Dumb Devil!!

You'll have to forgive me...but I'm just a TAD mad at the little punk the Devil!  I'd love to have him hog-tied and have each of us prayer warriors issued a bow and arrow and just go to town on the bug-eyed monster!!  UGHHHH!!!!

Well folks, we've had a minor set back as Craig went back on the ventilator about 1 AM this morning.  Currently, his CO2 stats are still way too high, although they are a little lower than last night.  This is very puzzling to the medical team as he was doing pretty good for the previous 36 hours prior to this little set back.  Craig is now back in a medicated coma as the medical team figures out what to do next.  They have looked at his lungs via a scope and have gotten a culture...which will take about a week for results to show up.

It just breaks my heart because Craig and I were talking and laughing yesterday having just a good ole time.  Things just kinda went the wrong way after the PIC line procedure.

Yesterday eating applesauce

  Picture taken last week...

Back with the tubes today...but not for long!!!

Craig is a very shallow breather which really doesn't help matters.  So we need to pray when he does come off the vent this next time, he breathes DEEPLY as if his lungs were in his toes!!  We also need to pray for DIVINE wisdom for the medical team to help them figure out this puzzle!  I just pray what they are learning from Craig will help other children they treat as well!

Please also pray for Rick & Roxane as well...they had been on Cloud 9 while he was off the vent.  It just all seems like some very cruel joke, so to speak.  They are VERY tired as they stayed up with Craig until 2 AM this morning.  They are tired, worn down and worried about Craig and life's regular issues too!  They need to be lifted up, encouraged, and given a fresh breath of HOPE again!

Hugs with Daddy while off the vent!

I'd also like to thank DorkyandToto for recommending my blog on for others to come aboard and help us pray for this precious little guy!  If you're new my crazy blog and want to learn more about Craig, please scroll down to my July 11th post and read from the beginning when this mess all started.  I will warn you the pictures are not all easy to see...but they are there to help you get angrier at the dumb devil and pray even HARDER!!  Those gruesome pics also help you to better appreciate the happier ones and realize what a little treasure Craig is to all of us!

Rick & Roxane SO appreciate all your prayers as do I!

God bless!!

Crunch time yet again!  Just got a call from Rick.  They came back from dinner and spending some time at their room at the Ronald McDonald House to find Craig still asleep.  He was slightly sedated about 4:00 pm this afternoon to get his PIC line (so he won't have to get poked as much) and was asleep when I left at 4:40ish.  Evidently Rick & Roxane went to eat dinner and just relax a bit and came back to find Craig still "sleeping" and went to try to get him up and he was unresponsive.  Rick yelled to see if he could get Craig's attention...and then yelled for the nurse.  Needless to say, his CO2 stats are SKY HIGH which is NOT GOOD at ALL!!!  They are currently rapidly trying breathing treatments to push off the CO2 and keep little Craig off the ventilator.  I'm typing this at 10:15 PM on Tuesday night...if you happen to read this tonight or even tomorrow morning PRAY!!!!  We want to try to keep him off the vent if at all possible and DEFINITELY keep him for where he was 19 days ago!!

UGHHHH!!!  Dumb, dumb Devil!!  Craig is a child of the King of the Most High!  He is HEALED in the Name of Jesus!!  Now leave this little boy and his parents ALONE!  Be GONE!!!

This is what JOY looks like:

Popsicle Heaven!

Ventilator FREE!!!

These pictures represent LIFE!!  I declare health and healing over Craig right now Lord!  Rid his body of the excess CO2 and breathe a fresh breath of living air into his lungs!  Touch and heal every cell that doesn't line up to the way You created Craig to be!! 

We, those who love him, stand in agreement in prayer and fight for healing for this little guy!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll give an update as soon as I hear!!  Thank you folks!!

I visited Crag last, this past Thursday.  You'll have to forgive the tardiness in the post...but when you make it to the bottom, you'll be SOOO glad you stuck with me!!  When I got there it there was a party going on!  Okay, maybe not a party, but Tamala (Craig's #1 nurse from home) and her husband and kids were there!  Roxane & Tamala were already back with Craig, so they sent me on back to kick out Roxane (there's only suppose to be 2 people with him at a time).  I got back to his room and his nurse let the 3 of us stay with Craig...YEAH!  As you can tell from the picture we had a REALLY good time!

