Max is awake and alert

Max has been waking up more and has been more alert. Kelly said he is kicking his legs and moving his arms. When Kelly and John talk to him he moves his eyes toward their voices. This has been so encouraging to Kelly & John. He is still a little stiff but they are doing their exercises and stretches with him. As I said before, hopefully this is just due to being still and sedated for so long. The physical therapist will be back to evaluate him more tomorrow as well as observe Kelly & John doing his exercises with him.

Thank you so much for your prayers for peace and rest for Kelly & John. She sounds 100 times better today. Obviously still concerned and stressed but hopeful. She wanted me to especially thank the girls Bible class from Harding Academy. Yesterday was a tough day for her and the cards, notes, and Bible verses that she got from you were such an encouragement. That was exactly what she needed yesterday and she thanks you. Keep up the prayers girls!

Max's clotting studies came back good. They plan to run some thyroid tests tomorrow. They don't anticipate this being a problem but they want rule it out. So far all of the metabolic tests that they have run, including the one for homocystinuria, have come back good. They plan to have a metabolic doctor review the findings and make the call.

The neonatologist today, Dr Benton, feels that Max's blood sugar is stablizing. He said that he is really getting very little IV fluid. I think they plan to decrease it gradually to see how he does. It has remained in the 50's.

They plan to hear the CT results from the neurosurgeon either tonight or tomorrow.

They continue to monitor his phenobarb level and are keeping it in therapeutic range. Dr Benton said that he feels that Max will go home on phenobarb. He also said that when they go home they will have a monitor to watch his breathing and heart rate. I know that will ease their minds a little bit.

Dr Benton anticipates that they will be in NICU at least 3 weeks. If a shunt is needed then they will stay until Max has fully recovered from that surgery.

Prayers of Thanksgiving
~Max is alive
~Max hasn't had any seizures in a week
~All metabolic test results have been good
~Max's blood sugar appears to be stablizing
~Max's head circumferance has not grown today
~Max is waking up more and is more alert
~Kelly & John are feeling more peace as they deal with today and look to the future
~So many people are lifting Max, Kelly, & John up in prayer
~Bonding time for Kelly, John, and Max
~Compassionate doctors and nurses taking excellent care of the whole family

Prayer requests
~That the blood in Max's brain will dissolve and be absorbed as if it were never there, leaving healthy brain tissue
~That the thyroid tests tomorrow will go well
~That Kelly & John will continue to feel peace & comfort in God's presence
~That Max will not need a shunt
~That Max will remain seizure free and will be able to be weaned off of the phenobarb without complications
~If Max does need a shunt that the procedure will go well with no complications
~That Max's blood sugar will stablize and that the IV can be stopped for good
~That Kelly & John will have rest and that the rest that they get will be sufficient for them

We keep praying,
Karie