Doctor's Visit

We met with our new GI doctor yesterday and he said Susette's stomach feeding tube (G-tube) will be removed Sept 11. Praise God! She has not used the tube in at least the last two weeks and is eating well normally. We are so very excited. All of her doctors have said she can return to Haiti as soon as she wants. She is feeling great and can't wait to get back and see all the kids. When the children at the orphanage see her you will likely hear their shouts of praise all the way to the mainland! We will likely schedule our flight back to Haiti around mid-September, shortly after the G-tube is removed. Please pray that the G-tube removal goes smoothly.

God bless.

Praise God!

Susette has turned around 360 degrees. She is feeling great and eating all food through her mouth and does not use the stomach tube at all. Praise Jesus! This prompted us to move up our move back to Haiti. i just got back from dropping Ari and Vienna off in Haiti. i enrolled our kids in school and we are planning on moving back as soon as Susette has her stomach tube removed and we get a thumbs up from our doctor.

When i was in Haiti we joined with the children at the orphanage for a night of prayer, praise, adoration, worship and thanksgiving to the Lord for the miracle he has worked. We all wept for joy and felt His powerful presence. It was an unbelievable night!

Please keep praying! God bless you.

Doing Wonderfully!

There must be some big time praying going on out there! That's all i can say. Susette is doing incredibly well. She's been eating every day through her mouth. She's been smiling, walking around and i even have to stop her every now and then from wanting to clean-up here and there. We even went to a Mexican restaurant where she was able to eat a cheese enchilada lunch. It's a miracle. Don't stop praying!

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord! Susette is getting out of the hospital today! God is great! She did great last night, requiring no pain killers at all, and has been eating well (through her stomach tube) since yesterday.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers! We have heard from many of you who are praying big time for Susette and we can't thank you enough. i even got an email yesterday from Haiti that said the kids at the orphanage are praying and fasting nonstop for Susette. It looks like we stormed the gates of heaven on this one! Praise our mighty awesome God!

We are still going to postpone our flight to Haiti for tomorrow. We don't know for how long. Her health is our main priority.

We'll keep you informed as we learn more.

Please DON'T STOP praying! We are not completely out of the woods yet. Thanks.

God bless.

bill

Set-Back

It looked like Susette would be released from the hospital yesterday until she had trouble with one of her feedings. She had been receiving food through her stomach tube without any problems but on the "last feeding" before she checked out she had a major reaction and threw-up everything. This inflamed her throat and sent her into a fever. They stopped additional feedings. Her blood results also indicated low red blood cell counts and she had to have a blood transfusion. Therefore, they held her overnight for more tests (CT scan, blood, etc.). We're not sure at this point what the next move will be.

i was scheduled to fly to Haiti this Sunday with my children. That will not happen at this time.

Please keep praying.

Susette Still in Hospital

Susette's feeding tube was installed but is not adapting well with her body. She was only fed once through the tube. Every night she has had very high fevers and abdominal pains so the doctor said to stop feeding through the tube. One night, the pain was so bad she could barely talk. The doctors are holding her at the hospital to try to figure out what is wrong. They have had CT scans, x-rays, and have even released excess air from her stomach area, but they are still puzzled as to the cause. The good news is that her esophagus seems to be healing well and she has not spit up blood or had major pain in a while. She is even able to swallow small sips of water.

Please keep praying.

The Tube is Back

A quick update: Susette tried drinking Ensure but it still hurt. We even tried water and it hurt. After nine days without food Susette is now going to get the stomach feeding tube. It was not an easy decision but, after more discussions with the doctor, she felt the feeding tube would be the overall best route and allow her more flexibility. She's not excited about it but feels it is still the best choice for now. Please keep praying that her throat will heal well and rapidly and that she gets the proper nutrition to strengthen her body and help her quickly recover.

Good News and Bad News

When someone says they have good and bad news, i always ask for the bad news first, so here it goes. The bad news is that Susette has to have a PICC line installed again. This was definitely not good news. The good news, however, is that the doctor determined that she will not be getting the feeding tube in her stomach and food will be administered through the PICC line. And... more good news... Susette ate Jello and ice cream yesterday -- not exactly health food but she was able to EAT -- Alleluia! both items without pain. She tried Ensure but it hurt too much. Keep praying that she can swallow more nutritious items. Today, she will likely have the PICC line installed.

No Food Tube

Yesterday, Dr. Lee at Hoag Memorial in Newport Beach took Susette in to the procedure room to install a food tube. The first part of the procedure is to send a probe that goes all the way to her stomach to look for the best possible area inside of her stomach to do the incision. As the probe was descending her throat the monitor revealed a part of her throat/esophagus that was bleeding. He took photos of this area that he showed me later. This concerned him a great deal because the food tube procedure would seriously aggravate the inflamed area. He decided to inject the bleeding area with something that would make it stop bleeding and hopefully accelerate the healing. He also decided not to install the food tube at this time. His plan: to wait until Sunday, carefully monitor Susette and her throat and see if enough healing occurs to attempt food on Sunday. If this goes well, he will not install a food tube. If it doesn't go well, he will wait a week and a half, install the stomach feeding tube and she'll have to wait 6-8 weeks before it can be removed.

Please pray for miraculous healing of her throat so that she does not have to have the stomach tube. She has been so pumped full of stuff, poked, shot, prodded and put through such misery in the last 7 months i am just praying that she can finally get on with recovery and healing. Please join me in this prayer. God bless you.