Evening Report

Let me begin by explaining what happened this morning. Shay has been having some bleeding and this morning they thought they may have to go in and make some repairs, possibly even surgery. Praise the Lord this what not the case. They concluded that the bleeding is due to the medicine that he is on to thin his blood. The problem lies in the fact that this medicine is needed in order for him to stay on the bypass machine. However it is also causing him to bleed. So as you can see this is a catch 22.  So once again we are asking that we specifically pray for Shay's bleeding to stop and and for his heart to regain strength. The good news here is that Shay's bleeding is steady rather than sporadic. Apparently this is a good thing.

The plan for the next few days is going to be to ween Shay off the machine. I can't exactly state how this process will work but what he hope to see is Shays heart be able to pump on its own and as a result see the bleeding stop. This could take several tries over the next few days.

Shay was more responsive tonight then any time we have seen prior to surgery. You can look into his eyes and actually see a little bit of Shay. We know he is listening because he is batting his eyes. This is giving us the opportunity to coach him up on staying tough and fighting hard for us. We have also been able to share some stories with him. He enjoys watching the Eagles and Fair Grove running back Caleb Schaffitzel. In talking to him about the game I got a rise in his eyes.

Shay has also come off one of his breathing machines. These are small victories but they serve as important moral builders for the family.

I also want to mention that the middle school principal that I work with has a daughter just over a year. They discovered today that she has a cancerous tumor on her kidney. Her name is Pearl Hollan and I am asking that you would add her to your prayer list as well. They are on their way to St. Louis.