Gabriella & Samuel

We had an allergy doctor appointment for Gabriella today.  She is doing great now, but they did confirm that she is severely allergic to drugs with penicillin (amoxicillin) and sulfur (bactrim).  They said she will need to stay away from all drugs in those two families. They told us to be extremely careful with all drugs she is given and to never allow a doctor to give her a shot of any kind of antibiotic, even if it is not in those two drug families. We are so thankful that we know whatwas going on now and we can avoid those types of antibiotics.  

Samuel had a doctor appointment too. Jay took him while I was with Gabriella at her appointment. Basically he just had a physical done for pre-op. There was some forms that never made it from Baltimore, so we are hoping we did what they wanted us to do. We leave next week for Baltimore.  When we return, Samuel should be feeling better than he has been in a long time.  The last two weeks have been better than they were before, but nothing like before his accident.  Please continue to pray that he stays healthy, that he is emotionally and mentally prepared for what decisions have to be made, that God places a hand of protection over Samuel and our family at home, that God's will is done and that we all grow through this. 

Sophia's 3rd Birthday

Happy birthday to our precious Sophia Isabella Faske!  She fell asleep during her birthday dinner, but was instantly smiles when she woke up and saw the chocolate cake!  We love you,

Sophia.

Day 5 - Heading Home!

Day 5 of this hospital stay -Samuel had surgery today. He is back in the room room and doing well. They said they were going to keep him another day, but they got the results from the cultures back and now they know what antibiotics will work best to take care of the infection. If all goes well, we will be released this evening. You can't imagine how much we appreciate your prayers. It has been a rough few days. We leave for Baltimore in one month from today!  We are so ready to put all this behind us and move forward. We are praying for a quiet April that passes quickly without anymore hospital stays. 

Monday - Still Waiting!

Samuel is doing okay. He is not in much pain and sleeps comfortably. We were told they would be taking him back to surgery this afternoon, but now it sounds like they may not do it until tomorrow.  It seems like one of the tubes is out of place.  We haven't heard the results from the blood tests yet. That may take a little longer. We don't really know anything other than they are postponing the surgery another day. Please continue to pray. 

Sunday's Update on Samuel

Samuel is still in the hospital, but his pain is under control and he is able to rest peacefully. We still don't have any answers. During the night he developed a high fever, but it is now under control and they are running cultures to find the cause of the fever. Please continue to pray for good results, continues pain relief and complete healing. We are thinking he will stay at least one more night and probably have another surgery tomorrow. I will post another update when we know more. 

Saturday's Update on Samuel

Samuel is heading to surgery. They are not sure what is wrong. They had a long night in the ER, but were put in a room at 3:45 this morning. They have Samuel on morphine for the pain. We are very frustrated with Memorial Hermann and with Samuel. Apparently Dr. Kozar is not there anymore because no one even knows who we are talking about. One of tubes from Samuel's kidneys hasn't had much of an output on three days and he's never mentioned that at all. He has not been in the best frame of mind the last few weeks, which is why I haven't posted an update. He has definitely been exercising his rights as an adult and doesn't think he needs to listen to us when we feel that he is overdoing it. He hides his pain, but we see him wrenching when he thinks no one is looking. We are now in control of all his meds because he was not taking them right.  He is obviously in deep depression and we are all just trying to hold it together until his big surgery in Baltimore on May 2nd. I think we've been in survival mode for so long that we can't even remember what life was like before the accident and all that followed.  He has been sleeping in a chair in his room for a month now, and says he can't sleep in his bed because of the pain.  I guess in some ways being at the hospital is a blessing because it will force the doctors into re-evaluating his situation and hopefully give us some direction in trying to get him back on the right track. I understand that he just wants his life back, but he is so medically fragile right now that he just can't really be taking any risks. He wants to go to the shows and see his friends, to go the movies with his brothers and sisters, and to teach youth group without being in pain. Unfortunately that isn't happening and his body is telling him to slow down, which in his case might mean stopping for now being that his life is already very slow paced at this time.  The May surgery seems like an eternity to him now, but he has to take care of himself for them to even be able to do surgery then. When Samuel was in STICU, the doctors explained that we may face times like this, especially since he wouldn't have the major surgery until the fall.  Well now he isn't having that surgery until one full year after the accident and I think it is really taking a toll on him.  Please keep all this in your prayers.  I will post another update when we know more. 

Last Friday - Samuel

Samuel and our family need hour prayers tonight. This evening we got a call from Samuel saying he wasn't feeling good and needed to come home early. He was at a show in Rockdale with his brothers and sisters. It didn't sound urgent, so we thought he was just tired and probably hurting like he does when he sometimes over does it. When he got here, he was in severe pain and could not stop moaning and crying. Jay took him to the emergency room at Memorial Hermann Hospital - Trauma Unit. He is complaining that he is having severe pain in his kidneys. I've only seen him in this much pain a few times, and it is awful to see. He says it hurts so bad that he can't even feel any of the other pains in his abdomen that he feels daily right now. I have not heard from Jay since they arrived at the hospital. When we know more, we will post an update. Please keep Samuel in your prayers.