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

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

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

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

July 17, 2006 Prayers for Erik

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

June 24, 2006 - Surgery is over...

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! Erik's Family //--> 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.

June 22, 2006 - Erik is at Duke

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, Erik's Family

June 12, 2006 Erik is 4!!!!!!!!!!!

Greetings Everyone! All is going well here. Erik continues to amaze us through his progress! He is enjoying his therapy and his seizures have slowed down. Also, the new medication appears to be working well for him. His seizures are less frequent, he does not seem to be overly sleepy from it and he seems to be tolerating the medication well. We are still adjusting his dose with the goal of eliminating seizure activity and we are reducing some of his other medications too. Keep us in your prayers as we go forward! Erik and Nick celebrated their 4th birthday Sunday! It seems so unbelievable! We have been so blessed and really did not know where we would be this time last year! Praise God for continuing to heal and restore Erik. Erik has been wonderful the past 3 days! He is reminding us of his "old self". He looks so happy and smiles and verbalizes alot. This is what he used to do all of the time! One fun thing that has happened is that we recently received funding from a company who purchased therapy equipment for Erik. He now has a therapy ball, benches, a swing, and many other items to assist him with building up his strength. This will certainly make therapy more productive and enjoyable! Please continue to pray for Erik's physicians, for Erik's seizures to cease and for continued healing and strength for Erik. Take care and THANK YOU!!!!! Erik's Family

May 16, 2006 Tests are complete...

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 8:39 pm Post subject: 5/16 Tests are complete . . . Hello Everyone! We have had a few busy weeks. The CT, MRI, and EEGs are complete. Whew!!!! Just getting all of that done is an accomplishment! The doctors are telling us that the MRI and CT films look good. The EEG did reveal continued seizure activity so we are getting ready to start a new medication that will hopefully calm things down for Erik. PLEASE pray that the new medication will work with NO side effects! We are at the point where if this medication does not work, many of the alternatives can have serious side effects. Another reason we want this medication to work for Erik is that this medication is one that some kids can stay on long term without taking multiple medications. Erik has been on 3 seizure medications for a while now. Our ultimate goal is to get him on 1 medication instead of many. He is doing so well that we don't want to add side effects to the equation so please keep this in your prayers! We ran across the following scripture (which seems totally appropriate for us) and thought we would share it through this email. Things do get tough but God always pulls us through! Thanks for your continued support and encouragement through prayer. God bless . . . Erik's Family "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." James 1:2-4 The Message AGAPE7Joined: 18 May 2006Posts: 1 Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 12:27 pm Post subject: A MOTHERS LOVE WENDY I JUST WANTED TO SAY YOU ARE ONE OF THE MOST COURAGOUS MOTHERS I HAVE EVER HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET. MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU; YOUR FAMILY ALWAYS. I HOPE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL MOTHERS DAY. AFTER READING ERIKS STORY HERE AT COPC I WAS SO MOVED TO KNOW HOW MUCH GOD IS; HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE GREAT PHYSICIAN, IN ALL OUR LIVES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TESTIMONY AND THE SHARING OF ERIKS STORY ON LINE. HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY.