July 31, 2006 Help us pray this away...

Greetings! Just a quick note to let you know how Erik is doing. We brought him home last Friday (7/21). He seemed better on Saturday but started complaining again Saturday evening. The week went okay for Erik but he was not "bouncing back" like we hoped he would. Last Friday evening (7/2 he vomited. Saturday we gave him medicine to help with nausea and he did okay throughout the day. He still complained but no vomiting. We stopped the medicine to see if the vomiting would return. Early Sunday morning the vomiting was back. We took him to Duke where they discovered that his small intestine is enlarged. At this point, they suspect Small Bowel Obstruction. This is something that most of the time in children results from scar tissue from previous surgeries inhibiting the bowel from functioning properly. For now, they are trying to keep Erik hydrated while relieving stomach bloating/pressure to see if he improves. They are getting additional x-rays and should they find something definitive, they will take appropriate action. What we all hope is that this will correct itself. If is does not correct itself, surgery may be required. We really want to avoid surgery because this will produce additional scar tissue which is not desirable since this may have been what initially caused this problem, and recovery from abdominal surgery would be difficult for Erik. The best thing for healing after abdominal surgery is walking which Erik cannot do. . . YET!!!! Please pray for the following: -- For the small intestine to correct itself -- For the solution to be non-surgical -- For this to be resolved quickly without recurrence -- For protection over Erik from future complications The enemy never gives up. These experiences cause us to realize that Erik will one day do great things. If this were not true, why would satan be trying so hard to harm him and set him back? We will remain strong and trusting of our Lord. Our faith will not weaken but instead it will be strengthened through this trial. Thank you for your prayers and support! Erik's Family Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

July 24, 2006 - Erik is home again...

Hello Everyone! Erik is back home now and doing pretty good. He is still complaining some and not back to himself but he is doing better. We have follow-up appointments this week so hopefully every day will prove that he is over this latest illness. Thanks for all of your continued prayers and support! We are so blessed!!!! Love in Christ, Erik's Family

July 17, 2006 Prayers for Erik

Hello Everyone! Hope this email finds all of you and your families well! We have had an unusual week. Wednesday morning when we went to get Erik up, he turned Erik's head and he cried out. He did this each time he was moved. He cried and really appeared to be uncomfortable. We went to Duke and they checked him out neurologically. All checked out fine. There was no sign of infection or shunt failure, or anything! We went home thinking that maybe his stomach just hurt. He did the same thing on Thursday so we took him to our pediatrician to be checked out. It was obvious that Erik's abdomen was hurting. Per the pediatrician's recommendation and Erik's continued complaining, we took him back to Duke Friday. Erik had also decided that he did not want to eat and he still cried when moved. They took x-rays of his abdomen and CT scans, re-checked blood and urine and found no sign of a problem. We went home thinking that maybe it was a just virus that would pass. Saturday he continued to complain. Sunday morning we checked on him at 2am and his temp was 101.5. We gave him Tylenol and put him back to bed. We checked him 2 hours later and even with Tylenol his temp had increased to 102.5. We returned to Duke. They really cannot find the problem. His belly is very tender, the high fevers are continuing, and he just is not himself. All of his labs are still checking out okay. Our prayer is that this is a virus that will quickly pass. We have not been able to leave his side and hoped we would be over this by now! At this point, we would like to request prayers on Erik's behalf for this to pass or for them to quickly identify the problem! Thanks in advance . . . Erik's Family