August 3 Update

The last update I posted has been a few weeks back now. My failure to do an official post wasn't so much for lack of desire as for lack of information.

Micah has been sick. He's been up and down, but more down than up. Unfortunately, there's been too little information about why and even more troubling no way of determining what to do about it.

On Friday Micah had a liver biopsy. It was almost the liver biopsy that didn't happen. The results came back showing inflammation in the liver consistent with rejection. In the grand scheme of things, it is mild. Micah has been receiving powerful doses of steroids the last two days to knock his immune system down to curb the rejection.

Micah's bilirubin level was down by 2 points at last check. We celebrate that and hope this indicates the steroids are addressing the rejection and helping his liver function better.

He has been receiving nutrition in his feeding tube that was inserted Friday as well. Micah's calorie and protein intake have been below what is needed to maintain and certainly far lower than what is needed to replenish what he's lost. The tube is necessary evil for him. It isn't comfortable and he wrestles with the discomfort of it. However, it appears to be giving him the much needed nutrition.

Today has been a better day than the past few. Perhaps it is the nutrition, perhaps the treatment of the rejection, perhaps the blood transfusion from yesterday, or maybe the mix of all the above. He even enjoyed a few moments when his two younger brothers showed up to visit. But then again, who couldn't Titus and Malachi make smile.

We are grateful for your prayers. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be back at Refuge Church and preaching this morning for the first time in 5 weeks. It was also a joy to have the people gather around to pray for me, our family, and, more importantly and specifically, Micah.

A Step Down

I can hardly fathom that it has been two weeks since we first arrived at Duke waiting for Micah's new liver.

Oh what a course of events over these last two weeks. We have ascended up to moments of great celebration only to plummet down to heartbreak and uncertainty.

Micah's had 5 surgeries over these last two weeks, including the transplant surgery. He's had blot clots and a bile leak. Five different times he's laid on an operating room table to be opened; an incision that took 37 staples to close.

The heart struggles to see such pain for a child. The mind wonders how much that little body can endure.

Our family has remained confident that God is able to bring healing as we prayed. What we can never know is whether God will answer our prayers in the way that we desire for Him to so. There were definitely times our hearts felt crushed, uncertain as to what God was doing and what lie ahead.

On Saturday, Micah began to make remarkable improvement. Doctors demonstrated their confusion as to what made the turnaround. One doctor asked Sarah if she had done anything (I guess thinking she had a magic wand or secret medical training). Another joked about the therapeutic CT Scan Micah was given that must have brought some change of course.

We know better. We will not offer our praise or give credit to another. The fervent prayers for Micah petitioned the Almighty God to act on his behalf. All credit goes to Jesus who is our Healer in ways far more than we can describe.

After a couple days of great improvement, Micah is talking more, eating Popsicles and crackers, drinking juices, beginning to walk more and more, and returning to life before this transplant. Today he was moved out of the PICU and into a step down room. We don't know how many more days we will be here, but we are grateful for the clear hand of God who has demonstrated Himself gracious and strong.

We don't have a timeline of when we may go home. As much progress as Micah has made, there are still items that are being monitored and we hope will show significant improvement soon. We hope this trend of improvement and healing continues, though we know from our journey you never know what a day will bring.

Thank you for praying, as you have clearly been part of what God has done in our family.

Micah and Peyton Manning

You have to know by now I root for the true "UT" as in the University of Tennessee. And you probably already know in spite of all my efforts to do the godly and righteous thing of raising my boys to bleed orange I have only had very limited success.

Micah is my one bright spot at least in football season. In basketball season, he wears some very babyish shade of blue for some local team. But in football season he trades that in for a much manlier color of orange.

So this past week it was a fun moment for Micah and I as we talked about liver transplant and his new score to relate that to Peyton Manning (now QB for the Denver Broncos, wearing #18).

Micah has been on the transplant recipient list for a few weeks now. However, he was initially listed at -6. After a letter of exception was written, Micah's new score puts him and Peyton Manning together at #18.

This new number for Micah will be good for the next 3 months (till July 4).  It is expected that with that score and where it places him on the transplant list that he will receive a new liver before July 4. No guarantee and certainly no way of knowing when this will come.

He continues to do well right now. He is playing coach-pitch baseball on the same team with Ethan. Both are gearing up for the first game next week, while Isaac played his first kid-pitch game last night. There's a new level of respect for my mom who juggled a minor league, little league, and senior league baseball player all at the same time growing up.

Micah does really well most days talking about what is to come. Some days are harder than other days, however, and last week there were tears and sadness during one conversation.

Thank you for continuing to pray. I will continue to post as updates are available.