6-2-11 ...SURGERY DELAYED UNTIL MONDAY MORNING.. Mikey is alright, but his surgery will now be on Monday morning. The heart echo shows another problem and the surgery itself will be changed.

  Exhausting, but I know all things work together for good to those who love the Lord. Maybe we need a little break, and perhaps the surgeon does as well.

  Please pray for Mikey on Monday morning.. we appreciate you! We'll start updating Mikey's condition when his surgery starts sometime monday morning.  

6-5-11 ... Mikey is still scheduled for his heart surgery tomorrow morning (monday).. check back Monday for updates .. your prayers are appreciated.  

6-6-11 ... 7:30am at the hospital, waiting for Mikey to be callled back. After more waiting, he will be prepped, anesthetized, and taken back for heart surgery. Dr Mishi Imamura will open his chest, break the breast bone, his heart will be stopped and he will be placed on a heart and lung machine before the actual surgery begins. He will replace Mikey's complete artificial heart/pulmonary conduit/ heart valve system and pacing system and possibly repair a bad mitral valve. Mikey will receive a new 26mm dacron tube approx 7" long extending from a large hole in his heart out to his large pulmonary artery.. with a new porcine heart valve in one end of the tube. A significant leak in the mitral valve may be addressed at this time. His heart will be kept "alive" by circulating cold fluids through it until the surgery is complete, then the heart will be slowly warmed until they can attempt to restart it. Mikey's spirits are high again.. No fear.. God's got this.. Our faith will not waver. We will update as we're able.. on Facebook and on Mikey's website: http://MikeysMiracle.com  Thank you for your prayers!  

6-6-11... 9:30am Mikey is "good to go" (back into surgery soon)..click to view his message to you!  

6-6-11 ...10:55am Mikey has been placed on a ventilator and they are preparing him to go on a heart-lung bypass machine right now. Thanks for praying.  

6-6-11 ... 12:25 pm This is the actual tube that will be placed in Mikey's chest, exiting his heart, with a porcine (pig) valve on the opposite end, and connecting to his pulmonary. One of the O.R. nurses just brought it out for us to see. It's BIG ! The operation is underway. To see the actual tube that will be implanted in Mikey's chest, click here .. it's huge.  

6-6-11 ... 2:05 pm The surgeon is still "digging".. trying to cut through years of scar tissue in Mikey's heart from previous surgeries, before he can procede with the operation.  

6-6-11 ...3:10 pm the surgeon has gotten through the scar tissue and is inside Mikey's heart now. He is finding significant damage to the mitral valve, so he will repair it, before he can move on to replace the dacron tube, the porcine valve and Mikey's generator (pacing system). His heart has already been stopped for a long time now, so they will start to warm his heart at the same time the rest of the work is being done.  

6-6-11 ...4:25 pm Mikey was just placed BACK on the heart and lung bypass machine. The mitral repair did not look good, so the surgeon is going back in..  If this has to be replaced with a mechanical valve, Mikey would have to spend the rest of his life on Coumadin.. much left to do in surgery.. keep praying and believing God for Mikey's miracle.   

6-6-11 ... 6:28 pm .. losing track of time.. DeeDee says Mikey's heart has been stopped "most of the day, at least 5 or 6 hours". I know they just told us they were now trying to keep his heart warm, so they could try to restart it just as soon as the repair problem is resolved.  

6-6-11 ... 7:15 pm .. just informed that Mikey had some problems and "had to be shocked".. nothing more. Mikey is in the hands of the Great Physician.   

6-6-11 8:00 pm .. We're told now that the valve repair was unsuccessful and that he is in no condition to risk further intervention.. they will just try to stop the bleeding and stabilize him.. .. need strength.. more prayer, more faith.. God will get the glory  

6-6-11:49 pm .. The surgeon told us that Mikey had to be shocked numerous times, but thank God he is stable just before midnight. He will remain on the machines, allowing his body to rest, and he will remain in a drug induced coma through the night. They will not try to wake him until sometime tomorrow. Last post for the evening. Tomorrow is a new day. To God be the glory.  

6-7-11 8:30 am Mikey is alright.. haven't been able to post because we are spending our time in his CVICU room. He stirred early this morning. There were some setbacks, but they will try to remove the ventilator and allow him to wake.. We are expecting a rapid improvement today!  