We wanted Craig to know we were smiling so we drew smiles on each of our masks!  Craig wanted ALL of his animals in the picture and he too is smiling...he just blinked for the picture!

Craig was so happy to see Tamala and I -- we all had such a fun time laughing at each other.  He was doing his best to break a fever and stay cool. 

Over the last several days Craig's had fun playing Chutes & Ladders with Mom... Patiently waiting for the fun!

I think Craig is winning AGAIN!

Rick & Roxane drove up to St. Joe for church on Sunday and everyone was so excited to see them and wanted to know how Craig was doing.  Rick showed me the above pictures of him playing games with Rox and it brought tears to my eyes!  It's so good to see him getting better each and every day!!

So here's the BIG news...some stuff we all have been praying for...

Craig is OFF the VENTILATOR!!!!!  YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

He's been off the vent since 1:30 pm this afternoon and is on 2 liters of oxygen via a nasal candela (tube at his nose) and tolerating it FABULOUSLY!!  Needless to say, Mom & Dad are ecstatic as they know this is one HUGE step towards going home! 

Please pray Craig will learn to cough HARD to get the gunk up and out of his lungs and that he'll continue getting better so he can get to go home SOON!!!

When I went to visit little Craig earlier this week I was met with smiling eyes!  Roxane and Rick knew I was on my way, so they didn't tell me much...they wanted me to be surprised by how alert and good Craig is doing thus far.  Oh what a blessing it was for him to see me and try to smile despite the tubes in his mouth!

Craig doing his best to smile!

He's now on a IPV ventilator (one they can add his breathing treatments to directly).  And another IV machine was gone off the pole! YEAH! He's now getting fed via a NG tube (goes down through the nose). 

He was able to give me high fives, thumbs up, and blink to answer yes/no questions (or shake his head).  He cried when I told him I had to go...so I stayed a bit longer!! He was also able to tell me how much 2+2 and 2-1 was with his fingers...but then didn't want to do anymore!  I can't blame him!  He also played Candyland with Mom a couples of time...and even beat her once!!

He still has that awful rash on his back.  Turns out it's a mold (the doctor says like you find on bread) called Aspergillus fumigatus, which would be really bad if it was in his lungs, but it's not, thank God!  While I was there he was able to roll from his back to his side so the nurses could wash it and then put some salve on it.

He's still really weak and still has a long way to go...but considering where we were 2 weekends ago...we have SOOOO MUCH to be thankful for!

I asked Craig if he wanted to go out for ice cream or pizza with Miss Libby when he got home from the hospital...over the tubes, he quietly whispered, "Pizza!!"  I told him that I wouldn't eat another piece of pizza until he came home! 

Keep praying Craig will continue to lose more and more tubes, medicines AND especially get rid of that yucky rash!  (It even hurts!)

Hey XangaPals and other pals tuning in for updates on little Craig!  Craig has a new development we need to pray about.  Roxane called me this afternoon to tell me to get the word out to pray about a rash which has developed on Craig's back.  Evidentally they found it last night and it was so different they went ahead and biopsied the skin in order to determine what it was.  Turns out it's fungal in nature...which is just weird due to the fact he's in a sterile environment and contact isolation (meaning one has to gown, glove and mask up to enter his room).  It's not an allergic reaction...and the medical team is a bit stumped.

Craig catching butterflies! 

Other than that little puzzle, Craig is doing well on the ventilator and it has even been turned down some already!  YEAH!!!  His sedation meds have been turned down yet another notch...and when Rox asked him to wave his hand if he heard her HE DID!!!!  They keep his hands in a soft restraint so he won't reach up and pull his vent tubes out of his throat.

So an exciting day admist the latest puzzle.  Leave it to Craiggers to stump the doctors yet again!!!  I think at this point, they are ALMOST use to it!!

Keep on praying!!

No, not Ozzie Osbourne!  It's official!!!  Craig's ossicilator has been officially kicked out of his room!  He's now on just a plain ole ventilator.  Mind you, it's still a ventilator, but it's yet another blessed sign that our little guy is getting a little better day by day by day!! 

