Erik Medlin

Friday - July 29, 2011 - Erik's Rights . . .

2011-07-29T11:41:00.003-04:00

Hello Everyone!

It has been a while since we posted but that just gives us more to share!

Erik had a great year at school. He became more and more alert and engaged in the classroom and even was administered end of grade testing. He did well. He is making choices and wanting to stand more (with support) which is great. Teachers also shared that Erik became more appropriately engaged by listening to questions asked, waiting for others to respond, and vocalizing when the teacher called on him (instead of when others were asked t respond). He was fairly consistent which is great to know.

We also have changed the agency that provides nursing care for Erik as well as multiple changes with therapists. Erik now not only receives physical therapy but also speech and feeding at home as well. There are adjustments with getting to know everyone but so far all is going well. Thank you for your prayers that we would find therapists to work with Erik and please continue to pray for progress in all areas.

Now for the BIG news . . .

On July 17th Erik surprised us ALL! Dad was feeding him a snack and noticed him raising and using his right arm! It was unexpected and extremely exciting! We watched him for a while and even recorded a video. We were capturing the moment with the video so it is really dark and hard to see but his right side is toward the camera and you can see him moving his arm/hand all the way up to his mouth! Even his right leg is moving! Before this he would extend it some and move it a little when excited but moving it to his mouth and out repeatedly is truly God's work! Here is the video link which seems easier to see when the screen is small. You may have to copy the link below and paste in your internet browser to view.

http://youtu.be/otXI4aoAgC4

Please keep up the prayers as this progression is truly God's work. In fact, it has created many opportunities for us to share our faith through sharing Erik's progress which is a welcomed opportunity. It would typically take months of focused therapy to see Erik voluntarily move his right side like this. We saw this literally overnight. Erik's nurses and therapists immediately commented on the change too.

This for us was another moment where we stopped and said, "Wait God . . . this is not even what we are praying for right now but thanks so much!" Truly God's timing is perfect!

Enjoy your summer!

Love in Christ,
The Medlin Family

Thursday - February 24, 2011 - Positive Updates . . .

2011-02-24T11:45:00.002-05:00

Hello.

We have some exciting news to share. After several years of praying for thorough OT services for Erik, we are pleased to share that Erik now has a speech/communication AND a feeding therapist coming to the house weekly to work with him! We are so happy to have the addition of these 2 individuals to our team! Timing is everything and Erik is at the point where he is fairly consistently responding to things like pushing a button to indicate interest in an activity or to make a choice. This makes securing the 2 additional therapists key enabling us to take advantage of the interest and motivation he is showing towards progress. Please continue to pray for Erik to positively respond to these interventions.

We continue to struggle with seizure activity. The spells are brief but he seems to be having them daily (with a few days here and there without anything we notice) and we need to figure out the best approach for reducing or eliminating these all together. Please keep this in your prayers . . . actually our prayer is for the seizures to stop all together! :)

We were able to schedule a second appointment with another contractor for an estimate on converting the dining room downstairs into a bedroom with shower for Erik. Of course when the contractor arrived he immediately said they are not going to approve it, I will prepare an estimate but I can tell you that it will not be approved. So . . . what this does is make the prayer for this to come together for Erik more of a priority! We will keep you updated as things progress.

As always, thanks for your continued prayers and encouragement.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Thursday - January 13, 2011 - Happy New Year!

2011-01-13T12:46:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone.

Hope the holidays were great and that the new year is starting out well. Erik had a good Christmas and we are pleased he did not have any seizure activity on Christmas day. Past month or so have been challenging with seizure activity. Very few days lately without recognizable seizure activity.

Makes things rough because even if they are brief, they exhaust him and make it difficult for him to eat, make him less responsive, and just bum us out! We have had 2 adjustments to his VNS which have possible reduced seizure activity down to 1 time per day (that we see) but we are suspicious that he is having them when we are not aware - especially at night. He has been very tired all day long for the past 5 days and we just don't see anything that could be the cause. Sleeping all night, no medication changes, etc.

We are praying for a solution so keep this in mind as we know God will carry us through this. We are asking for the discernment to know what actions we should take.

Erik has been doing well in school and seems to really enjoy his instructors and classmates this year. They are working with assistive technology and encouraging him to make choices which he appears to be intentionally doing! This is great to see as it does appear he knows what he is doing and is happy to be able to communicate with us through the tools available.

Thanks to all of you for continuing to keep us in your prayers . . .

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Monday - October 25 - Erik back in school . . .

2010-10-25T12:18:00.002-04:00

Hello all.

So sorry it has been a while since our last post. We have had some ups and downs but the ups way outnumber the downs! Erik returned to school the end of August and is doing really well. He was moved to the older class and weekly reports indicate that he is really working hard! A focus for this year is on communication and they are using tools and strategies in the classroom allowing him multiple opportunities to make selections, decisions, and choices. He loves it!

Health wise Erik has been doing okay. We have had periods of increased seizure activity but all in all we have kept them at bay or now. He is getting 4-6 molars which seem to be causing him quite a bit of discomfort. Thanks goodness for Motrin!

August 25th, we did make a trip to the Emergency Department but it was not for anything we could have anticipated! Strange thing . . . his nurse was doing his regular stretches and he cried out in pain. We have not heard Erik actually cry in over 2 years! Seriously! The nurse stopped his stretching and waited a bit and when Keith touched his foot after he settled down he cried out again. We had to get it checked out. Really swollen and red and hot to the touch. X-rays were fine and blood work was fine. The days after involved follow-up x-rays and staying off of his foot but in time, it all worked out. We are thinking it must have been a torn ligament or over stretched muscle. He was a trooper though and kept on going!

The only other bit of a challenge we are trying to work through is that we were told that effective July 2010 we would be able to receive $10k for home modifications. This is a part of the program Erik is enrolled with and is a 1 time offering. We set things up and began working to be ready to make changes to the home turning the formal dining room into a bedroom with a bath for Erik on the downstairs floor. Erik is getting so big that it is becoming a safety issue taking him up and down the stairs. The date for this to begin moved from July 1 to September 1, to October 1. When we had everyone come to the house to talk about this late September we were told that we could not add a bathroom to the existing room because this was considered an "addition" opposed to a modification. Our understanding is that an addition would represent additional square footage which is not what we would be doing at all. Please pray that we can identify some solution before the program is no longer available!

Thanks for all of your prayers and support. As each day passes, we see Erik continue to interact and respond in new and fun ways. This confirms for us that he is indeed progressing.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Monday - July 5, 2010 - Erik Enjoying Holden Beach!

2010-07-05T17:01:00.003-04:00

Hello.

Just a quick update from Holden Beach, NC! We began our family vacation last Thursday and so far all is going well. Erik, Margot, Brigitte, and Nick are all enjoying the beach.

This year we are particularly thankful for the clean water as we remember the families impacted by the BP Gulf oil spill. We are enjoying more than ever seeing the pelicans swim, fly and dive freely and the beautiful sand and water. We continue to pray for those struggling with the oil spill and those working to stop the leak.

Enjoy this video of Erik on the beach taken yesterday - July 4, 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLnNCztXmao

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Thursday - May 19, 2010 - Ramp for Erik and more . . .

2010-05-20T13:20:00.002-04:00

Hello.

It has been a while since our last post and during that time good things have been happening! Erik is doing well and continues to improve. He is back in school and we are observing positive improvements since his last HBOT treatment.

Erik appears to be making and maintaining eye contact better than before. He also continues to improve on showing appropriate responses to things going on around him. For example, when leaving the house if you tell him goodbye it is likely that he will now turn in your direction. Before he may have responded like this 1 out of 5 times. This may seem like a small thing but this is a BIG change in him!

We are also seeing improvement in the interactions between those who work with and are around Erik on a regular basis. For example, the kids are talking with him more. They have always been good at including Erik and interacting with him but lately (perhaps due to his more appropriate response) the time interacting has been extended. Hope this makes sense. Improvements we are seeing are somewhat hard to describe. You just have to experience it! We are so often amazed at how God can reach down and intervene . . . no matter how large the task may be!

Our other news is that the wheelchair ramp being built by Apex Baptist Church for Erik is almost complete! This will be such a blessing for us and will make caring for Erik MUCH easier. Thank you so much for the team that has assembled on multiple occasions to volunteer time to see this happen. We could never adequately express our thanks!

We also are pleased that Erik's new school schedule is working out. He is home on Tuesday and Friday to allow for additional therapy. We have also taken advantage of these "non-school" days to plan the multiple medical appointments Erik needs. We are still in need of a therapist for speech/feeding for Friday afternoons. Please lift a prayer that this need will soon be met.

We hope you enjoy the photos of the ramp and thanks for all of the prayers and support you each continue to amaze us with.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Saturday - April 17th - We are home!

2010-04-17T23:15:00.002-04:00

Hello Everyone!

We are home! We arrived home Thursday evening and have been settling back into a routine. We cannot express adequate thanks for all that has been done for us - prayers, meals for the family, assistance with the kids, notes of encouragement, financial support, and more! It is SOOOOOOOOOO good to have our family all under the same roof again!

The time passed quickly and Erik did really well. Interesting, we increased one of Erik's medications that typically makes him sleepy and even with this he appears more alert and engaged. As with the last round of treatment, some results are often seen during or right after treatment but also in the 3-6 months post treatment. We will keep a close eye out, note in any comments shared from Erik's therapists and teachers, and will share his progress with you.

Erik will return to school on Monday (4/19) and he will have a different schedule. He will be home on Tuesdays and Fridays to allow him to receive much needed OT/Speech/feeding and PT services. With his current school schedule (on the bus at 8:15am and home at 4:30pm) we have not been successful finding therepists who can come that late in the day and weekends are not an option. Pray that this schedule will work well for Erik and those caring for and instructing him.

The ramp for the house is not yet constructed. Team is still working to secure permits, etc. to get things coing. Hopefully it will be soon as until we have this it is a real challenge getting Erik out of the home because his temporary aluminum ramp we have broke. We know God will see us through this but lift us in prayer if this need comes to mind.

Thanks again for all of the kindness and love you have shown us during this challenging time.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Monday - April 5, 2010 - What a week!

2010-04-05T20:28:00.002-04:00

Hello.

Hope all of you are doing well. Last week was a week of "ups and downs" with many more "ups" than downs . . . thank God! Erik started the week with some seizure activity but it only lasted 2 days . . . prayer works! The rest of the week went well with treatment. We have settled into a nice routine.

We had a nice surprise this week. We contacted Give Kids the World (where we stayed for our Make-A-Wish trip: http://www.gktw.org/corporateHeroes.asp?a=4&page=wdw) and Paramount Carowinds to see if we could get discount tickets to the park for a day when the family are all here. We are 20 minutes from the park and it seemed like a shame to not try to go. We asked about special rates for Make-A-Wish families and they gave us 7 free passes for the day! What a wonderful surprise! We did not expect that but ate breakfast and headed to the park. It just opened last weekend and local Spring Break is this coming week so it was not that crowded and we had a wonderful time! Glad we asked!

We finished treatment #25 today to only 15 more to go! Time is really passing quickly. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Friday - March 26, 2010 - Working out the "kinks" . . .

2010-03-26T10:56:00.002-04:00

Hello Everyone!

This week has passed quickly! We arrived Saturday afternoon and settled into the apartment which is nice for us and an 8-10 minute walk for treatment. Local friends from our home town met s here and brought a glider and a single bed for us to use with Erik which has worked out perfectly!

Monday morning we met with the doctor at 8am and awaited our initial treatment scheduled for 9am. Part of the process is to check the pressure the VNS implant Erik has to understand the pressure range that is safe. Well . . . who knew that the versions before and after Erik's versions had been tested but Erik's model had not! This required that we delay treatment until we understood the safe level.

We returned to the center at 2pm and they had reached he sales rep/manufacturer and we were ready to go. We were happy that the center offered to stay late and allow us to return at 6 for a second treatment so we would not get off schedule. Whew!

Erik also continued to have seizures and actually had 2 on Tuesday/Wednesday. We made a medication change and yesterday he remained seizure free and so far so good for today. Please continue to keep us in your prayers that the seizures will not return . . . EVER!!!!!

We have several local nurses who are filling in open shifts for us on the schedule which has been nice. So far they are good with Erik and are jumping into the routine well.

Lots of other little "bumps" along the way this week but we are comfortable settling into a workable routine now which is welcomed!

have felt lifted in prayer this week and are most thankful for safe travel and for Erik's stability! We Please continue to keep us in your prayers and we look forward to sharing Erik's progress with you.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Thursday - March 18, 2010 - Packing and praying . . .

2010-03-18T11:47:00.002-04:00

Hello Everyone.

First . . . the yardsale was a wonderful success! Friends from our Life Group at church gave their time, talent, personal belongings, and gave up sleep to make this happen for us! The money raised will go towards housing, treatment and expenses incurred while Erik is receiving treatment. More than the money raised, this was a time for fellowship and sharing Erik's story with the community. Thanks so much!

In addition to this financial support, we received additional gifts through Erik's benevolence fund through Northwest Community Church. This is an anonymous venue so we would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who contributed through this fund. This financial support will definitely help to reduce our stress during this challenging time and will allow us to focus on what really matters - Erik and his treatments.

Mom is taking Friday off to pack and get ready for the trip. Many of you will be bringing over meals, have sent meal gift cards, and are helping out with the coordination of activities and care of the children while we are away. We thank you each for this. Please pray for Dad who will be running the business as well as stepping up to handle all of the "family matters" while the family is apart. A month sounds like a long time but we know that this time will pass quickly.

We have been offered a glider rocker and a single bed for Erik for use while we are receiving treatment. A local church and friends from high school are helping us out with this. Amazing how God works all things out!

Erik has experienced 2 minor breakthrough seizures this week. The enemy just won't stop! Please pray for things to settle in this area and for him to be able to receive treatment with no intervention for seizures required.

Pray for safe travel for our family this weekend and we will update you next week on Erik's progress.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Thursday - March 4, 2010 - Praying and planning . . .

2010-03-04T14:00:00.005-05:00

Hello all!

Well . . . the title of this email says it all! We have experienced ups and downs but we continue to push through it all! Your prayers, words of encouragement, and general support are lifting us up!

Erik is doing well. He had had a fever off and on since last weekend (this is really rare for him!) and started coughing last Saturday as well. We took him to the doctor on Tuesday and they put him on an antibiotic which we pray will rid him of this illness! Of course with him having a cold like this, his seizure activity has increased. We are hoping this is just because of the illness and fever so pray that this will resolve once he is feeling better.

We took Erik this week for his annual vision and hearing screenings and all is well. We need this for a meeting we have next week with the school. We are also attempting to change his school schedule to 3 days per week to allow for additional physical, speech, and occupational therapies during the week. We have been trying for over a year to get services at home but since he leaves in the morning at 8:15 and does not get home until 4:30, it has not worked out that anyone has been available. Pray the school will approve this request and that the right therapists will be secured.