6-7-11 9:25 am Mikey is off the ventilator and able to speak.. still improving. While the mitral valve repair was unsuccessful, the rest of the surgery was successful. The new dacron tube and porcine valve are in, and the new generator is in and all are working well, praise God!  

6-7-11 9:45 pm With a little pushing from dad, they allowed Mikey to sit up on the edge of his bed tonight.. Mikey is still showing improvement.. thank You, Lord!  

6-8-11 8:35 am Mikey is alright.. still has all his wires and tubes, minus the vent. He's still bleeding through his drainage tubes from the operation which we hoped would have stopped by now.. which is making him anemic and he still has fluid in his lungs to deal with. Progressing slowly.  

6-8-11 9:15 pm Mikey is okay.. we've had a long, long and tiring day, as Mikey was transferred to a new wing.. where young nurses were too busy to follow doctor's orders and give Mikey the vital care that is so critical right now.. too busy facebooking and playing with their smartphones.. We are SO thankful that God is protecting Mikey right now. In the photo above, you can see that he got a visit from sister-in-law Brittney which cheered him up! God is still on the throne.. Mikey is still progressing.. and we're believing God for a better day tomorrow.  

6-8-11 11:20 pm Mikey's oxygen saturation has been dropping and his heart rate dropped to 55 tonight. The cardiology "fellow" was called and "she" just called for monitoring.. We are concerned. Continue to pray and believe with us.  

6-9-11 9:50 am The info from Mikey's new generator conflicts with his heart monitor. The generator says that his heart rate didn't drop so low last night. He IS severely anemic and presently receiving 2 units of blood. I believe we have a better team and good plan for Mikey's care and treatment today. Expecting good things and better updates... God is good!  

6-9-11 12:56 pm Yesterday we strained against the mountain.. Today God moved it for us! Mikey may be up walking in just a few hours :) A merry heart doeth good like a medicine!  

6-9-11 2:50 pm Mikey did some walking this afternoon.. 6 laps around the center of the CVICU (cardiovascular intensive care unit).  

6-9-11 9:35 pm Mikey is running a fever tonight.. not real unusual for post-op heart surgery, but let's pray that his temp will go back down. Mikey walked 10 laps around the CVICU tonight :)  

6-10-11 9:20 am In this photo: burns from being shocked multiple times with the paddles Monday night. It's Friday now.. he has these burns on both sides, of course. One tough kid, one mighty God!  

6-10-11 2:55 pm In this photo, Mikey gets a visit from Pastor Dino.. an A-team minister with an A-team healing ministry! Mikey has had a setback.. his eyes turned brown and urine is black.. Tests are being run and we're concerned about his kidneys. Some of the results are in and they think his muscle tissue is breaking down and the pigment of the muscle tissue is causing the discoloration with his kidneys still at risk, a serious situation .. so we're in unchartered territory and standing in the need of prayer.  

6-10-11 9:50 pm Mikey is walking a tightrope tonight.. the hospital has to flood him with IVs to flush dead muscle tissue while doubling his diuretics to keep him from going into congestive heart/lung failure. Keep praying.. God will get the glory.  

6-11-11 9:00 am Mikey had 12,000 "bad guys" yesterday.. and only 7,000 this morning.. hard to explain, but it's all about dead muscle tissue passing through Mikey's system. We need to rebuke the bad guys in Jesus Mighty Name.. when the bad guys go, Mikey could go.. home. AKI (acute kidney injury) often occurs after heart valve surgery and it takes 48+ hours to discover. It is dying muscle tissue that is passing through Mikey right now.  

6-11-11 1:50 pm .. fighting several problems now. Something is destroying Mikey's red blood cells, AND his muscle tissue. He received 2 units of blood and he's already low again. I believe rabdomiolisis is the term for the destruction of his muscle tissue and hemolysis is the term for the destruction of his red blood cells. Doctors do not know why both of these things are happening. Keep praying and believing with us.  

6-11-11 .. 10:00 pm No change today. Mikey's color is not good tonight.. and he is still losing red blood cells and muscle tissue.. Pray and believe with us.  

6-12-11 .. 8:45 am Little change. I believe Mikey's blood count is 7... hoping this is a plateau. His CK (for the muscle tissue loss issue) is 4,000.. bad also,, but moved in the right direction. I'm thinking a plateau would be good.. that his body could regenerate both blood and tissue, so he could gain ground... asking God for rapid and complete recovery. Today. Why not today? God will get the Glory!  

