Update for William Goforth

March 26, 2002

 

ANSWERS TO PRAYER! William is 9 weeks and 1 day old today!

William has tipped the preemie scales at 3 lbs. 5 oz. this week, purely on his mother's milk (by gavage feeding) now that they have weaned him off of all supplemental food aids. Here are Daddy Josh's own words about two ongoing prayer concerns for his son, William. May you be as encouraged as we are in the Lord's faithfulness to not only sustain our baby William, but to also cause him to thrive as more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:37)

Lungs/Breathing: "He is off of both the Oscillator and Ventilator, and is on CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), which is a steady flow of oxygen provided via a tube to his nose. He is required to do all of the work for his own breathing. He is tolerating it very well, and is receiving 47% oxygen (being piped through the tube). As a point of reference, we (you and I) breathe roughly 21% oxygen all the time. His oxygen saturation (the detected level of oxygen in his blood) is very stable in the 90-100s, and he rarely desats (drops below 86)." We would also add that the lung infection has cleared up, and he continues to receive antibiotics to be protected from any reoccurrence.

Eyes: "His eyes are simply premature. At this point, there is no data indicating that there is any problem with his eyesight. Moreover, he is progressing normally in the development of his eyes, and is in the best level status-wise (level 1) which indicates no presence of ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity) at this time."

UP TO THE MOMENT. . . Report from Daddy. . .
"He has finally gotten the hang of sucking on a pacifier, and he loves it. He has become very strong, often lifting his head AND torso off of his bed. He is noticeably happier now that he doesn't have a big breathing tube stuffed down his throat. Without the interference of that tube, he can finally cry, although he is very hoarse, and quieter than most babies. (It takes time for the vocal cords to get into shape.)" 

"He is very seriously considering running in the hospital's Olympic "Grabber" Contest. He is unquestionably the best "grabber" at disconnecting the various wires, sensors, and tubes running to various parts of his body in record time. So far he has won in all the qualifiers. He is William 'the conqueror.' He seems determined to, well, Goforth." :-) What Daddy means is that when William was still on the respirator, he managed to disconnect his tubes, not just once, but at least 4 times. He has the reputation of being the most active preemie in the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery. I wonder why?!!!! Leave it to Uncle Josh to be at the right place at the precise moment to snap a photo of his nephew when William had an approved "breather" from his contraptions. Now we can all see what he was up to. :) 

 

"He is still having the fluid tapped off from his reservoir roughly every other day, and they obtain varying levels of fluid, from 2-10 cc's. There is still one significant blood clot (from old bleeds) in the left hemisphere of his brain that is dissolving and breaking down. Until that process is complete, and the clot is completely dissolved, we won't know whether or not he will need a permanent shunt."

 

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Today we ask you to please join us in prayer that:

a.  once the clot dissolves, that a steady decrease in the cranial fluid and natural absorption would eliminate the need for a permanent shunt.

b.  his brain would be totally protected from any pressure caused by any fluids or dissolving blood clots.

c. William's eyesight would continue to be protected from ROP. 

d.  the Lord would continue to give divine wisdom and supernatural insight to each hospital staff member who attends William each day.

  

WORD FOR THE DAY:

Because of the Lord's Resurrection power, the following verse is not only appropriate for our grandbaby, William, but for all those who have called upon the name of Christ Jesus for salvation..."for in Him we live and move and have our being...for we are also his offspring" (Acts 17:28).

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