We are still praying for God to provide for us financially for this trip. He is answering! Our Sunday School class has offered to organize and host a multi-family yard sale and use the money made to help us pay for treatment/housing for our upcoming trip! Many people have asked how they can help us out so for those of you who are local and want to come by to contribute items for the yard sale or shop, the details are below. This is right near Apex Middle so spread the word! If you want to bring items by to Doug and Kathy's home the evening before the sale, this will be fine. The plan is to get rid of everything by the end of the yard sale so please only bring items that you do not want back!

Thanks again for helping pray us through this time and we remain committed to placing our trust and faith in God to get us through it all!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (New Living Translation)
So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

Yard Sale Details:
March 13th
6:30am until ~noon
200 S. Mason Street
Apex, NC

General contributions can be sent to:
NWCC Benevolence Fund
For: Erik Medlin
7712 Carpenter Fire Station Road
Cary, North Carolina 27519

END.

Tuesday - February 23, 2010 - News and Prayer Request

2010-02-23T15:00:00.004-05:00

Hello!

What a time we have been having! We have had both good news and concerns raised over the past few days and we want to share these with you.

First . . . We went for Erik's Botox appointment last week (2/17) and on the way to the appointment Erik began to have a seizure. The seizure continued to the point where we had to pull off of the road to administer emergency medication. We hate to have to do this because it sedates him for 2 days or so. The good news though is that he did not react to the Botox at all! Like we shared, Botox is quick but really painful. We figured God just did not want him to be uncomfortable! We would have preferred no seizure though! He did get the Botox and we can already see some improvement.

We did get confirmation that there is housing on the first floor of a facility near the center. One problem we encountered last trip was that many of the place did not have elevators or first floor housing which made them less than ideal for us because of the wheelchair. We are working now to set up things with the facility. It is also only ~ 1/2 mile from the center so we are hoping we will be able to walk to and from at least one of his daily treatments if not both.

We also had an AWESOME surprise on Sunday. We were approached by a couple in our Sunday School class about a ramp for our home for Erik. Apparently God placed us in a Sunday School class with a member who has built wheelchair ramps! We were blown away by this and truly did not know how to respond. We have not even been praying for this lately! Prayer focus has been elsewhere! God has a way of doing this for us. We have to remember that He knows our needs even if we do not continually ask. Trust me . . . we have asked for a ramp for greater than 2 years now. It was awesome for God to answer this prayer NOW. The plan is to try to have the ramp completed by the time we return from Charlotte. Hurray!!!

We do have a prayer request. Since the Grand Mal Seizure last week, Erik has just not been himself. Real quiet and just different. He has had a few seizures as well. Nothing major but just a few breaking through. This morning at 4am we woke to Erik in a mild seizure. By the time we got to him, he was settled. When Dad picked him up he realized that Erik was hot with a fever. This is concerning because Erik is not one to spike a fever. In fact, I only recall 2 times when he has had a fever not connected to a major infection. We gave him Motrin which cooled him off and Dad took him to the pediatrician this afternoon. They did blood work and determined that it appears to be a virus. Please lift a prayer that it is nothing more than this and that it will quickly pass! It is just so rare for Erik to have a fever.

Thanks so much for all of your continued support.
Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. KJV

Wednesday - February 17th, 2010 - GREAT NEWS!

2010-02-17T11:32:00.002-05:00

Hello.

Well . . . we are thrilled to share with you that Erik received his stroller yesterday! Please see recently posted photos. God is so good and the stroller is better than we anticipated. Erik fits perfectly with room to grow and the features are wonderful. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to those of you who contributed to the cost. We would not have been able to get this without your support!

He can recline (this will make rest and diaper changing much easier when we are out), his legs can be raised (this will help with leg circulation and comfort), there is a canopy for shade, and more than anything his head and feet do not extend past the stroller! He just was SOOOOOOO happy when we put him in the stroller last night! It is REALLY light weight which is great for his nurses and Mom and Dad too.

We have a doctor's appointment with Duke this afternoon to get Botox and we will be taking the new stroller along for use. It will be nice for him to be comfortable and this will be much easier to sue when we are in Charlotte getting HBOT twice per day. Please pray for comfort for Erik during this Botox appointment as this is a quick yet painful procedure. Thank you.

Please also pray for our upcoming trip. We have set the dates for March 22 through April 16th. We have increased expenses this time in that expenses for furnished housing are added to our cost. This is approximately $2,000 for the duration. In addition, we were in hopes that CIGNA would help cover some of the costs this time to offset the housing but they are giving no indication that this will happen. The treatment is $3,180.

Just last night a nurse who has not worked with Erik since before his HBOT treatments commented repeatedly about how much more alert and better Erik is. Since the last round of HBOT, he seems to be stronger, more focused. He is just so much fun and more engaged! We are looking forward to seeing the improvement another round of treatment will offer. In addition, we are again amazed how God works. With Erik having the VNS now to help control seizure activity, we are looking forward to seeing if the experience will be better due to less seizure activity.

Please keep us in your prayers as we move forward with planning this trip. Many people have asked about our needs during the upcoming treatment in Charlotte so in response we added a section to his webpage sharing what we know will be additional needs during this time.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Tuesday - January 26, 2010 - Lots of good news!

2010-01-26T22:24:00.004-05:00

Hello Everyone!

Well we do have lots of good news to share with you!!!! First, we woke Saturday morning to Erik in a seizure. This was NOT a small seizure. In fact, this was the type of seizure that generally requires administration of medication that knocks him out for roughly 2 days. Anyway, we grabbed the magnet for his VNS and ran it cross the device and the seizure stopped in about 10 seconds! What a wonderful thing! No additional intervention or medication was required.

Second, today was our appointment with Duke about a possible hip surgery. We met with the surgeon and he indicated that although Erik's right hip is partially moving out of his socket, it is not to the point where surgery is required. YEAH! We have a follow-up appointment set for the end of July (6 months) to have additional x-rays taken. Botox treatments (we have an appointment scheduled for February 17th), time standing, and solid physical therapy appear to be key in preventing further strains/complications. We may not be able to avoid this surgery at some point but there is a chance and we will sure try!

What all of this means for us is that we can focus on getting the therapy, Botox, and HBOT Erik needs. We planned on heading back to Charlotte in the Spring for a second round of treatment but hesitated depending on the outcome of this appointment. At this point, we are going to work to set something up to begin mid-March. This will require that we fund this (unless CIGNA will step in and cover the treatment - we are not holding our breath!) and make arrangements for residing in Charlotte for a month. Although this treatment is such a good thing for Erik, it is tiring and many things will have to come together for this to happen. Not sure about the financial issues, mom's work allowing her to go and work remotely as was possible with the last trip, housing and the multitude of other things that have to come together for this to be possible.

For those of you who know us we will do as we have in the past and work towards the goal of making all of this happen and trust that the Lord will make it work out smoothly or put up "road blocks" that clearly steer us away from this if it is not His plan for Erik.

Please keep us in your prayers as we begin attempting to put all of this together. Your faithfulness as prayer warriors for Erik is so important to us and is proving to be a true gift for both Erik and our family.

Love to all,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Monday - January 11, 2010 - Unbelievable Week . . .

2010-01-11T09:06:00.005-05:00

Hello.

WARNING – LONG post ahead!

Well . . . we are just thankful we survived last week to be able to tell you about it! Here is a quick summary:

Monday - Mom learned that there are significant management and staff changes taking place at work reducing the team she is a part of from 9 to 4. No one was let go but instead a new group is forming in the company and several key team members are being pulled to that group. Change is good but this drastic of a change is always concerning.

Tuesday - Mom and Erik's nurse took Erik to an orthotics appointment to hopefully get a lift for his shoe and to inquire about additional support for him while in his wheelchair. He is leaning alot and extra support should help this. The outcome of the appointment was unbelievably surprising. Because of tone issues he has from his CP and past trauma, it was recommended that he have surgery to his right hip to prevent a threatening dislocation. When dealing with CP, it is very difficult to avoid this surgery. Knowing this, we have worked very hard to avoid it but it looks like we were successful putting it off for a while but it is still needed. The surgery is rather intense and involves breaking the femur bone near the hip, making adjustments and setting it back in place. This would require a half body cast during the healing process for 4-6 weeks. Same that would be required if the bone was accidentally broken. God has provided an excellent resource for us even before we knew this was pending because Erik's classmate is just returning to school today from having the same surgery and he did really well through it all. Great to have someone to help us through this process. We have an appointment with the surgeon the end of January for a second opinion and to make a final decision. Please pray for us to have the wisdom to make the right decision for Erik.

Wednesday - Effective January 1, our insurance through Mom's work changed. Knowing this and knowing that Erik had a key appointment to receive Botox for his right hand January 6th, we called the new provider mid-December to confirm all would be okay. They said to just enter the insurance information when known which we did when we received our card late December. They said it would be seamless and not to worry. Erik periodically receives Botox injections to relax his muscles and ensure he continues to have the use of his right extremities. He has been receiving these treatments for several years. Botox is difficult to schedule since local physicians typically plan 1 day per month to administer this medication. Erik was scheduled to receive Botox this summer but was hospitalized because of a seizure and had to miss the appointment. Next available appointment time was January 6th and we took the appointment knowing this would be a long time to have to wait. Erik has regressed during this time.

Wednesday was the appointment time. Mom took time off work, made transportations arrangements, secured nursing (we have to have someone with us because of his medical fragility), kept him out of school, paid $7 for parking, made arrangements for our other 3 children’s afterschool care since mom would most likely not be home in time, and probably something else we are not thinking about. Anyway, when we arrived mom was called into the Financial Care Coordinator’s office and told that they would not be able to provide treatment for Erik unless we paid ½ of the cost ($5,300) in advance because the new provider had not provided authorization. This started a chain of events. Although we and the Financial Care Coordinator did everything as timely as possible with the holidays, and the fact that Duke was not able to work with the new provider until the benefits program was effective – January 1, 2010, it was not approved in time. Keep in mind that Erik has had Botox many times, all approved, for the same thing. Nothing was counter-customary with the appointment and/or treatment.

Multiple calls were made to the new provider and we explained that this appointment was critical for many reasons. First because of all that had to be coordinated to just get there, second because we had done all we could do to make contact and get things approved, third because we had been told it would be “seamless”. In addition, to make our ability to handle this even more of a challenge, Tuesday's news about the surgery made the need to Botox even more important since it would relieve some of the discomfort – at least temporarily. The way this connects is that we see the orthopedic surgeon on January 26th. The opinion is that this surgery needs to be done as quickly as possible. So since the next available Botox appointment is in March, if he wants to do the surgery right away, it could easily be 6 months before Erik can get Botox again. In addition, as stated above, post surgery Erik will be in a body cast for 4-6 weeks so we will not even be able to physically transport him to the appointment without lots of planning and coordination, if this is possible at all. It is known that people always regress after surgery. If we had the Botox done as planned, we would be able to continue to work with Erik’s limbs and keep him from excessive regression. As it is, he is quickly losing the use of his right hand/wrist. We pleaded with the insurance reps (who by the way were very nice) but they could do nothing.

We cannot find in this process where we could have done anything different to avoid what happened yesterday. At this point, we accepted the March appointment time (and asked to be called should someone cancel before this time) but know that this probably will not be an appointment we will be able to keep. Because of the time in between appointments, it is likely that if Erik will have regressed to the point where Botox will not make a difference and we are at risk for the doctor not approving the procedure because of this. We are REALLY close to this point now and since we know the upcoming surgery will cause regression, we fear that Erik may lose the use of his hand primarily because of a lack of timely authorization from the insurance provider. Please pray that an appointment time will open up before the surgery and that Erik will not regress beyond where Botox will be able to help.

Thursday - Dad has had to make the decision to make staff changes at Monkey Joe's requiring him to be the only manager now at the store. This will require that he work more hours and more closely monitor things. Pray that all will go well especially since we are in our busy time of the year.

Friday - We received a call from Erik's health care case worker and the bath seat we have been working to get for my him since August of 2009 was just approved by Medicaid (it was approved by BCBS months ago). Sadly, the new provider denied the equipment because there is only one company in this area ABRIA (or something like that) who they work with for durable medical equipment and this is not who we have been working with. We have been working with his current equipment providers since 2005. Getting equipment is a lot of work and very time consuming. An evaluation is required and multiple approvals must be granted including primary and Medicaid for my Erik's case, and this alone takes months.

Please pray that something can be done to approve Erik’s bath seat quickly since we just got final Medicaid approval (the final step in this process) so we do not have to start this entire process again and have to wait another 6 months!

AS IF THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH . . .

Saturday - Saturday evening the sensor on the washing machine (upstairs) broke and the washer overflowed running into the hallway, both girls bedrooms, into the floor/ceiling and into the walls and onto the carpet on the first floor of the house! Incredible! So now we are working to see if we can meet our deductible and get our house back in order! This will take time and lots of prayer to get through!

So . . . the good news is that we must be doing something right OR God must have something amazing in store for us since the enemy is working so hard to get us from every angle - health, family, work, financial.

Stay tuned to see what blessings lie ahead and keep us in your prayers!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Wednesday - January 6, 2009 - PA Trip Went Well . . .

2010-01-06T09:28:00.003-05:00

Hello All!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all! Just a quick note to let you know that the trip to PA after Christmas went REALLY well! We rented a 15 passenger van (so we could get the wheelchair and everybody together) and sat Erik in the row directly behind the driver's seat. He loved it. He rode well and only had 2 REALLY brief seizure spells while we were away. Keith and I learned that we live in the right state. It was so cold and getting Erik into his wheelchair in the cold was hard to do without him getting really cold. We managed though but it took more than one of us a quick speed to be successful!

There was no snow when we arrived but it snowed the 2-3 days after we arrived. The kids LOVED it and spent alot of time sled riding. The day we left it did not snow which made the ride home perfect. We were so happy to see family and friends and are so happy we "stepped out of our comfort zone" to take this trip.

Thanks for all of the prayers that surrounded us on this journey.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Thursday - December 24, 2009 Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T09:27:00.002-05:00

Hello.

Well . . . the Medlins house is filled with excited children today anticipating Santa's visit tonight. This year has been filled with challenges, progress, and blessings for our family. We are thankful that God has seen us through it all!

The next exciting event we have ahead of us is that we have all been able to get time off work to allow is to travel to PA to visit family. Erik made this trip once when he was 6 months old. After this, he was diagnosed and it has been too risky to travel that far. The trip would have been difficult for him.

This year, we are thankful that God has given Erik good health and us the peace to think that we can take this journey as a family. We will load up the car and head up North the afternoon of the 26th and return late evening on the 30th. Please keep us in your prayers during this time and we will look forward to sharing how it goes with you when we return.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all and thanks for your prayers and support this year!
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Monday - November 16, 2009 - All is settled . . .

2009-11-16T10:56:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone!

