people may want to see him him before he leaves which will be Monday if they have their way. It looks like we will be taking Erik into see the Infection Disease group every week until they take him off of the antibiotic. The bad thing is now he will be back on the Benadryl for the next 4 weeks which will make him a little more sleepier. Another good note before I close. The Neurologist would like to lower Erik's Phenobarbital medicine when he gets back on his feet. Maybe in the next week or two. The thought is to slowly reduce the amount to where hopefully in the next few months he would be completely off of the this medicine. This seizure medicine is really strong and is one of the reasons Erik has been really sleepy. We are praying for no seizures and to be able to not have any Phenobarbital in his body ever again. What an awesome day that will be. Thank you for your continued prayers. Prayer is so powerful. God Bless, Erik's Family Angie Lewis Guest Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:16 am Post subject: West Edgecombe Baptist Church I was just made aware of this wonderful website. Thank you for sharing the information and Erik's story with so many. It is so wonderful to see God at work in your life. I am the pianist at West Edgecombe where Janet and Russ attend and a member of our Women's Fellowhip Group. Our group has been lifting Erik in our prayers for some time now. I am also related to Beth Sallee who was next to Erik's room in Greenville Rehab for some time. They have been through a journey much like your own. We will continue to pray for Erik's recovery and be in prayer that the Doctors will make the right decisions in terms of his future care and treatment. I also am in prayer for your continued peace as you face each new day. Love In Christ, Angie Lewis