I got to see Craig and Roxane this afternoon for a brief moment prior to heading to the airport for my flight to Little Rock, which I almost missed...but that's a whole 'nother story!  (I'm here for a continuing education course for work and have a SUITE room with FREE Wifi!!!!  Yippee!!!!)  Anywho...I gowned up to go see my Craiggers and told him Miss Libby was here and that I loved him.  His eyes started to open, as he's just semi-sedated now (not in the medicated coma) and I could tell he knew I was there!  It was like a breath of fresh air seeing him respond to my voice!!  I then told him Pastor Alan, our new children's pastor who Craig just adores, was praying for him and that everybody was praying he would get well real soon.  When I mentioned Pastor Alan, I do believe that if Craig could of gotten up and out of his bed. he would of.  He wiggled and tried to moan...and I quickly tried to calm him down. As you can tell little Craig is much more aware of his surroundings...which at times can be a little scary.  I told him his lion was near by and reminded him to stay brave and strong!

After talking to Craig for a bit, Rox and I went down to the cafeteria for me to grab a bite prior to running to the airport!  Then off to the airport I went and BARELY made it.  I had a connection in St. Louis and then gave a little dance when my suitcase came down the conveyor belt in baggage in Little Rock!!  That was a miracle...especially when I checked it 18 minutes prior to the plane leaving in Kansas City!  Ugh!

Rick called me after I got settled in the hotel to give me the latest about Craig being switched to the vent.  Rick was so excited he was running from Craig's room to the Ronald McDonald house to go get Roxane so she could see it too!! 

I'm praying that Craig will keep on progressing so that maybe just maybe sometime next week, he'll get those tubes out and we can hear that precious little voice and laugh again!!! 

Here's some pictures for today...as to me to blog without having a picture to look at is ALMOST a sin.  Everybody LOVES pictures!  This one is of Craig this past Mother's day getting dedicated.  You see he was so sick as a baby that he never got dedicated.  He got a new suit coat just for the occassion!!  Yeah, he might of been the oldest kiddo getting dedicated this go-round, but it's never too late!  We were all pretty excited about it!!

Can you tell Craig was pretty excited too??  Tee hee hee!

Keep praying folks!

PRAISES

My dear hubby took me to see Craig and his mom and dad on my way home from my doctor's appointment yesterday (everything is a-okay for me!).  Craig's mom Roxane was happy to see me and give me the latest update.

Many good things are happening!  Thus far Craig is tolerating the slow gradual decreases in his medications...in fact, instead of the dozen plus IV machines he had on Saturday, he's down to 6-7!!  And it was so nice to see that they had removed the line of syringes from the foot of his bed that they want instantly on hand in case of him coding!!  Just another sign that progress is being made!

This is all the IV machines he had at the beginning...the pole with 6, now has just 3!!  The big unit behind the Lion is the ossicilator...it's getting it's eviction notice soon!

They are going to try to get Craig off the ossicilator and onto the regular vent in the next day or two...of course taking everything VERY slowly.  They've bumped the ossicilator down several times and he appears to tolerating that just fine!

The medical team is wanting Craig to start to wiggle his hands and feet a bit, so they have decreased some of the sedation medication...but not to the point where he's opening his eyes yet.

So overall, good things are happening!  Hopefully very soon we'll see this little happy face again!

Prayers Still Needed

We need to pray for the health of little Craig's organs.  His body and especially his organs (liver, kidneys, etc.) have been through a great deal of stress.  We need to pray that each one will line up back to the way God created it! 

Continue to pray that he handles each of the decreases in medications and on the ossicilator/vent well and without further complications.

Also, keep Rick & Roxane in your prayers.  Life's little stresses on top of Craig's illness is a lot.  Pray God gives them strength and endurance and show that He'll continue to provide for ALL of their needs!

A Big Thank YOU!!!

Rick & Roxane wanted me to thank each of you for all your prayer support thus far and for adding him to all the prayer chains.  They know there's quite an Army out there praying for their little boy and they couldn't thank you enough! 