Well . . . things are going well for us. Erik seems to be doing well with the VNS and went almost 4 weeks with no signs of seizure activity! This was great. He has had a few VERY brief breakthroughs in the last week or so but with all of the illnesses going on around us, we are not surprised. The plan now is to stay where we are with things and see how he does over the next month or so.

He is enjoying being back in school and really missed his friends. He is responding well and seems quieter and somewhat more focused/engaged in the classroom which is a great thing to see.

We just want to let you all know that we are happy to be somewhat settled for the moment!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you all!

In His Name,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Saturday - October 24, 2009

2009-10-24T22:02:00.002-04:00

Hello.

What a busy week! Erik's surgery went well on Wednesday and we were able to take him home the same day. He rested well but was retaining fluid the next morning. About mid-day Thursday, he began to feel better and we were relieved. He has continued to improve as the week has passed and we seem to be settling down to a routine.

We are planning on keeping him home this week since the flu appears to be running rapid around here. No need to take any chances!

We have multiple follow-up appointments this week but will send an update when we can.

Please continue to keep Erik and our family in your prayers.

In His name,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Thursday - October 15, 2009 - VNS Placement Scheduled!

2009-10-15T15:53:00.001-04:00

Hello Everyone!

This has been an exciting week. We met with Erik's neurosurgeon on Monday and have decided to proceed with the Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) for Erik. We are really excited about the possible benefits of this for Erik.

Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday - October 21st. Please keep us in your prayers as we head down this path. We will send out an update next week.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Wednesday - October 7, 2009

2009-10-07T09:11:00.002-04:00

Hello All.

Just a quick update on Mr. Erik. He is doing well these days. We are changing medications which initially caused him to be sleepier than normal. This week he seems to have adjusted somewhat and is appearing more alert.

GOOD NEWS - Erik received a new wheelchair! It is larger than the last one and he seems much more comfortable in this version. The seat actually will move/rock allowing him to sooth himself and move around more. We are adjusting to managing a larger wheelchair but so far . . . so good!

Monday (October 12) we visit the neurosurgeon to discuss placement of the VNS. Amazing how God works . . . just this week I received an email from Erik's nurse in Charlotte. Guess what? She is working with a patient who has a VNS and is experiencing success with seizure reduction. What are the chances of that?

We will update you when we have more news but keep Erik and the family in your prayers.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Saturday - September 19, 2009 - Rough Ride!

2009-09-19T15:50:00.003-04:00

Hello All.

We have had a few challenging and informative days. Erik began to seize on the way home from school on Thursday. We intervened but were unable to stop the seizure completely so we called 911 and had Erik transported to Duke. He remained there overnight for observation and we returned home late Friday afternoon.

This chain of events gave us the opportunity to discuss and explore some treatment options for Erik with his physicians including medication increases, adding medications, and Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS). Over the next week or so, we have decided to explore with his physicians the VNS.

This device is like a "pace maker for the brain". It is a small implant under the skin near the collar bone that sends out impulses that interrupt seizure patterns. The interesting thing is that it also works with a magnet so if we know seizure activity is building up, we can run the magnet across the area where the device is and it will send a signal that can interrupt the pattern that is building up. There is quite a bit of information available about the VNS which honestly we have not had the time to fully investigate.

Please keep this potential treatment for Erik in your prayers. As we have seen in the past, we are confident that God will lead us in the right direction as we consider all options.

Thanks so much for continuing to pray for our family.
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Friday - September 11, 2009 - We're Home!

2009-09-11T23:48:00.001-04:00

Hello All.

We are home now and have been steadily improving over the course of the week. I won't say much but I will say this . . . the past 2 days have been REALLY good for Erik. Don't want to "jinx" us here! Thanks for the prayers that are seeing us through this transitional time.

We are excited about school starting next week for Erik and have been able to take care of most follow-up appointments and a few other annual appointments this week which has been really good. Pray that Erik will remain seizure free and that next week will be "uneventful" from setbacks for him as he rejoins his teachers and classmates.

Erik does appear to be focusing better these days and is really happy to be back home with his siblings. The time apart passed quickly but being back home has been WONDERFUL!

Take care and we will keep in touch!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Wednesday - September 2, 2009 - Almost done!

2009-09-02T07:49:00.002-04:00

Hello all!

Can you believe it? Treatment here in Charlotte is almost complete! Erik is doing okay but we are ready to get home. Mostly because his seizure activity has increased during treatment and we want to get home and get settled.

We plan for Erik to return to school on September 14th. This will give him a little time to get closer to his baseline before entering the stimulating world of school. Pray for the next few weeks to go well for him and pray for safe travel for us on Friday.

We have been researching results from treatment and it appears that many patients experience changes in the 4-6 weeks post completion of therapy. Keep Erik in your prayers and we will share progress with you as we continue down this path of healing.

We have met some wonderful people here - HBOT staff, nurses, neighbors - again, God has filled this challenging time with unexpected rewards! Just think about the people we have met (especially the nurses) who have learned about HBOT and can share it with the numerous patients they will encounter! God's purposes for this trip reach further than we planned!

Thanks for all of your prayers and support!
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Tuesday - August 25, 2009 - Update on HBOT for Erik!

2009-08-25T11:46:00.002-04:00

Hello All.

Sorry it has been a while since I sent an update but we have been busy. Erik's seizure activity has increased and he actually had a Grand Mal seizure last Tuesday (August 18th) on the way home from treatment. He had a few small ones before this that we were able to manage well but this one required several hours at the hospital under observation before we were comfortable because it took a while to get it to stop.

We are not sure what this means - or if it means anything at all. There are several possible explanations including that we hope there are changes taking place with his brain tissue. This could trigger seizures. Let's pray that this is what is happening!

Dad brought Margot, Brigitte, and Nick up for a visit this weekend which was great. Erik and Mom were int eh chamber but when he saw his siblings outside of the chamber, he lit up with excitement! Noone mentioned their names or anything . . . he jsut recognized them and responded! This was great to see!

Please continue to pray for us as we come to mind. We are half way through treatment and are praying that the treatments are making positive changes and for him to not get to the point of any additional Grand Mal seizures.

Thanks for the meals for the family, cards, and words of encouragement for us during this time. We feel well supported and remain positive that we are on the right track!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Thursday - August 13, 2009 - HBOT is Going Well . . .

2009-08-13T17:01:00.002-04:00

Hello Everyone!

Well, things are moving right along for Erik. He had 1 treatment on Monday and Tuesday and then 2 treatments yesterday and today. All went well and we are learning things to do to help him with the pressure. It is like going to the mountains or flying in an airplane in that your ears close up. Erik will bite down on something or take a sip of water which releases pressure and so far, so good.

The staff at the center is really nice and we have felt safe and comfortable in their hands. It has been a learning experience for us and one we hope to be able to share with many other families.

Be sure to look at the photo we took today of Erik before his treatment. He is NOT in pain . . . he is actually quite the opposite in this photo! He was loudly vocalizing and engaged his whole body in the excitement (this is why his leg appears to be propped up!).

Keep us in your prayers. The enemy continues to press on us as today Erik experienced a brief seizure before entering the chamber. He came out of it quickly and we proceeded with the treatment once he recovered. We continue to trust that this is the direction God has lead us and appreciate your continued prayers and support.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

"Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him."
Psalms 2:12 NKJV

2009-08-13T13:26:00.000-04:00

Friday - August 7, 2009 - We made it to Charlotte!

2009-08-07T20:16:00.002-04:00

Hello.

We made it to Charlotte! The home we are staying in is absolutly BEAUTIFUL! It is in a nice neighborhood and is close to the center. We were greeted with smiling faces when we arrived and were shown around town, driven to the Charlotte Metro Hyperbarics Center, and just made to feel right at home! Erik seems comfortable here and he slept until 9:30 this morning! His regular wake up time is between 7 and 7:30.

Today we had our consultation with the doctor at the clinic and learned alot about the therapy that Erik will be receiving. It is a nice place and is a clean,calm environment. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable and we continue to believe this is where God wants us to be. The doctor evaluated and examined Erik today and indicated that he appears to be a good candidate for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Erik will have his first treatment on Monday at 9am. He will be in the chamber for an hour each session. The chambers look reasonably comfortable and we continue to pray for this to be successful for Erik.

Please lift us in prayer as we continue to move forward with treatment for Erik.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Friday - July 31, 2009 - What an amazing week!

2009-07-31T22:15:00.001-04:00

Hello.

What a week! You know . . . when God takes the reins . . . you better hold on tight! This week has been a total roller coaster of emotions and blessings. Some of the highlights are:

- A family in Charlotte offered to let us stay in their beautiful home at no cost through the 21st of August. WOW!
- We spoke with several people from the Charlotte area who are now praying for us.
- We have seen an outpouring of love and support from people we know, people we do not know, and people we will be meeting in Charlotte. It is so good to see that there are still so many wonderful and loving people around!
- The doctor's office indicated that they will only charge $100 per treatment opposed to $125 which saves us $1,000!
- We also have had many people offer to bring meals to the family or who are sponsoring fundraisers to help cover medical expenses.
- Many people have shared stories with us about how they or someone they know has had success with HBOT. Each reason for treatment was different (wound care, diabetes, etc.) but it was good to hear no harm was done and that they experienced success.
- We also had a family offer their rental home less than 10 minutes from the center to us at no cost! We can stay there the entire time of our visit and there is plenty of room for the family when they come to visit. This will save us $2,000!

You can see that this has been a week like no other! We have had family and friends step up to help take care of the children while Keith, Erik, and Erik's nurse head to Charlotte Thursday - August 6th to get things settled. Erik's consultation is on Friday - August 7th and his first treatment will be Monday August 10th.

We are so excited about the trip and feel we can't get there fast enough! Please continue to lift us in prayer through our return from Charlotte.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

We were recently informed that Northwest Community Church has agreed to collect donations to help cover medical expenses for this trip. Please use the mailing address below:

NWCC Benevolence Fund
For: Erik Medlin
7712 Carpenter Fire Station Road
Cary, North Carolina 27519

Sunday - July 26, 2009 - Same plan to pursue HBOT . . . different location!

2009-07-26T18:05:00.003-04:00

Hello.

We have had an interesting weekend including an exciting change in plans for Erik’s HBOT treatments! One of our biggest concerns was that Louisiana is so far away. Making it through this separation would be hard but we have been praying about it and as God often does . . . he had a different plan for us!

We had lengthy discussions this weekend with a physician from a center in Charlotte (Charlotte Metro Hyperbarics: http://www.hboinfo.com/ncarolina.htm) who can offer HBOT for Erik in Charlotte, NC. YAY! They seem to have a great program set up and solid medical supervision. We like that they are closer to home and are located directly in front of the local hospital. Also, if others in the Triangle area choose this option for their children, it is close. Another answered prayer is that since we will be in NC, we should be able to take a nurse with us or get one there for the work days. This will be a big help!

Please continue to pray for us as we can see that it is working!

Thanks,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Wednesday - July 22, 2009 - Louisiana Bound!

2009-07-22T22:40:00.002-04:00

Hello All.

Well . . . all is set. We will be traveling to Louisiana for HBOT for Erik the first week of August, 2009. We are so excited! We plan to leave for our trip on Wednesday - August 5th. This has happened really quick for us and we strongly feel God's hand pushing us in this direction.

WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS! This is happening so quickly for us and seems like an impossible or at minimum very challenging journey. Those of you who know us, know that we faced a similar trial in 2005 when we traveled to CA for surgery and through this challenge we were given the opportunity to witness and participate in God's miracle for Erik. We have found ourselves facing many of the same challenges as we move towards HBOT for Erik in LA:

- Our family will be under different roofs for ~8 weeks.
- Dad will be left at home to maintain the household, keep the family in tact, and keep the family business going (Monkey Joe's of Cary).
- Erik and Mom will be staying in the Ronald McDonald House in New Orleans during treatment.
- Insurance has indicated that they will not cover the treatment. Erik will need 40 treatments costing $200 per session.
- Mom / Dad will have to care for Erik without nursing help while in LA. Erik currently receives 12 plus hours per day skilled nursing care.
- We are also faced once again with totally trusting God - (challenging yet rewarding!).

All that stated, we have prayed about this and continue to believe this is the direction we need to go. We ask first and foremost that you lift Erik and our family in prayer. God has extended grace to Erik many times before and we look forward to witnessing even more miracles as we proceed with HBOT.

After the email was sent yesterday, we have received so much support and encouragement! Some of the needs we will have are listed on the website.

It has been amazing! We are going to do as we have in the past and let God work to take care of all of this particularly because we do not have the luxury of time! We would like to ask for your prayers and for you to forward this email to your friends, family, co-workers, small groups, neighbors, and anyone else who can lift us in prayer or who you believe will benefit from participating in what we believe will be miraculous.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

If you are interested in sending notes of encouragement to Keith or the kids or if you are able to help us cover medical expenses for this trip, please use the mailing address below:

1413 Celandine Drive
Apex, NC 27502

Wendy and Erik's mailing address as of August 7th will be:

Ronald McDonald House
4403 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70119

Information regarding HBOT:

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00290186?cond=%22Cerebral+Palsy%22&rank=1

http://www.hyperbaricmedicalassociation.org/390/text/591/files/8_Stoller_May6_2004_Written_Testimony.pdf

Monday - July 20, 2009 - Doing well and our current exploration . . .

2009-07-20T13:05:00.003-04:00

Hello all.

Hope this email finds you all well. Erik is doing really well this Summer. We have set goals for him which he appears to be steadily working towards. He has a speech/feeding therapist who has been coming to the house to work with him on a weekly basis. This has been great and he just loves it!

On the "news" front . . . recently, we have had several people ask us if we have considered Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for Erik. We have read some available information, communicated with physicians, and are actively exploring this treatment option for Erik. As you may know, we have also explored stem cell infusion. Stem Cell Infusion appears to have risks that could possibly be significant for Erik causing us to have many questions about this treatment option. We are now wondering if Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) may be what Erik needs to boost his improvement? Here is a link to a website that has information and even videos that may be of interest: http://www.hbot.com/.

Here is a summary of what we understand as of now:

• Treatment is safe and the risk is pressure similar to what you would experience when flying.
• Erik appears to be a good candidate because he is responsive, shows emotions, and is progressing to name a few reasons.
• Patients in much worse condition have seen fantastic results from HBOT.
• There are indications that stem cells are generated/released during therapy from bone marrow during treatment.
• Treatments are administered in “blocks” usually comprised of 30 to 40 1-1 ½ hour sessions.

We would like to ask for your prayers as we continue to research this treatment option for Erik. We welcome any and all feedback from you.

Although HBOT is not yet being used on a large scale for improving neurological conditions, we believe with the progress Erik is making that this could give him a needed boost allowing him to progress more rapidly.

Thanks in advance for lifting Erik and us in prayer.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Monday - June 22, 2009 - Erik keeps us busy!

