Thursday, October 11, 2007

Abigail= Joy of the Father

Some of you may remember us telling you about a little girl whose room was down the hall from Lucas' at Children's Hospital. She was born May1st and almost immediately after she was born, they found a super-aggressive tumor in her brain. When we met her and some of her family, they were getting ready to return home on hospice care. They were told there was no hope and they should cherish the little time they had left with their beautiful daughter Abigail Grace.

I think we felt somewhat of a special bond with them because of our shared faith in God and also because Michael, Abby's dad, had been told by God that they were having a little girl and that they were to name her Abigail, similar to how God told Marc about Lucas.

I (Esther) got to spend a little time with Abby and her mom Rachel (who happens to also be a nurse). Abby's grandpa Barry also came in and spent some time with us in prayer in Lucas' room. We were strongly impressed by them (not in a showy way, but in a way that burned in our hearts) and we have not let them drift from our prayers but have maintained belief in a miraculous recovery for little Abigail even though all medicine and logic seemed opposed.

Two days ago I finally got around to e-mailing Barry to see how the family and little Abigail are doing. His wife Chris wrote me back with the news that not only is Abigail still alive, but she is well! She has had some rough times, but God has not forgotten her and I am certain He never will.

We have seen amazing faithfulness and miracle after miracle with Lucas and we know that God created him for awesome purposes, as He did each one of us. Sometimes we question "why is this happening to me, to my child!?!" but overall, we are not bitter. We are not sad. We are thankful and joyful and honored to be trusted with the most amazing boy in the world (our very strong opinion).

I want to encourage you all to read through the journal entries on Abigail's website from the beginning. There is a lot there, but it's good stuff and well worth the time. Please as you pray for Lucas, remember Abigail and so many other children and their families who are out there facing things they never imagined they'd have to face.

Also, an update about Lucas' fluid build up: I took him to the Neurosurgery office a few weeks ago, the same day we got the report about his MRI results. They said that it seems that the shunt is still functioning properly, but is sometimes being overridden and extra fluid is leaking around the tiny opening that there is in the shunt. They didn't do any scans so as to not expose Lucas to radiation unnecessarily and said to keep an eye on it. There is still some build up around his collar bone that doesn't go away which suggests a possible fracture in the tubing, but it isn't severe and it could be nothing so we're just watching it.

I'm taking him in for his second round of immunizations today. His first round was pretty rough on him. He maintained a borderline high fever (not super high, just high, but high isn't good for him either). Generally, subsequent reactions are more severe than the initial reaction, so please keep him in your prayers today. We'll pre-medicate with Tylenol to cut the edge a little. :)

We'll get more pictures up soon too! Blessings!

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