 Craig has continued to be stable since 1 AM Saturday morning so we're about 1 day and 18 hours steady now! PTL!!  It was so good to see people at church and have them stop me and ask how he's doing and see all your comments, etc.  I just feel the love for this precious little guy and his family!  I even got a precious note from on of the youth leaders for PowerHouse saying she was praying before bed last night and then dreamt of Craig running and playing around PowerHouse (children's church!)!  Brought tears to my eyes!  I have that dream too!

Here's a picture of Craig and his Dad, Rick, in the garb you have to wear to currently see the little guy!

The doctors are now trying to slowly decrease some of the meds, such as those supporting his blood pressure, etc.  Thus far Craig is handling those little baby steps and his ossicilator came down some notches too!

Rick & Roxane now have a room at the Ronald McDonald House, so they don't have to lug there stuff with them everywhere (the room they had on the PICU floor they had to check out of every morning!).  So they are just across the street from the hospital and can also get a good night's rest...which they are VERY thankful for, and get meals and snacks!  What a blessing!

Roxane's mom came down from Iowa with one of Rox's brothers.  It was pretty tough on G'ma to see her grandbaby in such a condition!  Needless to say, her next trip she's decided will be when he is home again and healthy!!  They also had another WOLC family drive down to see them too!

So...continue praying!  I will try to update at least every day or every other day or so as this process is probably going to take awhile.  Don't worry...if we need prayer, Xanga will be the FIRST place I hit after making the necessary phone calls so subscribe to my blog so that you can get email updates straight to your inbox.

God bless you all!  Your prayers are like precious treasures to Rick & Roxane and of course me! 

Ahhhh...I'm back at home in my comfy spot on the couch trying to rest...but feel the need to do a quick update.

Little Craig has defeated death thus far!  At this moment he's had a solid 15 hours of "stable" status - PRAISE THE LORD!  His CO2 is back within typical range, and they have been able to very, very slowly in small baby steps, start stepping back some of the meds.  The doctors and nurses are being EXTREMELY cautious as he deteriorated so quickly that they want to be extra careful taking meds away and stepping down the level of the ossicilator.

I left around 2:30ish pm today, after breakfast and hanging out talking to Craig's parents.  I believe God's working in many areas in this special family!  Good things are ahead!

When I saw Craig last this morning, his extremities were warm - last night all his blood was rushing to his heart & brain fighting to keep him alive.  Warm arms and legs compared to the cold ones we felt last night was just another small blessing!  The only negative thing I heard from the Medical team was that he has a fever.  Well, if we can pray and fend off death, a fever should be a piece of cake, eh?  They still are taking things hour by hour...but things are slowly looking better and better each hour.  Most likely he'll be on the ossicilator for several days, or weeks...no telling right now...so we still have a long row to hoe!  The team is still trying to figure out what all is going on (why he deteriorated so quickly) and the results still aren't in yet on the type of pneumonia.

Here's a precious picture of the little guy with his "guardian angels" by his side.  The Lion, I've nicknamed The Lion of Judah, and the little koala I gave him symbolizing hugs from Miss Libby!  (Warning -- this picture is not for the faint of heart! Print it out if you desire, lay hands and pray over it to declare heath and every whit whole over this little boy!)

Now we just need to start praying that Craig continues to get well enough to loose these silly tubes one by one!

God bless you all!  Thank you so much for your prayers...we all worked a miracle last night!  And please, don't stop until we get this little boy home and back in children's church where he belongs!

Blessings!

I'm probably going to get admonished by several of you, my dear Xanga pals, by admitting this...but do know I prayed about it and felt God's peace and go-ahead to go.  All that to say, Craig took a very bad turn for the worse and has pulled through it by the grace of God and thanks to all the powers of the prayers of the saints!  So...it's 4:44 AM (yep, you read that right) and I'm sitting in the conference room next to Craig's PICU room typing up this blog to you.  (Don't blow a vessel.  Yes, I do know tI just had surgery.  Go back and read the first sentence and find your peace! Smile!!!!)