2009-06-22T11:19:00.003-04:00

Hello all!

We are definitely busy these days! Erik has lost his two top front teeth in the past 2 weeks! He looks so cute! He also successfully finished his first year of public school. Note that he really seems to be missing it now that he is home for the summer!

Erik appears to be getting more alert with each passing day and he is getting stronger too. We can actually hold him at his waist now and he will stand for quite a while like this. He also "catches himself" if he starts to lean too much. This is a BIG step!

It is amazing to see how much he has improved. I was just sharing with one of his new nurses how we use to have to hold his head up for him to eat. We don't have to do that anymore!

Today we are going to get a small pool for the back deck that he and his siblings will be able to enjoy this summer.

We are still praying for Erik to walk and talk soon as well as for his seizures to dissipate for good. God is good and we know this is a small task for Him!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Thursday - April 30, 2009 - We just keep moving forward!

2009-04-30T15:36:00.002-04:00

Hello all!

I am happy to say that things are going well for us in the Medlin household. Since the last posting, we have enjoyed a long weekend at Holden Beach, NC; Erik has participated in the local Horse and Buddy Program and Special Olympics; and we enjoyed a long weekend at Busch Gardens! WHEW! It has been a year since our Make-A-Wish trip and the Busch Gardens trip was the last benefit from this program for our family. Maybe all of this activity explains the time between postings!

Things are going well for Mr. Erik. He continues to progress at school and appears to be getting stronger with each passing day. We still have a few seizure episodes now and then but until he is completely healed, this is to be expected. His growth also has an impact on his seizure activity/medication levels.

Erik will begin receiving speech and assistive technology services at school in the ear future. He also should begin receiving speech/feeding services at home soon. We have been waiting for quite a while for these services and have noticed Erik making several different sounds lately that we want to help him develop further!

I have posted some recent photos here for you to enjoy. Notice Mr Erik standing . . . this is something the doctors said would be challenging for him!

Keep us in your prayers . . .

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Thursday - February 26, 2009 - Latest on Mr. Erik

2009-02-26T11:31:00.002-05:00

Hello All!

Things have been busy in the Medlin household! February 9, 2009 we celebrated 1 year of operation for our store in Cary, NC - Monkey Joe's (MonkeyJoesCary.com). With the crazy years we have had in the past, it is incredible to see that God made opening our own business happen and that He is blessing us through the success of the business.

Erik does seem to be continuing to make progress. Not that the enemy has given up! He has experienced 2 Grand Maul seizures (the last was this past Saturday - 2/21/2009) requiring Dyastat causing him to be non-functioning for 2-3 days this year but maybe this will be the last! He appears to be making the effort to create different sounds and is loving school too.

Mom had the opportunity to share some of our trials with West Edgecombe Baptist Church February 8th (link to recorded message: http://www.webc1.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=36819&PID=578900). This was a challenge as our family has only shared maybe 2 times so far and it is emotional to "re-live" many of our experiences. Each time it gets easier and each time we are encouraged by people's interest and receptiveness. We are happy to share as it does give purpose to our trials.

Please join us in prayer for Erik's seizure activity to cease completely and for him to continue to progress both physically and mentally.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Friday - December 19, 2008 - Christmas Blessings

2008-12-19T10:20:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone!

WOW! What a year! Just looking back we realize how blessed we have been in 2008! There is no telling what Erik will be doing a year from now if his progress in 2009 mirrors his successes in 2008! How wonderful it is to have this to look forward to!

Hope some of you were able to hear us on 93.9 KISS FM last night for the Make-A-Wish radiothon. We were on the air around 4:25pm and it was loads of fun. Erik put his "2 cents" in occasionally which was great for everyone to get to hear him! Following the on-air chat, we were able to go see the volunteers and have some dinner. Everyone with the radio station was great and very kind to us!

During this time of year when we celebrate the miracle of Jesus' birth, we realize how lucky we really are to have witnessed miracles in Erik's life. God has also blessed us with a wonderful family to share this with and we are so thankful for this! We continue to pray for God to completely restore Erik. Nick's prayer is for Erik to be able to run and play with him . . . we hold on to that request and ask God to answer this prayer! We also continue to pray for the seizures to go away and be something of the past for Erik. What a day that will be!!!!!

We thank you for your prayers and support in 2008 and we look forward to sharing Erik's progress with you in 2009!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Wednesday - December 3, 2008 - Some for the enemy but more for God . . .

2008-12-03T21:38:00.002-05:00

Hello!

Well . . . there is more to tell! The first event since our last post was last Sunday - November 30th. Dad went in to get Erik up at 7:38am and found him in a Grand Mal Seizure. We administered his emergency medication and waited to see him settle. He did stop but this was followed by every once in a while he would start twitching and stop. He was doing this about every 4-5 minutes. When this had been going on for over an hour, we called Duke to ask if this was ok.

We were advised that this could be his body leading up to another seizure and we were guided to get him to Duke. Before we could get out of the door, he went into another Grand Mal seizure. We called 911 and had him transported to Duke. He finally stopped seizing around 12:30pm. We stayed overnight for observation and an additional medication was added. It was interesting being back at Duke and realizing how long it had been. Mom even went to the wrong floor thinking that was where the intensive care was. This was AWESOME that it had been so long that we forgot! We use to go on "auto-pilot"!

The past week and a half have been rough as we work to get the medications to a level where they stop the seizures. He had continued to expereince daily seizures (small) and we ask for your prayer support as we pray these away.

Today was a good day as we went to UNC for vision and hearing screenings. Everything checked out perfect! The doctor was great in that he said a few things that really encouraged us. He said that "time would be our friend". By this, he indicated that Erik is progressing and that with continued support, he should continue to improve with his vision. His words were tat in time, his vision should be normal like anyone else. Right now, anatomically, all is well and healthy. The issue is how his brain interprets what he sees. We have seen improvement in how long he holds a gaze and in him looking towards people and things.

While there, we were approached by a gentleman who said he just wanted us to know that God just laid it on him to say a prayer for Erik and us. This meant alot to us.

Erik enjoyed riding the bus from one appointment to the other. I think he thought he was going to school which he loves.

Thanks for your continued prayer support as we enjoy watching Erik progress daily.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Tuesday - November 25, 2008 - So much to tell . . .

2008-11-25T08:46:00.002-05:00

Hello All!

Well, the title of this post says it all! We have news . . . good news . . . not so
good news . . . and more! Where to start? Well, one praise is that we have had a prayer answered! Erik is no longer taking Trileptal (the medication that lowered his sodium) and a few weeks later . . . his sodium levels are normal! This is a BIG deal for us.

Now for some other news . . . Erik has been having seizure activity for a few weeks now. Slowly increasing. He had a cold and fever the first week so we thought this could be the cause since any sickness increases his chances of seizures. The cold went away yet the seizures continued. We had his medication levels checked. It takes a week or so to get the results.

Before we had the results and were able to change his medications, we woke on Sunday morning with Erik in a Grand Mal seizure. We are not sure what the enemy was up to but the medications we give him to stop this type of seizure did not work. We are not sure how long he had been seizing when we found him but perhaps because it went on for so long before we intervened, this is why it took a while for it to stop.

After we gave him his medication, he continued to have intermittent seizure activity. Once an hour had passed, and he continued this pattern, we call the doctor. They indicated that he could be about to go into another Grand Mal seizure and that we should get him to the hospital. We were getting ready to go when Erik went into another Grand Mal seizure. We called 911 to have him taken to the hospital. He continued until around mid-day when he settled. He stayed in the hospital overnight and came home on Monday.

We have introduced a new medication to assist with managing the seizures so we ask for your prayers that this will be the answer for Erik. We are not sure what the enemy was trying to accomplish but we are continuing to go THROUGH this!

You may recall that many times when Erik has had spells like this, he comes out doing things he has not been able to do before. It is like God is "re-setting" him. This is what we are praying is happening now.

Thanks for keeping Erik in your prayers.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Tuesday - November 4, 2008 - Moving in the right direction . . .

2008-11-04T15:43:00.002-05:00

Hello All!

We hope this email finds you all doing well! Erik is keeping us busy lately. He is getting more fun with each passing day! We have had a few nurses working with us lately who have not worked with us for several weeks. Their comments are that Erik is more alert, stronger (he is standing straighter and holding steadier than in the past), and is making and holding better eye contact! PRAISE GOD!

As you know seizure medications are something we continue to manage for Erik. We have been successful eliminating Trileptal - the medication that has successfully controlled his seizures in the past but had the side effect of dangerously lowering his sodium. Because we have eliminated Tripetal and because the belief is that the Trileptal was causing this dip in his sodium level, we have began the process of lowering his supplemental sodium and so far so good! the fewer medications there are to administer until God completely restores Erik and frees him from the bondage of seizures, the better!

Erik has experienced a few minor breakthrough seizures but we continue to pray these away. I watched a movie recently where one of the actors said that when things get rough, this is a good sign that the Lord has you on the verge of a breakthrough! Just hearing this confirmed our thought about what is happening with Erik. We are working towards him becoming medication free!

Thanks always for your prayers for Erik and our family!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Monday - September 22, 2008 - Prayer is Working!

2008-09-22T10:59:00.002-04:00

Hello Faithful Friends!

Just a quick note to let you know that our prayers are working! Erik has been seizure free since our last prayer request and we are relatively low on the medication that lowers his sodium but controls his seizure activity. PRAISE GOD! This is truly a "first" for Erik - that he is doing well with this medication so low!

We are continuing to lower his medications and do ask for your continued prayers as we work to adjust his medications.

We know that we are blessed to have so many prayer warriors in our lives and do thank God for you!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Thursday - September 11, 2008 - Prayer Request

2008-09-11T14:35:00.004-04:00

Hello Everyone.

We want to ask for your prayers for Erik and our family. He has been taking a medication that is very effective for controlling his seizures that we now have to stop. The problem with this medication is that it lowers his sodium level causing muscle tone and heart strain. We have tried to manage this but have found that even trying other medications has not been as effective as this medication. His seizure activity has been slowly increasing over the past few weeks. The decision was made on Tuesday to stop this medication and if needed add another at some point. Labs were drawn Tuesday so we are waiting for the results to know how to proceed.

As has happened in the past when we have begun to lower this medication, immediately Erik's seizure activity increased and . . . yesterday was not a good day. He was lethargic, and had significant seizure activity. Not a good day for us at all!

We are praying for the right medication to be identified for Erik. Our understanding is that the next class of medications have more serious side effects and our prayer has always been that we would not have to go to these. Our ultimate prayer remains for the seizures to dissipate completely!!!
Medication changes bring with them 4-6 months of challenges - specifically with seizure activity. That is the thing with seizures, because of the way the body processes the medications, it takes so much time to get the medications to a level that is effective and then while you are working on this, seizure activity generally increases.

Yesterday was a bad day but you know . . . that day is done and in the past! We know that God has something exciting waiting for us on the other side of the current challenge because the enemy is definitely working hard to deter us!!!

We will all have to continue to lift each other up in prayer!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Wednesday - August 27, 2008 - Lots going on . . .

2008-08-27T13:33:00.002-04:00

Hello Everyone!

Well . . . the title of this post says it all . . . we have lots going on! The biggest thing going on for Erik is that he started school this week! He attends Cedar Fork Elementary and so far so good. There are 8 students in his class and he is doing his best to keep up with everyone. He has a nurse who attends school with him (Mrs. J) and they seem to be getting into a routing quite easily. Transportation picks them both up in the morning and brings them home. The first 2 weeks he is going 1/2 days and then it will be full days after that.

His teachers and therapists are getting to know him now and he seems to be responding positively to all. This is such a relief for us all!

Erik has been struggling with seizure activity lately and as such he had an MRI on Friday - August 22. All went well and we have not heard from the doctors that anything has changed which we are interpreting as good news. We have a follow-up in September. We have adjusted his medications and ask that you continue to pray for complete healing from these seizures.

Erik does continue to strengthen his muscles - especially his back muscles. We can actually support his hip these days and he will stand straight. He still moves his head around some but can stand with his head steady for longer periods than he has in the past. Our prayer is for him to be able to first sit up on his own followed quickly by standing and walking.

We know this is a short note but we did want to let everyone know how things are going.

Take care,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, and Nick

Saturday - July 12, 2008 - Disney Photos!

2008-07-12T09:13:00.002-04:00

Hello Everyone!

We do hope everyone is well. We have been busy with various transitions: Margot starts highschool and Erik starts "out of the house" school in August, Brigitte and Nick started 5th and 1st grade this week, Margot and Mom went to Chicago on a missions trip, Monkey Joe's continues to do well, and Margot will be going to a Youth Leadership Conference with the church the week of July 21st. All of these activities have or are keeping us busy making arrangements and preparing.

We have successfully posted photos from our Disney trip for you to enjoy!!! We also changed the layout of the website. If you click on the photos, it will take you to a website that will allow you to see the photos larger and you can see the captions we added. Make-A-Wish was wonderful to make this happen for our family! We still cannot believe all that they did for us!

Erik continues to make progress and we ask for your continued prayer support as we work to make the transition from in-home school to attending school at Cedar Fork Elementary. We believe he is medically stable enough to take full advantage of what the school system has to offer - this is a miracle in itself! Praise God!!!

Erik continues to have "break through" periods of seizure activity which we believe may be the result of his continuing to grow. He had a pretty serious seizure on Tuesday so we continue today to work through the effects of the medication today. Hopefully tomorrow her will be doing much better and will be back to himself! Please continue to pray for the medications to control his seizure activity until the Lord completely frees him of this condition!

We do hope you enjoy the photos!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Wednesday - May 6, 2008 All of our prayers were answered!!!!

2008-05-07T15:58:00.004-04:00

Hello Everyone!
WOW!!!! We are just so excited to share our story with family and friends! Our Make-A-Wish trip to Orlando / Disney was truly AMAZING for us all!!! We realize that we will never be able to have another time together like this one because it was just perfect!!!!

Some of the unexpected WONDERFUL surprises for us were:
-- Make-A-Wish truly took care of everything we needed or could have anticipated!
-- Give Kids The World was awesome and unbelieveably accommodating and kid focused.
-- Give Kids The World staff waited on us hand and foot.
-- The Make-A-Wish financial support was more than adequate for meeting our needs.
-- Give Kids The World delivered an amazing bag of age appropriate goodies (movies, toys, snacks, etc.) - EVERY DAY! The kids really looked forward to this each morning!
-- Characters at the Magic Kingdom appeared to "seek us out" which the kids thought was great!
-- We actually did not have to "ask" for things - the pin from Give Kids The World and the Make-A-Wish hat for Erik were recognized and highly honored. We were able to walk right up to characters for autographs and photos, walk right up to rides and even ride them twice if we wanted to!
-- Parking and stroller rentals were taken care of which saved us quite a bit of money.
-- The giving continues for us even now. Give Kids The World has arranged for us to have free admission at Global theme parks for the next year! This will encourage and motivate us to continue to venture out with the entire family.

