4/21 One Down, One to Go

Pamela, and therefore I, too, got to come home tonight. We made it in time to see Luke a little (since Grandma kept him up a little past his bedtime) and get to hang out with Colton some. Pamela has made huge strides since Monday morning and we appreciate so much your prayers on her behalf. Part of the challenge now will be for Pamela to not do too much too soon.

I wish you all could see your prayers in action on little Carissa as well, and I hope that by the grace of God you will all get to see her soon and rejoice along with us. She is being weaned from the ventilator and doing well with that. Today when they unstrapped her a little and unhooked the ventilator to weigh her, her oxygen saturation levels stayed up. Her blood gases have been coming back in good range on the lower ventilator settings so there is still talk of being able to remove the ventilator in the near future. There is still one line in one of the umbilical veins and we won't be able to hold her until that is removed because of the risk of something happening to it and serious bleeding occuring. We are patiently waiting...ok, we are just waiting...for the day when we can hold her next to us.

The main area that remains such a huge concern is that Carissa's platelets are getting chewed up somehow. She received another plasma transfusion today to address that and they had at least stayed up enough that they were not going to have to do another transfusion tonight, but the everyday need is very concerning. Just receiving that many fluids makes it very challenging to drop off the fluid that is still in some areas that it shouldn't be. She has not had to have another transfusion of whole blood or red blood cells since the initial blood transfusion/exchange the night she was born. Her x-rays show that the area that they drained by the right lung is still generally the same as after they drained it.

We are blessed to hear every day some reference from a nurse or doctor that Carissa really wasn't supposed to be doing this well. As I plead with you to continue lifting up Carissa to our Almighty God, please spend time just thanking and praising Him for how far He has brought her. The doctors and nurses are willing to say that she is doing better than expected, but please pray that they are willing to listen to our story of the power of your prayers and of a healing God.

We are so thankful for all the doctors, nurses, nurse practioners, lab personnel, receptionists, the valet parker at St. Luke's who apparently did not know what a stick shift was and couldn't find 1st gear and helped develop my patience another 4 minutes 41 seconds as I waited behind him to pick up Pamela when she was discharged, and everyone else who have honestly been inspiringly dedicated and determined to help Carissa. I don't think we could leave Carissa's side if her nurses did not do their work with such precision and diligence in a loving way to our daughter.

Enough. Please keep praying. If you like specifics easy to find instead of rethinking or re-reading;
Thank our Holy God for how far He has brought Carissa and the testimony that can be to those that know her story.
Pray the weaning of the ventilator keeps going well and that she can have that removed soon.
Pray that they find a treatable reason for the platelets getting destroyed or that they just stop getting destroyed.
Pray that things will still keep heading in the right direction and that we will get to hold her soon.
Pray that Carissa's story will not only bring glory to God but that others will hear her story and desire to know our Amazing God.
How awesome is it that Carissa has come so far so fast and that even specific prayer requests are for things much further along than even a couple of days ago. I have tried to answer email replies and please forgive me if I have somehow missed yours. Just letting us know you are praying keeps our spirits up so don't hesitate to let us know that. Most of all, please do not grow complacent but stay diligent and praying whether you let us know that or not.

Yours and His
Terry