Saturday, July 12th

Morning update: Dave's white blood count is 39,000. The ID doctors said high (within reason) is better than extremely low. His temperature is 100.8. Dave didn't have any heart issues last night, praise God! He is going to have SLED dialysis again today. Dave's kidney readings did not improve from the last dialysis. Please pray Dave will be able to tolerate dialysis and that his kidney readings would improve. Dave's hemoglobin is still too low so they will be giving him a unit of blood today. In order to get better sleep last night they didn't put Dave on the by-pap machine, he was glad to be rid of that even for a little while. Dave stood 3 times (assisted) today in PT! Thank you for your prayers and support, you are such an encouragement to us!

Evening update: We are mixing it up tonight and using a different format. We will give an update starting from Dave's head, all the way to his toes...

'Head': Dave was very, very sleepy today, and has been the last few days. The doctors have took him off many medications, hoping to wake him up a little bit. Dave still responds to questions and occasionally asks a question, but he is more confused now then in the past. Please continue to pray for this.

Heart: Dave has not had any more irregular heart beats today. His heart rate and blood pressure have tolerated dialysis today. Thank you Lord!

Lungs: Dave's upper lungs are functioning very well! However, his lower lobes are not. Dave has been using a BIPAP machine 2 hours on, 2 hours off to strengthen his lungs. BIPAP (Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure) machine is a breathing assistance device which is worn over the mouth or nose, in Dave's case the nose. We have included a picture we found on google, it is basically exactly like Dave's.Abdomen: Dave has 5 tubes in his abdomen. The doctors are slowly taking the tubes out one inch at a time. Eventually, as drainage continues to decrease, the doctors will completely pull the tubes out.

Liver: We don't have any updates at this time, but please continue to pray for the function of Dave's liver.

Pancreas: Dave still has pancreatitis, but it is slowly improving.

Stomach/Digestive tract: Dave received more 'food', through his gastric tube. He wasn't able to digest quickly enough, so they stopped for today and will continue again tomorrow.

Kidneys: PTL Dave has been on dialysis for 9 hours so far, without clotting off. The doctors would like him to stay on for three more hours tonight. Please pray that Dave's numbers would improve and that dialysis would be effective.

Left ankle: Dave still has a walking cast. The doctors will x-ray in a couple of weeks to see if the broken bones have healed or if it will require surgery.

Right leg: We mentioned it this morning, but Dave stood 3 times today. What we didn't mention is that because Dave's left ankle is broken and in a cast, Dave can not put any weight on his left foot. So when he stands, he is actually balancing on one leg, (I can't even do that!)