As for Mr. Erik . . . he was a trooper! He had absolutely NO SEIZURE activity the entire time we were away! This is unbelievable and completly God's answer to our prayers for this because he has been having 2-3 spells of some type weekly. Also, he hung with us all day long without any napping and was still ready to go at 10:30 at night! He LOVED it!

Erik's favorite thing was the trains we encountered. We have been told multiple times that because of the brain damage he has sustained over the years he would not be able to grasp cause and effect relationships. Each time we witness him showing that he has this ability (recognizing family members, expressing protest when he knows we are laying him down for bed, etc.) we know that this is a gift to us from God. He got to the point on the trip that when he heard the train coming (not the whistle - just the train sound) he would start vocalizing and smiling. He knew what was coming! He also loved the fireworks which we were uncertain of what his reaction would be!

Thanks for all of the prayers you each offered up for us prior to and while we were on our trip. It was truly a trip we will never forget and the kids REALLY deserved the wonderful treatment they received after the challenging journey we have had with Erik's health. It was an irreplaceable and un-re-creatable gift for Keith and me to see the smiles on the kids faces as they were catered to and we could never have imagined it would be like this!

Thanks again and we hope you will continue to partner with us as we pray Erik to complete restoration!

We plan to post photos from our trip for you to see soon . . .

Love in Christ,
Wendy, Keith, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

4/22/2008 Prayers for our Make-A-Wish Trip to DISNEY!!!

2008-04-22T14:41:00.002-04:00

Hello Everyone!
Just a quick note to ask that you lift us in prayer because the time has arrived for our Make-A-Wish trip to Disney! We are all very excited because we leave on Sunday - April 27th and return on Saturday - May 3rd. When this wish was granted, Erik definitely was in no shape to have fun on such a trip. Our prayers have been answered and we now know that he is ready to experience it all!

We are preparing for the trip but at the same time the enemy is trying to deter us. Erik's seizure activity has picked up despite medication increases but we know that this is what our family needs and we are continuing to prepare. Please pray for the seizures to cease and that Erik will have no more seizure activity starting now!

Do keep us in your prayers because it is quite an undertaking to pull it all together!

We will be staying at Give Kids The World which is a place designed and only open to wish kids.

Love to all . . .
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

4/9/2008 Erik continues to progress . . .

2008-04-09T13:48:00.002-04:00

Hello all!
WOW - so much has happened in the last month . . . let me think back . . . Erik is doing well. He continues to struggle with some seizure activity which we are trying to address with medication adjustments. Please keep this in your prayers.

We were also pleased that Erik was approved for nursing, supplies, etc. for another year as he has received in the past. YEAH!!! This is an answered prayer because he is making progress and we were afraid that some of his services would be reduced or taken away which could slow future progress.

This month, we also were excited to see some progress on another front. It was publicised about 3 weeks ago that Duke infused stem cells in a pediatric patient with positive results. Take a look at the video ( http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3924774n). We started following clinical trials related to stem cell research over a year ago (Wake Forest and Harvard for Parkinson's patients) so naturally we found it fascinating and exciting that they recently performed the procedure right here at Duke . . . on a child no less!

We are following up with the doctors and at this point, they are only infusing stem cells if they were saved from the cord blood at the time of birth. We did not save Erik's cord blood. For some reason, God did not move us to save it so perhaps this is not God's plan for Erik. Time will tell! Please pray with us about this and the possibility of this or other therapies for Erik. It is exciting that we are able to think about things to advance him opposed to last year at this time we were thinking of things to make him more comfortable and sustain him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God is also sharing with us through our dreams lately. In our family/household, there have been at least 3 reports in the past 2-3 weeks of dreams/visions where Erik is talking, walking, etc. This is interesting to us because now we get to wait to see if these are dreams, reflections, or visions. We pray that they are visions and look forward to seeing them come true!! God has shown us visions before so this should be no different!

God is also giving us "previews" of things Erik will soon do. Recently, in his sleep, he has laughed/giggled like we have ever heard him laugh/giggle before! We thought it was Nick when we heard it! We remember that before Erik started his laugh (not quite a hearty giggle), he did it right after seizures or in his sleep - unconscious state.

He also continues to get more and more appropriate in his responses to us and his surroundings. For example, week before last, when his NG tube tape was removed, he cried a sad, "normal" cry instead of just vocalizing like he normally does. He also looked at his Dad when he did it which is important. These may seem like small things but for Erik, these are major steps! This is cause and effect which we have been told - multiple times - will be hard for Erik to regain.

Monkey Joe's (www.MonkeyJoesCary.com) is doing great and people tell us that they love it! It is so rewarding to hear the families when they walk in exclaim how big and wonderful it is! Keith continues to work very hard and the hard work is being rewarded! We do feel that God has his hands in Monkey Joe's because it was so difficult at times to continue towards our dream of opening it!

Well, continue to pray for the seizures to go away as well as TOTAL restoration for Erik!

In Christ's love,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

3/3/2008 Update on Erik!

2008-03-03T14:13:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone!
We have been busy of late getting our new business in Cary, NC (Monkey Joe's - MonkeyJoesCary.com) up and running. So far, so good! Before we opened, we let the kids play some. We took Erik up on a slide and slid down with him - unsure of what his reaction might be! At the bottom of the slide, his eyes were big and he looked surprised - uh-oh we thought! Our concerns quickly dissipated as a smile slowly came across his face! He enjoyed it!

Erik continues to make small steps - he is sitting up for longer periods of time without added support (I think we are up to 2-3 minutes now), he is making better and longer sustained eye contact, and he appears to be more responsive to things most of us take for granted. One example is that when he hears us come into his room in the morning, he now looks towards the door for us! This is awesome to see!

We still are struggling with controlling the seizure activity. It has been better of late but we are still seeing weekly seizure activity.

Please continue to pray for Erik to stay well in this time of many viruses and illnesses going around, pray for complete restoration, for complete control of the seizure activity and for him to continue to be motivated to make progress.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, and Nick

2008 Video of Erik on the move

2008-01-04T21:39:00.002-05:00

Check out this video of Erik moving ALL limbs!
Enjoy!
The Medlins

2008 - January 3 - Happy New Year

2008-01-03T15:16:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We all enjoyed the holidays and were thrilled to be home together for the 2007 holiday season. We send our best wishes for a happy, healthy, and productive year for you all!

Erik has been making progress yet struggling with seizures the past few weeks. We are not sure why this is occurring - growth, immune system weakened from cold or virus, medication levels, - it could be due to a number of things. We continue to help him through these and have intensified our efforts to look for warning signs so we can work to prevent seizure activity when possible. Please continue to lift him up in prayer asking for him to stabilize.

Erik is strong and continues to make progress by getting stronger despite all of this! He appears to be getting physically stronger and is able to hold himself upright in a seated position (with support) for longer periods of time. He also appears to be learning to follow verbal commands. We sit him on a bench and count, "1, 2, up" and he pushes forward to a standing position (with support)! This is awesome progress and we are encouraging him as much as we can.

Thanks to all of you for all you have done for us in 2007! We are looking forward to 2008 and sharing more about Erik's amazing progress with each of you!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Erik keeps progressing . . .

2007-11-26T16:55:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!
First we hope that you all were able to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. We certainly enjoyed the long weekend together!

We want to give an update on Erik. He continues to make progress and he is working very hard these days to be included and let us know he has "input"! He is moving his right side (weakened from the seizure in 2005) more and more. When we lay him down in the morning upon waking, he moves his right side so much that you would not even recognize a weakness if you did not know he had one! What a wonderful thing!

Since it looks like we will be opening our Monkey Joe's January, 2008, Mom and Dad will be going out of town to Atlanta to tend to Monkey Joe's business this week. We (mostly Mom!) are a little nervous about leaving the kids for 5 nights. Please lift a prayer up for us if we come to mind this week. We are fortunate to have secured 24-hour nursing for Erik which is comforting and his seizure activity appears to be stable for now. We know that God will take care of all of us but as many of you know when faced with applying this kind of faith, it does require that we push ourselves a little!

Thanks again to all of you for your continued prayers and support. We are so excited to be sharing Erik's progress with all of you! Our prayers continue to be focused on the following key areas:

continued total restoration for Erik
that he will walk on his own
that his speech will return
thanks for the healing God has extended to Erik to date
thanks for the small "steps of progress" God gives us to keep our faith and hope alive

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Accomplishments

2007-10-25T20:48:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!
Things are continuing to improve for Erik. We are enjoying watching him get better with time. On October 2, 2007 his Speech Therapist was working with him on taking some thickened liquids by mouth with a spoon. We suggested she try the cup because Erik has always loved drinking out of a cup. He opened his mouth when he saw it coming, he took a sip, and he swallowed immediately! He did all of the things he needed to do to successfully drink. It was awesome since we have not seen that in 18-24 months!!!!!!

Erik also is rolling all over the place now. If we place him on the floor, he rolls and rolls, and rolls! This is unbelievable! He has to learn everything all over again and this is what makes all of these successes so important. The good thing about this accomplishment is that he is also changing his position during the night. We position him on his side and he wakes up on his back or even on his belly! He was waking up during the night and we are now thinking that maybe he was waking up because he wanted to re-position himself but couldn't. We would change his position and then he would sleep more. This was fine but still interrupted sleep.

We are still trying to stabilize his seizures and are changing his medications. This is always tough and he has had some seizure activity. it is good to see that although this is a challenge, he is still motivated to do new things and show us what he can do. He is so proud once he does something too and this is awesome to see!

The week of October 14th, we noticed that Erik was actually trying to keep something in his right hand. To date, his right hand has not been able to hold onto things. We placed something that he liked in his hand and when he felt/heard it slipping, we could see his fingers move in an attempt to not drop it! This was wonderful! Especially since we have been told that he may not be able to have full use of his right hand as a result of all that he has been through. We have continued to stretch, help him hold things, and not give up and it seems to be paying off!

You may be like us wondering why all of this is happening in a matter of 2-3 weeks. We cannot say for sure but we are thinking that he is just feeling better now that the infection has cleared his body. He also may be at a place where he normally would be making progress for his age and is finally able to do new things because he is infection free.

In case you want to join in with us, we are specifically praying for:
continued/consistent laughter and emotions for Erik (he shows us more of this daily!)
speech/communication to return
for his back to strengthen allowing him to sit on his own and eventually walk without assistance
subsiding of seizure activity
Thanks to all of you who continue to sincerely pray for Erik and us and know that God is answering our prayers.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, and Nick

Stronger every day...

2007-09-26T00:09:00.000-04:00

Hello all!
We are doing fine here. Erik has been working very hard with his teachers and therapists and everyone appears to be impressed with the progress he is making. What a blessing!!! We even have added a few new therapists which is nice because they are trying new things with Erik and so far he is doing well and appears motivated to try new things.

Erik has taken a BIG step in that he is turning over these days! He does it when you lay him down and on occasion he will turn over during the night! WOW! As he progresses, he will have to learn everything all over and this is a natural step for him to be taking!

We are still working on changing his medications but are happy to report that his sodium levels have been stable of late.

Just wanted to send an update to share the GREAT news!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Remember when...

2007-08-20T00:08:00.000-04:00

We are all doing fine these days. Still closely watching Erik and praising God each day for the blessings he has given us. We are changing his meds and so far he is doing fine.

It is difficult when caring for a child with special needs to pay attention to the little things and the progress that comes . . . slowly. God has been good to us and has sent many people to us who have been intentional in reminding us of Erik's progress . . . even when we may not be seeing it. Recently, we have been remembering and reminding each other of these things and would like to share some of them with you.

Remember when Erik . . .

was having 60 plus seizures . . . daily
couldn't hold his head up
didn't respond to his parents or siblings
didn't smile or laugh
couldn't focus on faces
was fussy and uncomfortable - either from infection, hunger, pain, etc.
had to have his head held up to eat
had a shunt
had a broviac
use to sleep all of the time. couple of 3 hour naps during the day.
spent long nights, days, weeks at the hospital
when we did not even have to think about driving to Duke - it was like we were on "auto-pilot"
was awake throughout the night
when Erik's history, dates, surgeries, etc. were at the tip of our tongue

Remember:

when Erik was in constant pain
having confused doctors and having to tell the same story over and over
when he would only look right
setting the clock for various times in the night to wake up to check on him
the doctors telling us it was only a matter of time
doctors telling us that everything that made him who he was was impacted by the seizure and that he would not even know his parents
telling the doctors that we know the "Great Physician" and knew despite what they were telling us that God would carry us through this

There are so many things we could say - these are just the few that came to mind recently. We are now seeing that our dreams and answered prayers are slowly coming true . . . in God's time. With each day, we are realizing that soon we will be able to say...

Remember when Erik:

had an ng tube and couldn't drink on his own
couldn't stand
couldn't walk
when we didn't have to worry about telling Erik to stop running in the house
when he wore a diaper
when he had his wheelchair and how good it was for him
when he couldn't talk
when he had to take sodium citrate to keep his sodium levels up
when he was on seizure medicines

What a wonderful time that will be for Erik and for our family! What a wonderful testimony Erik will have to share! These things we now ask God for are so small compared to what God has brought him through so far.

He has made it through so much and is more and more responsive each day. Please continue to pray for us so we can all celebrate together when Erik has accomplished all of the above . . and much more.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

The beach was great . . .

2007-07-23T00:02:00.000-04:00

The beach was GREAT! There are no words to describe what it was like to sit on the beach (one of God's greatest creations in our opinion) with a child that man did not predict would still be with us on Earth today! It was amazing! Erik loved it! He was calm and did not even flinch when the water came up on him. It was wonderful for us to be on the beach with all 4 children!

Thanks to all of you for your prayers. Your prayers have helped us make it through some difficult times. It was wonderful to be lifted up during such a wonderful, happy, fun time with our family.

Since our return, Erik has experienced some seizure activity as we have continued to make medication changes. We know that this is "par for the course" when changing medications but this does not make it any easier to get through! Please continue to pray that the new medications will be successful and for our goal of Erik being seizure free! What a wonderful day that will be!

We have attached photos that we hope you will be able to see. If you are unable to see these, please know that we will be posting these to the website in the near future. (http://www.erikmedlin.org/html/photo_gallery.html).

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

All Natural!!!

2007-06-28T20:16:00.000-04:00

Yes -it is true. This morning Erik had his broviac removed and now he is all Erik! No artificial parts or pieces! As we think back to even a year ago, it is hard to believe we are where we now find ourselves - with a healthy little boy who smiles at us, knows us, and is working very hard to completely recover. It is truly a miracle and work of God that we are where we are.

We are taking a big step this week and are taking the entire family to the beach for the week - Saturday - Saturday. We are very excited about this trip. It will be amazing to sit at the edge of the shore with Erik sitting as well and have the water come up. We cannot wait to see his reaction! Now that the broviac is out, we can give it a few days and then we will be allowed to submerge him in water again. This will be great!

