6/10 update...a new twist to an old character

We have had some interesting occurences since our last update. On Monday we celebrated Carissa's original due date with a pediatrician visit that showed that she had grown to 7# 4 oz., an increase of 8+ ounces in less than 5 days home. It is evident that Carissa is growing and gaining strength and endurance. She is alert more, just generally wiggles around more, and definitely voices her displeasure when something does not suit her now.



Tuesday we went for a followup to the hematologist where we found out that Carissa's platelets had barely dropped from her Friday visit so we are very thankful for that. We go back this Friday to see where they are. They keep thinking we will need a transfusion each time we go in so we are very thankful that the decrease in the platelet count has slowed considerably.

Tuesday afternoon brought another challenge when we got a call from Colton telling us that he had just had a wreck on a 4-wheeler, running into a fence and getting knocked off by the wire hitting his neck. Colt and I got to spend until 3:30 in the morning in the ER of Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Medical Center...after his exciting LifeFlight helicopter trip. When you consider what happened it is an absolute miracle that Colton was able to be discharged today after around 24 hours in the hospital with just soreness and pretty minor scrapes when you consider that his neck took the entire force of him hitting the fence. We could have been looking at extreme injuries or worse if not for the protection of our Almighty God.



Do you get the feeling that the guardian angels for the Shuffler family are some of the best trained and most alert of all the angelic force? We sure do. Please do not be alarmed if you see any of our children in the next few weeks thinking that we are torturing them or are about to mail them. We have just made the decision that it would probably be best to envelope them in bubblewrap for their safety and our peace of mind.


Today God just gave another pick-me-up right when I needed it during a frustrating and tiring time and allowed me to finish up something that had to be done in a time period that I should not have been able to meet. Since April 8th when Pamela checked into the hospital He has proven faithful to supply for every need over and over again. How can we not often be reminded of Philippians 4: 19 where Paul wrote "And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus." How cool is it that it is all our needs and according to His riches. That is infinitely better than some, many, or even most of our needs according to our riches.

• Please thank God for His healing of Carissa and for His protection over Colton.


• Please pray that Carissa's blood components and management of them will continue to improve.


• Please pray that Carissa's growth and strengthening will soon translate into stronger lungs and an ability to breathe on her own.


• Please pray that Colton will not have any additional issues from the incident, that his swelling will diminish, and that he completely heals.


• Please pray that God continue to get the glory for Carissa's amazing improvement

Thanks so much for your prayers and please keep praying. As far as Carissa as come she still needs to make significant improvement in a couple of areas.

Terry