I got a call from Roxane, Craig's mom earlier this evening (Friday) stating that Craig's CO2 stats were continuing to get worse and they were sedating him to a medicated coma in order to ventilate him.  I got another call about an hour later stating the vent wasn't getting his O2 stats up high enough, so they were putting him on an ossiclator, the MEGA vent of all vents.  The ossilator puffs short breaths of air very, rapidly into the lungs and helps not only inhale but exhale.

After talking to her I went on to church and spoke to several people to do all I could to get all the prayers going for Craig and his parents AND the medical team.  Turns out they needed that desperately as by the time I got out of church, into my car and driving out of the church parking lot Roxane called again to tell me that Craig coded (pulse stopped) and they performed CPR, etc. and got him back.  It was 11 PM and we were in mid conversation when she stated, "There he goes again...he's coding!  I call you back again when I can!" and hung up!!!!  The fear of God shook me and helped me dial the needed numbers to get a more intense prayer chain going with the updated info!  We needed Warriors on board AND NOW!!!

I went to Craig's house to check on his bird, Alberta.  His nurse Tamala met me there, as she was on her way down to Kansas City to be with Rick & Roxane to help pray Craig through this.  We grabbed extra clothes, bibles and other necessities and she ran on to KC.  I wanted to go...reason told me I shouldn't...I prayed and told the Lord that I felt like I needed to go.  I felt peace about going...I asked my dear hubby his opinion and had his blessing to go. So I went!

By the time I got my stuff gathered and got back into the car it was 12:30 AM...still with no word from Roxane.  I kept telling myself, no news was good news!  Craig's faith declaration for these scarier trips to the hospital is Psalms 118:17 - I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.  As I was getting ready and driving I was either praying in tongues or like a broken record, repeatedly stating, "Craig shall not die, but live to declare the works of the Lord!" over and over and over.  At this point I still didn't get an update call.  Halfway down to KC a peace just flooded the car and over me and I was able to breathe easy.  Whatever happened, I knew Craig was okay and at least temporarily out of the woods...my spirit just "sensed" it.

I parked and made my way to the PICU.  Rick came and got me and led me back to Craig's room.  They are letting us...Craig's parents, myself, Tamala (& her husband Dan) and Rick's cousin sit/stay in the conference room within the PICU during this rough patch.  This is not typical and is something the staff allows for only the most critical kiddos!  I would rather be in the waiting room!! 

I gowned up and got to go see the little guy.  As I stated earlier he's in a medicated coma and he has so many tubes and gadgets connected to him.  I counted about a dozen IV pumps and probably about 5-6 IV sites.  It looks to the natural eye very bleak...but faith doesn't come by seeing!

Turns out during my drive he made it through the 2nd code and about an hour later started to code a 3rd time.  The 3rd time the doctors tried a new drug combo which prevented him from fully coding and helped to open up his airways a bit better.  That happened just about the same time I felt peace flood my car!  God is so good!!

Craig is still listed in very, very critical condition...they are not talking about days at this point...it's hour by hour.  But we prayed for a 180 degree turn around and it's currently happening!

Craig being guarded by his Lion that Pastor Alan got him and covered in his yellow prayer blanket!

The PRAISE REPORT is for the last 5 1/2 hours he's been stable...meaning NO coding!  He's by no means out of the woods yet.  So don't stop praying yet! But that's 5 hours better than the 5 before!

We also have an insider WOLCer who works in the PICU here, Mrs. Ashlie Zahnd herself.  She's not his nurse tonight...but she's here and close enough to see what's happening in order to instantly pray!

I'll be here until the morning...I'm gonna sign off and get a little shut eye. But before I do...here's a bit more of Psalm 118 for us all to pray, claim and stand on:

5 I called on the LORD in distress;
         The LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.
 6 The LORD is on my side;
         I will not fear. 
 8 It is better to trust in the LORD
         Than to put confidence in man.
 9 It is better to trust in the LORD
         Than to put confidence in princes. [or doctors and nurses]

21 I will praise You, For You have answered me,
         And have become my salvation. 
 28 You are my God, and I will praise You;
         You are my God, I will exalt You. 
 29 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
         For His mercy endures forever.

What a powerful Psalm to pray through for a time like this!

Keep praying folks!  God bless!