Please keep us in your prayers when we come to mind over the next week that it will be an uneventful and restful time for us all!

Enjoy the holiday . . .
Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik and Nick

Where we are . . .

2007-06-13T20:13:00.000-04:00

Hi.
It has been a bust time for all of us. We are slowly introducing the new medication that we pray will control Erik's seizures while not impacting his sodium levels. So far all is going well. We know that it will take about 4 months to get to a level that will make an impact so keep praying that we will achieve success!

We met with the school system last week to discuss Erik's plans for next year. We were pleased to learn that Erik has been given a spot at a school really close to Mom's work. it is a newer school and the ratio for Erik's classroom is 3 teachers to 8 kids. This was great news for us. His primary teacher is a trained Speech Therapist who decided to teach special needs kids - or simply - SPECIAL KIDS!

We still had concerns about Erik being medically stable for an outside of the home classroom. The team agreed that he may not be ready medically and agreed to send a note to Erik's physician for his response. We agreed that he may not be ready for full-time in the classroom but we are also concerned about him not getting what he needs to continue to progress. We expressed this and were told that the services he currently receives from the school system may be increased and that he would also be able to go into his classroom during the school day for a few hours periodically if we wanted to do this. This would be great! They said we would be able to bring him in for story or play time which we think will be good to introduce him to them and them to him. We will see how it all works out!

We have also celebrated life and earthly loss in the past few weeks. 3 (almost 4!) year old Nathan Naas and his family came into our lives during our extended hospital stay at Duke last Summer. Nathan went to be with our Lord the last week of May after a long, strong battle with a brain tumor. This has been an experience and inspiring journey for our family. We feel loss but we also know that Nathan and his family touched so many through their faith during the past year in a way that would otherwise not have been possible. Please pray for Nathan's family as they look ahead to what God now has in store for them. They have a website: http://www.peanutbutterpizza.com/NEN; User Id: Nathan Reader; password: Nathan.

We also celebrated Erik and Nick's 5th birthday this week. WOW - time has flown by! We enjoyed a pirate party at the park and Nick was thrilled. Erik seemed to enjoy the commotion of family and friends and was interested in the gifts as well. Nick told us that "he was tired of being 4!"

Erik has a new walker that we are introducing him to that we think is going to really allow him to advance. He can rest in it or choose to extend his legs to support his weight - when HE wants to. This is great! It is good to see him in the walker because he looks so big and he holds his head so well and he is eye level with the other kids which is great for all!

Well, that is the update for now. Once again, thanks to all of you for your continued prayers and support. Please continue to pray for Erik and our family as we pray him to a full recovery and complete restoration!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

A little scare...

2007-05-30T23:43:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!
Last Thursday (5/24) was a little scary for us. Dad went in to check on Erik because he was sleeping longer than usual and found him in a seizure. We have only "found him in a seizure" one other time and that was the day he seized all day so this was scary for us. He also was flushed which caused concern about a possible medication reaction. His emergency medication was given and things settled only to start again an hour later. Another dose of his emergency medication was given as well as the only other medication we have to settle seizure activity and then we took off to Duke.

The fact that things picked back up after the initial dose as well as the second dose of his emergency medication was concerning because generally one dose not only settles seizure activity but also knocks him out for a day or 2 - literally. The seizure activity continued and was different than in the past - left side opposed to right side was impacted and the movements were large and with his extremities. They were successful in ruling out things like infection, low sodium, etc. but could not determine a definitive cause. He has not gained weight and we have not reduced any medications either - both can contribute to seizure activity. He is doing fine now but we are keeping a close eye on him. Simply - cause of seizure-activity unknown.

The EEG team did not arrive in the ED until we had been there roughly for an hour by which time Erik was simply a heavily medicated, sleepy little boy. We really wanted to see what part of the brain was potentially contributing since the left side was reacting so we were disappointed not to be able to determine this through the EEG.

Anyway, the timing of this is interesting as we find ourselves in the position of making some important decisions about how Erik spends his days. Is he stable enough for a classroom setting both physically and medically? Would the advantages of being in a classroom setting outweigh the risks of exposure to illness and potential over stimulation? Would he be able to continue to receive aggressive therapy like he is now? We have been spending quite a bit of time contemplating and praying about this in the past few weeks.

Perhaps this seizure activity (a day before our meeting with the school system) was a sign from God that our concerns are founded and that a little more time with his current regimen would benefit Erik. We will see.

Since the medication has worn off, Erik appears to be doing fine. His smiles appear to be larger and more purposeful too. He even appears to anticipate when we start to tickle him or talk with him which is great to see.

We really appreciate the prayers that you lift up for Erik. Please continue to help us pray him to full recovery, pray the seizures away, and that we will make the right decisions for Erik!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Making Changes...

2007-05-18T23:41:00.000-04:00

Hello All!
We are doing well these days. the latest update is that we have learned that the doctors believe one of Erik's medications is causing his low sodium. This is disappointing in that the medication they are suspecting is the one that has proven to best control his seizures.

So . . . what this means is that we will begin the process of taking him off of one and putting him on another. The new one is interesting to think about in that it is similar to the one we will be taking him off of without the sodium side effect BUT if there are side effects, they can be life threatening. This will necessitate us keeping a closer eye on him for any symptoms of a potential problem such as a rash until we reach therapeutic levels. If he develops any type of rash we have been instructed to get him to a doctor ASAP.

We are proceeding with the goal of an effective medication change with no side effects and would like to ask that you pray with us for this to be the change we have been waiting for to control his sodium and seizures. The introduction of this medication will take ~2 months.

He has been content these days with an increased appetite and interest in things going on around him. It is such a blessing to see him interacting with his siblings and caretakers and demanding their attention! Yeah for Erik!

Keith is making progress with getting the Monkey Joe's set up. The current occupant of our building will be vacating our space within the next month. Please pray that things will keep moving in the right direction allowing us top open for business ASAP!

We pray that everyone will enjoy the beautiful weekend ahead!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Erik's laughter...

2007-04-17T23:37:00.000-04:00

Hello All -
Well, Easter Sunday (4/8) Erik had a seizure that required his emergency medication. This made him fairly unresponsive through Tuesday. When he started coming around on Wednesday, we received a gift. Yes it happened. Last Wednesday (4/11/07) Erik was full of laughter! It was amazing to hear! He has "chuckled" a time or 2 over the past year or so but he has not laughed like that since Sunday - April 24th 2005. We remembered this day when he laughed last week. That date was a Sunday and we actually thought about taking him to church because he was doing so well. Little did we know that the next day he would have a seizure that would last all day. The laughter he had on Wednesday lasted several seconds each time and was a full, "belly" laugh. It was AWESOME to hear!

He laughed when we said "boo", when we tickled him, and when we were laughing. Smiles were countless. It was a great day. Thursday he was doing fine and smiling but no laughter. Friday through today, he has smiled some but no more laughter. Please pray for the laughter to return and sustain! This gift of laughter is just what we needed as a reminder that God is with us. It was like a promise from God letting us know that Erik is healing and that he is still full of laughter. We know the days when Erik will once again laugh all day long are quickly coming. This "taste" of what we know God has coming was WONDERFUL!

When you read this, laugh a good laugh (at least once) for Erik!

Thanks for lifting us up!
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Psalm 30:4 (The Message)
4-5 All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God! Thank him to his face! He gets angry once in a while, but across a lifetime there is only love. The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter.

Things are going well here...

2007-04-03T23:36:00.000-04:00

Hello All!
Things are going well for us here in Apex, NC! Erik has been stable and lots of fun these days. He contracted a stomach bug last week which was somewhat challenging. He is much more interactive on a daily basis and appears to be responding positively to therapy. He received treatment for his right elbow/wrist/thumb last Thursday (to relax the tone) and we are already noticing increased relaxation and use. This is great to see and the effects should last 3-4 months! During this time we will increase his therapy in these areas in an effort to strengthen and lengthen the muscles which should decrease tone and increase use of the targeted muscles. This is all good!

His sodium remains low therefore we are adding a nephrologist to our team. We are excited about this since we have had concerns with his electrolyte balance for some time now. This balance is essential and needs to be stable particularly for Erik as he continues to make progress. Please keep this in your prayers that we will be able to stabilize his sodium/potassium levels in the NEAR future!

Love in Christ and HAPPY EASTER!
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Prayer is working...

2007-03-19T23:32:00.000-04:00

Hello All!
Want to provide you with an update on Erik. He is doing great these days! His seizures appear to have been under control for the past 2-3 weeks. This is such an answered prayer! We continue to pray for continues stability and thank God for taking care of this for Erik!

The other really good news we have to share is that he appears to be getting stronger every day. One hurdle that Erik needs to overcome is gaining strength in his neck and back. This will help with the feeding issues, with helping him gain independence, and will help him with overall progress. Lately, he has been really showing us that he has better head control and that he can move and hold his neck in various positions for extended periods of time which is VERY exciting to see!

Slowly he is being restored!

The main obstacle we are working through now is with nursing. We have yet to stabilize a schedule on a weekly basis. This means that we have different nurses coming and going and we think Erik would do better with consistent nursing care. Please pray that his weekly schedule will stabilize and that God will send the right nurses for him. So far, all of the nurses we have had have been great so we cannot and are not complaining! It would just be good to know who was coming and going on a weekly basis instead of having to work through it weekly.

As far as Monkey Joe's . . . the company that manages/owns the facility we are looking at meets this week and we are hoping that they will make the decision to accept our proposal during their meeting. We will keep you all posted.

Thanks for everything . . .
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

This week is over...

2007-02-23T23:30:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!
The week started out rough . . . but as always the good Lord pulled us through and it is ending on a great note! Sunday Erik had a seizure that his emergency medication stopped but then 45 minutes later it started again. We had him transported to Duke for evaluation and observation.

It appears that he just needed a medication adjustment. It was a valuable experience for us because as long as he is growing and changing (healing), until he is fully restored, periodically we will need to adjust his medications.

The remainder of the week has been really good for Erik. He has been very happy and smiling quite a bit. He has eaten well and appears to be increasingly more aware of things going on around him.

We heard a song this week that has helped carry us through - Third Day's - Cry Out to Jesus. Below is a part of the lyrics that keep playing over and over again in my head:

"There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are"

Never hesitate to "cry out to Jesus" in times of need. He expects us to rely on Him and we need to make our needs and wants known. Our family and friends continue to ask for complete restoration and healing for Erik and firmly believe that this is in Erik's future. Remember that God knows where you are and He will meet you wherever you are.

Thanks for all of the continued prayers and support. Enjoy the weekend . . . wherever you may be!

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

All is well

2007-02-14T23:29:00.000-05:00

Good Morning and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to all!

Things are looking up for us in the Medlin household! Erik is recovering from his pneumonia and we believe we have his sodium imbalance stable. YEAH! We will continue to monitor this and hopefully, if all is well and remains stable, we can have the broviac removed soon.

We are still working on a regular nursing schedule but have been really lucky to have great nurses with the new agency so far. Erik is also doing well with his therapy and seems to complain less and less. He also is progressively making better eye contact and is interested in keeping busy! He complains when he gets bored so he is keeping all of us on our toes!

Erik has a follow-up MRI this Friday. We want to just look at everything with our new neurosurgeon to ensure all is stable since the infection was cleared. Pray for positive results!

The rest of us are slowly recovering from the viruses, ear infections, etc. that have plagued us for the past month.

Keith submitted a request for a location for Monkey Joe's last week so we are now in the "waiting game" to hear the results. We feel that this may be the location! Pray that this comes through so things can get started with the planning and building of the facility.

We do hope you each have a great Valentine's Day!

Love in Christ,

Keith, Wendy, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Hanging on...

2007-01-29T23:27:00.000-05:00

Good Morning to all!
It has been a while since we sent out a note but it has been a busy time for us! Our household has been fighting off "stuff" for the past 2 weeks. We hope that we are nearing the end of it all! We are now dealing with all of the "secondary" things resulting from the viruses that have apparently been introduced to our home. Last week Nick started an antibiotic for an ear infecition and Erik started an antibiotic for pneumonia.

Up until this point, Erik had been doing well - little to no seizure activity and eating sleeping, etc. well. This has set us back but we will continue to keep moving in the right direction. He did have a seizure yesterday that necessitated us giving him his emergency medication. This was scary because we have not seen that since the summer. We hope that this was an isolated occurrance just because he is not feeling well and that this lowered his seizure threshhold. Pray with us that this is the case and that we will see no more of this!

We will keep plugging ahead. The bible verse that has been recurring over the past few weeks continuing to motivate us in the right direction is:

"But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded." 2 Chronicles 15:7 NIV

So often we meet parents and caregivers of "special" people like Erik who have given up. We personally have been through some tough times over the past couple of years but God has not given up on Erik or us and continues to bless us. Sometimes we have to be patient and look for his "relief" and it comes in many forms but it ALWAYS comes.

Someone passed the following along it is helpful to remember it from time to time when we think God is not answering a prayer request. They said something to the effect that God has one of three responses to all requests:
1) Yes.
2) Not now.
3) I have something better in mind.

Thanks to whoever passed this along because it has come in handy several times. Just wanted to share this with all of you because we all should remember this. We definantly have seen God - in His time - do all three. It still amazes us that the doctors were able to remove the AVM. We prayed and prayed, and prayed, and prayed for 6 months or so asking God why Erik's AVM couldn't be like so many others that were such that they could be surgically removed. After a time (about 6 months) we stoped praying about this knowing that God knew our request and knowing that we should start praying for other things. Who knew that 18 months later we would be standing in a hospital on CA listening to a wonderful surgeon tell us that he wanted to take the AVM out. How awesome! We never expected to hear those words!

Please pray for quick relief and recovery for those in our household who are not feeling well. Also know that we pray for you daily and thank God for your encouragement and support.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Erik is home...

2007-01-10T23:26:00.000-05:00

Erik is home. We are not convinced that we have solved the problem but we are going to stop the new medication that could be contributing to the problem. Also, his sodium was low so we are adding an endocrinologist to our team to see if we can uncover the cause of this as well. We have been concerned about low sodium for a while now and are ready to fogure this out. Low sodium could also be contributing to Erik's current problems.

Thanks for all of the prayers and emails. We could not make it without all of you . . .

Love in Christ,

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, and Nick

Pray for answers...

2007-01-09T23:25:00.000-05:00

Hello All!

Just a quick note asking for prayers for Erik. For the past week or so he has been irritable, not interested in eating, his belly has been distended (bloated), and he has seemed uncomfortable. We have taken some time to rule out digestive things as well as regular "bad days" but today decided to take him to our pediatrician. We ended up going in for an x-ray where it showed that his bowels are not functioning properly causing the bloating and discomfort. They basically are operating slower than they should.

In many cases, this is thought to generally occur immediately following surgery. Since Erik did not have surgery in the past few days, we are thinking this may be happening as a side effect to his medications. We did add a medication in November so we think this may be the cause.

