Thursday, December 18th

Dave only has ONE TUBE LEFT! Dave had his appointment in Omaha today and Dr Grant took out his t-tube (the tube that was in his bile duct)!!! Everything went very well. They had Dave stay at the hospital for 2 hours afterward just to make sure he was able to tolerate the tube being out. He will need to carefully watch for negative side effects for the next couple of days (i.e. running a temperature, feeling poorly) He is feeling very tired and is running a low grade temperature right now. Dave does not have another appointment set up for Omaha at this time. He will have labs done in Lincoln on Monday.

Dr Grant said the g-tube (feeding tube from way back when) will stay in until sometime this spring. They will repair the 2 hernias and take out the g-tube at the same time. To take out the g-tube they will need to stitch up the lining of the stomach as well as the skin around the opening. Dave's liver will be evaluated prior to this spring procedure to make sure they don't have to remove any part of it.

Thanks for all your concern, support, and prayers over the past 6 months. We want to wish each of you a very blessed Christmas as we celebrate our Savior's birth!

Thursday, December 11th

Dave had his appointment in Omaha with Dr Grant today. She tied off his t-tube again! So far he is feeling really good, PTL! If all goes well Dr Grant will pull the t-tube out next Thursday, Dec 18th. She will literally pull the tube out of his abdomen, this will not take surgery or anesthetic. She said it should be painless! Please pray the bile duct is completely healed and there won't be any complications when they take the t-tube out. If there aren't any complications Dave won't have to have the surgery they have been talking about and promising since the first week he was in the hospital! That would be one more miracle in Dave's amazing story!!!

Dave is still going to work for 3 hours everyday. It is still tiring but he is building up stamina and doing great. His last day of PT was Monday, Dec 1st. He is still going to Madonna Pro Active 3 times a week to work out on his own! Dave got the okay last week from the doctor to drive!!! What a liberating feeling for him! Thank you for all your prayers, we will never be able to thank you enough!

Friday, November 21st

Yesterday Dave had appointments in Omaha. Dave went to Interventional Radiology for a cholangiogram. The results of the cholangiogram showed the bile duct was not leaking, it is working properly, PTL!!!! Since the bile duct wasn't leaking Dr Grant tied off his t-tube. She took the bag off and literally tied a knot in the tube to see if his bile duct was working properly. After Dave got home from Omaha he started feeling sick. Diane untied the tube and put a makeshift bag on it. The tube started draining a significant amount of bile compared to what it had been draining previously. Dave was running a temperature and feeling pretty crummy. After talking with nurses in Omaha, Dr Grant wanted to see Dave immediately. So Diane drove Dave back up to Omaha and Dr Grant put the bag back on the tube. They put Dave on an antibiotic to take care of the infection.