He is being admitted to Duke for treatment and observation. Basically we will use this time to keep him monitored, hydrated, and comfortable while we try to determine the cause of all of this.

Please keep him and our family in your prayers . . .

Love in Christ,

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Pray for nothing...

2007-01-03T23:24:00.000-05:00

Seriously . . . pray that they will find nothing! Erik had a post surgery/infection follow-up doctor's appointment yesterday that went well. They said he looks great. One thing that we are going to follow-up on is that he has some small bumps around the incision sight near the base of his neck which we are praying is just scar tissue or glands. We will be following up with his doctors to check these out before they remove his central line. So . . . please pray that these will turn out to be "nothing" to worry about! We ask that you help us pray these away.

We also would like to take a moment to thank God for something material He provided over the Christmas season. On more than one occasion, we were surprised to open our front door to find Christmas gifts for our family from "Santa". How exciting this was for our children! What we prepared for - which was a Christmas full of the true meaning and celebration of the season with a splash of "commercial gifts - ended up being more than we ever could have done alone. Our season included a trip to a friends church for a beautiful Christmas program, time in downtown Apex including a horse-drawn carriage ride, a beautiful first Christmas service with our newly formed church, as well as extra packages and gifts we could not have purchased for our family. THANKS to all of our anonymous "Santas"!!!!!!!!!!

This may sound like a "broken record", but we really do give thank for all of your prayers and support. We know that God has brought us together so we can together enjoy witnessing his power through the healing of Erik!

On another note . . . Keith will be spending the majority of his time going forward on a new venture. He will be working to establish a Monkey Joe's (http://www.monkeyjoes.com/) in the Apex/Cary area. This is an indoor play space for kids ages 3 and up. The equipment is comprised of inflatables and the kids LOVE it!!!! Please pray that a suitable location will quickly be found and that all other possible obstacles will easily be overcome or averted.

Love in Christ,

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Happy New Year!

2006-12-29T23:22:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to you all!

We would like to thank you for all that you have taught us this year. What a year! Every year we know that the next year will be the best yet and so far this is true! We are looking forward to 2007!

We want to thank you for what you have taught us this year. Many of you probably do not even realize the impact and support we have felt as a result of your prayers and support. Here are a few things that come to mind for us as we think about the past year. . .

-- Unconditional love - you have loved us when times have been good and bad.
-- Faith - you have been faithful in praying for us even when we didn't ask. You have been faithful to God by helping us in ways we did not expect and could not have anticipated.
-- Kindness - we have been touched by those we know and those we do not know. Kindness has been shown in many ways and through many people.
-- Understanding - you have tolerated our tardiness, lack of responses to calls or emails, and have offered assistance at just the right time.
-- Christian love and teaching for our children - our children have grown in Christ through your actions, words, and teaching this year. The balance has been perfect and they have gained knowledge on how to walk in Christ through whatever comes our way.

The Christians who have prayed and carried us through the challenges we have faced have been instrumental in this.

We could not have done it as well on our own. We could go on forever but these things stand out and we just want to extend a huge THANKS to all of you! We know God brought us all together for many reasons and some of the ones we have been blessed to know are listed above. Thanks and we look forward to 2007 and the blessings God has in store for us as we watch him fully restore Erik - speech, walking, running, learning, the list goes on and on . . .

Love in Christ,

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Enjoying being home...

2006-12-18T23:20:00.000-05:00

Hello All!

We have finally added a little "Christmas spirit" to our home! We decorated the tree, added wreaths to our windows, and put up some lights this weekend - much to our children's delight! Nick in particular has been really questioning why we did not have any lights up so he is thrilled with the product of our efforts this weekend! Keith is working nights and I am working days and we were without nursing help for Erik for a week so time for decorating was not in the picture!

Everyone is doing well though and we periodically check Erik's progress with the doctors and so far, all is well. There is the possibility that we will only need the IV medication for another 2 weeks which would be great! We don't want to rush things so we are not pushing for this. We want to clear his body of the cause of his infections for good!

We would like to extend a blanket message of "thanks" to all of those who have been so supportive of us this year. We have seen God's love in ways we never would have imagined! Just in the past few weeks we have had so many of our needs met - most even without asking anyone but God! We have had meals delivered, gifts delivered, and even monetary gifts to help us make this a special Christmas for our family and the children in particular.

We may not say much about Erik's siblings but we do want for you all to know that they each are developing into some very special kids. I do not recall them ever complaining or feeling like they have missed out because of Erik's health challenges. Keith and I do realize that our efforts to keep things as normal as possible (because Erik's needs are just a part of who he is) have played a key part in this but we also know that your prayers and support in various ways have allowed us to keep things as "normal" and "special" as possible in many ways. Christmas this year is yet another example of how God continues to surround us with His love through each of you.

Although we do stress to the children the true meaning of Christmas and that Jesus received 3 gifts so 3 gifts are sufficient for each of them, the gifts we have received have made it possible for them to receive items that would not have otherwise been possible. We have even had people deliver anonymous gifts to our home! We pray that those who have been so generous have also been touched by Erik's story in a special way. That gives new meaning to what we have experienced.

We are so blessed to live in a country that allows freedom to worship the one true, living God. We want for each of you who may not know Christ as your personal savior to know that you are in our prayers daily. It is such a pleasure to hear our children pray for "those who do not know You" each night in their prayers. This is a sincere prayer from them. Our children are fortunate to know a side of God filled with compassion and grace beyond belief as a result of what God has done for Erik. Man said over, and over, and over that what God has done for Erik was not possible. This is nothing but AMAZING! We are thankful that we were Christians before this because our faith has truly allowed us to come through these experiences stronger and with more positive than negative outcomes.

We are looking forward to 2007 and the wonderful things we know God has in store for us. We are also looking forward to sharing Erik's coming progress with each of you!

In the event we do not email before the holiday, we wish each of you a very Merry Christmas!

Love in Christ,

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Another Day...

2006-12-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

Hello All!
Erik made it through the surgery fine yesterday and was able to sleep in his own bed last night. Let's all pray that this central line will last and will get us through this infusion therapy! Your prayers were definitely felt yesterday and carried us through the long day.
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Surgery for Erik...

2006-12-04T16:19:00.000-05:00

Greetings!

Well . . . the verdict is in . . . Erik's line is not working. The plan is to replace the line tomorrow afternoon. This is a simple procedure but none the less is a procedure and creates logistical challenges for our family. Please pray for no complications and for the logistics to work thmselves out.

The enemy continues to test but our faith will once again get us through! Please pray us through this!!!

Love in Christ,

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Prayers for Positive Outcome...

2006-12-04T08:16:00.000-05:00

Good Morning!
Just a quick prayer request . . .

This weekend we noticed that Erik's shirt was wet after his medication infusion. Yesterday, we saw that it appears that the medication is leaking through the site of the broviac. This does not appear to cause discomfort or anything for Erik. The obvious concerns are if he has been receiving all of his medication and if the broviac will have to be replaced.

Please pray for positive, successful, and simple resolution. We are hoping that perhaps the decision will be to remove the broviac and begin oral antibiotic treatment. This would only be the case if the doctors believe he has received adequate therapy to date which we are not optimistic about. He may have to have it replaced.

Erik has an appointment this morning at Duke so we will know more today. We will keep everyone updated and thanks in advance for your prayers and support!

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Happy Thanksgiving from the Medlins...

2006-11-22T23:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are happy to report that Erik is home for the holiday! He seems to be doing great! He fell asleep on the way home and when Keith put him in his bed he had the biggest smile on his face! What an answered prayer!

We are so thankful for all that we have - God, our faith, friends, improving health for Erik, family. Please remember to give thanks this Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for! God has again impressed upon our family stronger values and appreciation through our experiences with Erik's journey.

Our Father has been so gracious to restore Erik to where he is today. What pleasure is ours to be able to observe his restoration in the coming years!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Erik's pushing forward

2006-11-19T23:12:00.000-05:00

Dear all:
Erik made it through surgery fine this morning. They placed a central line allowing him to receive strong antibiotic therapy for 8-12 weeks. We are praying that this will be the last of his numerous hospitalizations! What a great day it will be to know that we have spent our last night in the hospital!

Yesterday's bible reading presented the following passage that we wanted to share with each of you. The past several months have been really difficult for our family and in particular for Erik. Many times people ask us how we are making it through. First of all - we don't have a choice and God has shown us that the good things that take place along the road greatly outweigh any difficulties we have faced. We have each grown and matured in so many ways as parents, as a family, and in Christ.

This passage touched us because we do know that God's purpose for Erik and our family is manifesting through all of the challenges we have faced. He is changing us through each event as we continue to rely on Him for strength. We also have seen God allow us to share our faith with each of you which is an extension of His work in our lives and allows us to be faithful witnesses for Him.

Please pray for Erik to become and remain infection free and for the surgery sites to quickly heal.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you . . .
Keith,Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Passage 1:
Peter 4:12-19: Glory Just Around the Corner "
12 -13Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.
14 -16If you're abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It's the Spirit of God and his glory in you that brought you to the notice of others. If they're on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that's a different matter. But if it's because you're a Christian, don't give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!
17 -19It's judgment time for God's own family. We're first in line. If it starts with us, think what it's going to be like for those who refuse God's Message! If good people barely make it, What's in store for the bad? So if you find life difficult because you're doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he's doing, and he'll keep on doing it." END.

Pray the Infection Away

2006-11-17T23:10:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!

Here we are at Duke. We have had an interesting day or so. The bump on Erik's head that we mentioned in our last emal continued to slowly get larger. Wednesday we called Duke to talk about our concerns. Last year when the infection was treated, we were told that we literally caught it just in time. If we had waited even as little a 12 hours, Erik would most likely have been dealing with life-threatening circumstances. Reflecting on this, we called to report the changes in the bump and his seizure activity.

We made an appointment for 11am yesterday and ended up being admitted for surgery. They performed a CT scan with contrast and noticed that the area where Erik had surgery last year followed by the infection appeared to be changed indicating possible infection.

We met a new neurosurgeon - Dr. Gerald Grant. We really like him and believe he truly has Erik's best interest at heart. We were doubly pleased to know that he trained with Dr. Steinberg in CA! This was such good news for us! We so many times wondered if we needed to just take Erik to CA to get things resolved where they started. It is like God brought CA to us! Very comforting!

They decided to go to the OR and see what was going on. It was a good thing that they made this decision because the infection that he had last year in the bone had apparently "hung around" and had deteriorated the bone that was taken off to perform his surgery to remove the AVM last year. The surgeon said that there were fragments of bone in there and hardware that was intended to hold things together - unattached. They cleaned the area out and left the bone off.

The plan now is to see what the cultures show (what kind of bacteria is causing the infection) and determine what treatment to pursue. It could be that they will be able to teat him with oral antibiotics or they may have to put in a central line and give him stronger antibiotics. We pray that they will not need to put a line in. They also are hoping not to have to put a doner or artificial bone over the area. It may be safe to just leave the bone off of this area.

Please pray that Erik will not need a central line, that his seizures will cease, that the infection will be cleared from his body, and that he will quickly be fully restored.

Pray also for Keith's job search and for our family during this season. We know that God will continue to carry us through.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love in Christ,

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

All is well

2006-11-03T23:08:00.000-05:00

Greetings!

Things are going well for us here in Apex, NC. Erik is doing well. He defiantly is aware of things that are going on around him! This is good news since the doctors did not think that he would recognize us or be responsive. He is really funny though because when we leave to go somewhere if we do not take him with us, the nurses say that he complains for about 30 minutes. I guess he is either getting mad at us for leaving or calling out to us! Either way, it is a great thing to see!

I want to share something that I thought of over the past few weeks. I heard an _expression at work recently that I wanted to share. It was that we need to be sure data collected is correct so we keep those accountable "off of the radar" if there really is no problem to report. I thought about this alot. It made me think about how lucky we each are that although there are billions of people on this Earth, God keeps each and every one of us on "His radar". What a wonderful place to be!

Erik has defiantly been on God's radar for some time now. Although we may not feel like it sometimes, he never leaves or forsakes us.

How wonderful for us all! Thanks for all of your continued prayers and support.

Love in Christ,

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik, Nick

Update on Erik

2006-10-18T23:07:00.000-04:00

Greetings!
Just a quick update on Erik. He is doing well these days. We are adjusting his seizure medications and this is always a time consuming process. He is waking up some during the night and we are not sure if he is waking up and having seizures or the other way around. Anyway, we continue to ask God to restore Erik and take the seizures away. One day we will no longer have to deal with them!
On a daily basis, he is doing fine. He is back to his normal eating schedule and he is vocalizing all day long! This is such a pleasure to hear (even at 5am!) since for so long he did not make a sound. Just another reminder for us that God is amazing!

God has truly fulfilled his promise below for Erik. PRAISE GOD!!!!

John 10:10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik and Nick

Erik is all smiles...

2006-10-04T23:06:00.000-04:00

Hello All!

Just a quick note to let you know that Erik is all smiles lately. He seems to be doing well these days. He is receiving aggressive therapy which is wonderful! Please pray that medication changes will cease all seizure activity for Erik. He has gone from 60 seizures per day to around 10 or 15 per day so we are making progress but we want them to be GONE!

Hope you all are doing well!

Love in Christ . . .

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik and Nick

Just a little boy...

2006-09-25T23:05:00.000-04:00

This morning Erik had his central line removed. All went well and he was home by lunchtime! We are now praying for continued healing and restoration for Erik. We also want to continue to pray that his seizures will cease.

With all of the damage Erik has sustained it will be yet another miracle when the seizures are no longer an issue. With the shunt and the central line out, Erik is now "just a little boy" and not a holder of foreign objects. The shunt and the central lines have saved his life but the fact that he can now thrive without them is a miracle!

We are so happy to have your prayers and support and we are equally excited to share God's grace through the healing of Erik with you. Many of you have been with us through the good and trying times and it is exciting to be able to see such great rewards and answered prayers.

Love in Christ,
Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik and Nick

God is Great...

2006-09-19T23:04:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!
Well . . . God is great! Things are going well with Erik. We had a follow-up CT scan Monday and all looks stable - no ventricle enlargement. Erik appears to be doing great without the shunt! What a miracle!

He has had some low grade fevers this week. We took him in to see the doctor and they think all looks well with the central line and with Erik in general. He has been rather quiet this week so we were concerned. They want to see him again on Thursday and they will then decide if they want to take the central line out then as out-patient or schedule a time for the procedure. We just need to be sure the infection has fully cleared his system!

Please continue to pray for:
1) Keith's job search,
2) Erik's continued healing,
3) that Erik will not have continued fevers, and
4) that Erik will remain non-dependent on the shunt.

We will keep you all updated.

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik and Nick

Erik is doing without...

2006-09-12T22:43:00.000-04:00

This is true and we are very happy about it! We are talking about Erik's shunt. Yes -

IT IS A MIRACLE!

Erik does not have a shunt anymore! This is wonderful news! It still it a little scary for us to believe but this is where faith comes into play! With the shunt out, once we get the central line Erik has in for medications out (once his medication therapy is complete), he will not have ANYTHING foreign in his body! This is something we prayed for but not often because it seemed impossible. Once again we are reminded that our God is in control.

We were told last August and again in September by 2 prophets who did not know our story that the blood flow issues in our son's head were healed and that it would just be a matter of time before his healing would be known. It is amazing to see this taking place! What a wonderful thing to be a part of.

Please continue to pray for us and pray that Erik's body continues to heal and completely restore. Also, please continue to pray about Keith's job search that he will find the perfect job for him and our family.

Thanks to those who are participating in the Golf Event September 29th. If you plan to play or sponsor a team, please review the attached.

Love in Christ!

Keith, Wendy, Margot, Brigitte, Erik and Nick

Each day gets better...

2006-09-07T22:42:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

Hope this email finds all of our friends and family well! We are doing fine here. We want to update everyone before the weekend. Erik is doing great! He is really getting back to his usual smiling self these days and the infection seems to be responding to the medications he is receiving. He is having a broviac placement (like the one he had before) procedure tomorrow morning because the medications he is on are so strong that a regular IV is just not the solution. They tend to need to be replaced every 24-36 hours because the medications are so strong. We hope to have this taken out as quickly as possible once it is not needed/the infection is gone. This way we pray that we will avoid future infections or problems.

We also are pleased to let you know that the doctors are watching Erik's cranial pressure since the shunt has been removed and so far, he appears to be doing okay without it. What this means is that there may be a possibility that Erik does not need the shunt anymore since the AVM has been taken out. We will pray about this and that we make the right decisions that will keep him safe and comfortable. It will be another miracle if he does not need it anymore!

Thanks for all of the calls, acts of kindness, meals and cards/notes we have received this week and through this last, very trying hospital stay. We believe we are close to the end and that feels great! We could not have made it without all of your prayers and support.

Love in Christ,

Keith and Wendy

Erik is smiling...

2006-09-04T22:41:00.000-04:00

The surgery went well and Erik had a pretty good night. Today will be spent resting, eating and recuperating.

We are back on a floor of Duke where Erik has not been seen in over a year. Things have been rough lately and I think God put us on this floor for a reason.

When we arrived on the floor our nurse last night has not seen Erik in over a year. How good it was for us to hear, "I cannot believe how much he has grown." And, "Look how good Erik is doing!" stated by another nurse we know this morning. We have heard many other encouraging words/observations as well.

God knew that we need to be reminded about how well Erik is doing and about his progress. That is why we are here. Looking back a year we realize that he has made miraculous advancements! Praise God!

Keep us in your prayers and enjoy this Labor Day!

Keith and Wendy

Could this be the answer?

2006-09-03T22:40:00.000-04:00

This is what we are asking right now . . . could this be the answer? Long story short ... Erik's shunt is infected. The plan is to go in today and take out the old shunt, put Erik on strong antibiotic therapy, put in a drain to do what the shunt was doing externally, and after several days (when they feel the infection is gone), put in another shunt.

Apparently the same organism that infected his central line has infected his shunt. Because of this, we are hoping that once we get the shunt taken care of, his abdominal discomfort will also go away since this also occurred around the same time. Please pray that this is the case!

We will update you soon. Please say a prayer for Erik and our family when we come to mind over the next few days. Surgery can always introduce additional challenges which we need to pray away.

Love to you all . . . Keith and Wendy and family

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." John 15:7"

Pray for answers

2006-09-01T22:39:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to let you know how Erik is doing. Unfortunately, he is back at Duke today. He has been running fevers in the evenings since his return home on Tuesday. We hoped that the fevers would break but instead they have remained and actually started to get higher. Today he also began vomiting so we took him to the ED at Duke so they can run tests while he has a fever. Sometimes you catch things when there s a fever that you would otherwise miss if the fever is not active.

Please pray for ANSWERS for whatever is making him uncomfortable and feverish. We will keep you informed.

Love in Christ,

Keith and Wendy and family

"Jesus said, "I'll come and heal him"". Matthew 8:7 (The Message Version)

Erik has made it home

2006-08-29T22:39:00.000-04:00

Yes - it is true Erik is home! We are thrilled! Pray that we will be able to take the next few weeks to spend time together as a family and get "re-acquainted".

It will be so good for our family to be under the same roof tonight! Please continue to pray for Keith's job search and for strength and healing for Erik!

Love in Christ,

Keith and Wendy and family

Erik is moving along...

2006-08-23T22:38:00.000-04:00

Hello All!

Hope everyone is enjoying the day! The past day or so have been . . . interesting for Erik. He started vomiting yesterday and noone seems to be able to pinpoint why this is happening at this point. It was a rough day. We stopped his feedings and overnight he rested and seemed much better. So . . . today we will slowly start feeding him again with the hope that he will tolerate this well and we can once again work him up to his regular feeding schedule.

As for Erik's mood this morning he is doing great! He is smiling and vocalizing like usual. Let's just pray that this will continue with his feedings.

On another note . . . our church is organizing a golf event in September. They have decided to recognize Erik through this event in order to increase awareness of Erik's story and the miracles that have occurred in his life and to provide some financial relief for the family. Sharing Erik's story always provides us with another purpose for the challenges we have faced and gives us the chance to perhaps help others who may encounter similiar circumstances. Information regarding this event should be posted to the "fundraiser" section/tab on this site soon.

Thank you,

Keith and Wendy

Prayers for comfort for Erik...

2006-08-21T22:37:00.000-04:00

Hello All!

Well . . . we had a few really good days - Friday, Saturday, and 1/2 of Sunday. We even fed him his regular meals and took him outside for a few walks on these days. Then on Sunday evening Erik started feeling bad again. The same symptoms as before - complaining when you moved him and crying out uncomfortable.

We know that the UTI has cleared his system and that he will continue on antibiotics for a few more days to be sure it does not come back. We also know that his intestines are are sounding good and working fine but we cannot figure out where this discomfort that he is experiencing off and on as well as when he takes a deep breath or yawns is coming from.

Please pray that we will quickly find an answer! Also, thank God for the few days we had that were wonderful and served as reminders that we will get through this and have our Erik back soon!

Love in Christ,

Keith and Wendy and family

Pray for strength and health

2006-08-19T22:35:00.000-04:00

Hello All!
We so hoped this email would say that we are coming home! Instead, we learned this evening that we have at least another week ahead of us at Duke. Apparently the bacteria that caused Erik's UTI is difficult to treat and is not responding to his current medication so they are starting a new antibiotic that must be given via IV and monitored. It is a 10 day course of medications so we head into another week!

The good news is that the girls start back to school this week and Nick has play dates already set up for the week! It is amazing how God works things out - even before we ask or know we need it!

We should do just fine. After 3 weeks of this we have our routine set! We are SOOOOOOOOOO thankful for the care Erik is receiving at Duke! Everyone has been so nice to us and has made this stay easier than it could have been. We have met some really great people and know that perhaps we have another task (or tasks) ahead of us still.

We always approach hospital stays knowing that perhaps the stay is not about us but about us reaching out to someone we may meet while at the hospital. This stay has surely allowed us to meet great people and help and be helped by these same people!

Please remember to thank God for the miracle He has done in Erik's life! We cannot forget the state we were in this time last year as we prepared for our trip to CA! What a wonderful God we have and what a long way we have come!

Love in Christ,
Keith and Wendy and family

We are getting closer...

2006-08-15T22:35:00.000-04:00

Hello!

Well, each day presents it's own unique set of challenges and rewards. The good news appears to outweigh the bad news today for Erik! He is in a better mood today and is doing his usual "vocalizing". We have discovered that he has an infection - most likely a UTI. This could defiantly be the cause of his fever, irritability, and discomfort! We are starting antibiotics today and hope to see improvement/relief soon! Pray that this has been the culprit!

The bad news is that Margot and Brigitte are both not feeling well. We think the hectic schedules we have had to impose on them to keep them occupied and safe have taken their toll. We have doctor's appointments this afternoon so please pray that they will both be feeling better soon!

Love in Christ,

Keith and Wendy Medlin

Erik is still trying to get home

2006-08-14T22:34:00.000-04:00

It has been a busy week! Erik was progressing and tolerating pedialyte feeds last Wednesday so Thursday we moved to pediasure (more nutritious). He did fine with this until Saturday. Saturday afternoon he started to experience abdominal discomfort. Sunday morning he started running a fever. The doctors have stoped the feedings for 24 hours to let his body rest and then we will try again. They seem to feel that this is not unusual after the type of surgery Erik had - it takes time for things to get back to normal.

A good thing that has come of this is that they are now looking at his sodium levels. For months each time we had bloodwork done his sodium was low. They would hydrate him and it would improve but we remained concerned about it because it did not remain in a normal range. We now are working with an endocrinologist to determine if his medications are causing this or if it is related to his body and the way it is processing.

Keep us in your prayers. We pray that we will quickly find the cause of the sodium imbalance and that his body will quickly start to return to normal!

Love in Christ,

Keith and Wendy

Prayers for healing and nutrition

2006-08-09T22:32:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!
Things are happening these days. Erik appears to be healing well and his system showed signs of recovery so yesterday we gave him juice and he seemed to do fine. At 6pm the doctors came by and said that since he did well, the plan would be to feed him today with the hopes of going home this afternoon or tomorrow (Thursday).

Not 3 minutes from when the doctors left, Erik vomited. We could not believe it! We stopped giving him anything to let his body rest. Now we need to focus on getting nutrition for him so the discussions started about a central line. Although this would solve the "nutrition" problem, this means a surgery to put it in, a surgery to take it out, and a significant risk for a variety of infections. We asked that they try to put in a deeper IV access instead that would allow us to give him nutrition via IV.

They said they would have someone come by to try to do this today. Please pray that they will be able to put in this line. He has been "stuck" so many times that often they are unable to get the type of access needed for this type of line. Having this IV would allow him to get the nutrition he needs to improve while his body rebounds from the surgery.

We are so thankful for the prayers and support you offer . . .

We will keep you updated.

Keith and Wendy Medlin

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KellyJoined: 10 Aug 2006Posts: 2
Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 8:19 am Post subject: Praying for Erik

Good Morning, My name is Kelly Hundley. I heard of your website through Leigh Anne Naas, Nathan's Mom. Leigh Anne and I went to the same church when growing up in Norlina. I went to visit them on Tuesday and was truly blessed. Upon seeing your website, I just had to go to it and read little Erik's story and again, was truly blessed by your faith in God. People like you and Leigh Anne's family have made me really stop and remember that God really is in control, not us. Sometimes I forget that when dealing with 3 kids, working , and just day to day, so many things are just taken for granted. I am inspired by your journey with Erik and also inspired by the courage of the Naas family. I pray that Erik will improve each and every day and that your family will continue to receive strength from the "One and Only Healer. I feel one of our divine purposes in life is to comfort each other and to be there for one another. I am touched and amazed at how God has opened my eyes and allowed me to see His miracles and to not take things for granted. God bless you and your family and tell Erik there are folks out here that are rooting for him! What a brave little boy! Love and God Bless, Kelly Hundley, Norlina, North Carolina

Making Progress

2006-08-07T22:23:00.000-04:00

Good Morning!

Just a quick update on Erik. Surgery did go well for him but it was followed by several days of discomfort. We understand that this is normal with abdominal surgery. Yesterday was a good day and he seemed more comfortable as the day progressed. We are now waiting for his bowels to start functioning again. We have had a few signs that they may be starting to work so pray that today will be the day!

Once the bowels start working again we will feed him and he should start to make progress. The surgeons want to take him back and put in a central line to get nutrition to him if his bowels do not start working today so this is our prayer request for the day - for the bowels to start functioning so we can avoid surgery and another central line!

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Love in Christ . . .

Keith and Wendy

He made it through fine

2006-08-03T22:22:00.001-04:00

Greetings!

Surgery went well (only 30 minutes) and the doctor's statement was, "this was a much needed operation". Erik should be feeling much better now. They found one area with scar tissue and they were able to remove the problem area. They think the chance of recurrance is only 5%! Praise God!

Once again our prayers have been answered. The recovery will take time but hopefully Erik's determination and motivation will pull him through this faster than expected.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support during this time.

Love in Christ, Keith and Wendy

Surgery for Erik

2006-08-03T22:22:00.000-04:00

The decision has been made to have surgery today to see where the scar tissue is in Erik's abdomen. Hopefully they can remove this without having to go into his intestine. Surgery will be late today so keep Erik in your prayers!
Love in Christ,
Keith and Wendy

Help us pray this away...

2006-07-31T22:20:00.000-04:00

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!

Keith and Wendy Medlin

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Erik is home again...

2006-07-24T22:20:00.000-04:00

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, The Medlins

Prayers for Erik

2006-07-17T22:18:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!

Hope this email finds all of you and your families well! We have had an unusual week. Wednesday morning when Keith 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 . . .

Keith and Wendy Medlin

Surgery is over...

2006-06-24T22:15:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!
Erik just came out of surgery and all went well. They removed his central line and so far so good. Please pray for him to stay infection free and pray that the line was the only source causing the infection!
Thanks for everything!
The Medlins

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allenkeaGuest
Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 8:20 pm Post subject: hey everybody!!

I hope everyone is doing well, i haven't talked to you all in a while but i think about all of ya'll alot. I'am glad everything is going well with Erik. I hope to see ya'll soon. I love you all and you are in our prayers.

Erik is at Duke

2006-06-22T22:13:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!

Well . . we are at Duke. Last week, Erik had a fever - not high but any fever is unusual for him. The second day of the fever we went to our pediatrician who checked him out. All was clear and the nex day he was fever free. This past Tuesday night, we woke to find Erik with a fever. This time it was higher than before. We gave him motrin and settled him down. The fever remained high into the morning so we called the doctor and they recommended we bring him in to get checked out.

They kept him overnight for observation. He remained fever free and the tests checked out fine. We thought we were going home today but around lunch time they told us that one test indicated infection. They are not sure what type of infection he has so the decision was made to treat him for 48 hours with antibiotics while we wait for his other test results. The thought is that maybe his central (IV) line is infected. If this is the case they will have to take it out. This would not be so bad and it would be much better news than something with his surgical site!!

The girls were happy because with the central line out, we can start putting him on his belly more and we can also take him to the pool! There is a silver lining to every cloud and we are glad our children also see things that way.

Well, we will let you know when we hear more but for now we ask that you say a prayer for Erik when he comes to mind. We still need prayer asking God to allow the seizures to cease. Also, we ask that his body be cleared from this infection and that he not pick up any other infection or problem while here.

Thanks to all of you for continuing to carry us through these times with prayer and support!

Love in Christ, The Medlins