6-12-11 .. 2:10 pm Hallelujah, God is answering prayer "specifically and timely"! ! !  I was right 5 hours ago when I posted:  "I'm thinking a plateau would be good.. that his body could regenerate both blood and tissue, so he could gain ground... asking God for rapid recovery. Today. Why not today?" ...   And God answered that precise prayer today. The cardiologist just told me that Mikey's "numbers" are now showing that blood and tissue have stop degenerating and started regenerating. The doc said, quote: "I don't know what turned the degeneration on, or what turned it off."unquote. I know what turned it off... GOD DID!

  Doc says Mikey may be home by mid-week :)  

6-13-11 .. 10:00 pm No change in Mikey's condition tonight.. time drags on :(  

6-14-11 .. 7:15 am .. uneventful night.. waiting for results of morning blood tests.  

6-14-11 .. 10:30 am PLEASE PRAY.. turn for the worse.. blood count down to 6.8.. talking about other organs.. spleen, kidneys, more open-heart surgery.. Mikey is so frightened, crying, so hard to see him like this.. they're transfusing again now.. not because they want to, but because they have to.. they have to find out what is destroying his red blood cells.  

6-14-11 .. 3:07 pm using an ultrasound to look at Mikey's liver and spleen.  

6-14-11 .. 9:00 pm Crushing news tonight. Mikey's kidneys have not worked all day and now doctors are telling us that his red blood cells are being destroyed faster than they can transfuse him. They want to take him back into another risky emergency open-heart surgery for a repair that they are not even certain will work. A transesophageal echo will likely be done tomorrow before surgery plans could proceed. Can he survive a second open-heart surgery.. within a few days? His burn scars from being repeatedly shocked with the paddles are still fresh. There is no finer child than Mikey. Someday we will understand this. Today is not that day.  

6-15-11 .. 10:00 am Radiology first, then going to the cath lab for a transesophageal cath. For doctors, it is almost a forgone conclusion: they expect to find the mitral valve forcefully jetting blood up against a plastic ring they implanted there. They believe the blood cells are being destroyed as they smash into this ring. Their solution; redo the operation via more open-heart surgery.. this time replacing the valve with a mechanical valve.  

6-15-11. .. 9:05 pm Doctors have scheduled Mikey for more heart surgery Friday. I just haven't been able to sign off on this yet.. but they're saying he can't survive without the operation. They want to implant a mechanical valve this time. They'll re-open the same incision from last week, re-break the breastbone, stop his heart and connect him to the heart-lung bypass machine again.. Asking God for a miracle.. in the next 36 hrs.   

6-16-11 .. 10:15 am Blood count down.. thankful that Mikey is not suffering.. he's able to sit up, walk around as he prepares to go into surgery tomorrow.  

6-16-11 .. 2:45 pm We just spoke with the surgeon and signed consent for Mikey's 2nd open-heart surgery .. just 11 days apart. Dr. Michiaki Imamura will remove the plastic ring that was implanted.. and repair or replace Mikey's valve with a mechanical one. They will take him at 7am ... with surgery beginning around 8:30am and ending between 3 and 5pm.  

6-16-11 .. 10:00 pm Mikey is prepared. Anesthesia said they would come to his room about 6:45am. Actually heart surgery will last from approx 8:30am until 4pm. Please pray.. I will try to update again from my cell phone. Thank you for praying for our son.  

6-17-11 .. 8:20 am Possible reprieve. Anesthesiology was here early to take Mikey to surgery. I asked for blood numbers, and they were  7.7 (up from yesterday's 7.5). I was told this was within the margin of error, but I still lobbied for a consult. Docs expect his count to drop, "but give it 1 or 2 days to see if this was just a "blip". They're removing the "central line" from his neck and he can now order breakfast.. HALLELUJAH!   

6-17-11 .. 9:55 pm Mikey is resting comfortably tonight. The "central line" was removed from his neck, so they will have to stick him every morning now to get his blood for the lab :( Praying for higher blood counts and better news tomorrow. We believe Mikey is safe tonight.. Thank You, Lord.  

6-18-11 .. 8:30 am Mikey's eyes are still yellowed and his urine is still black. They just drew blood, so we'll anxiously await the blood count today.  

6-18-11. .. 12:45 pm Surgery pending again. Red blood cells being shredded by plastic ring implanted in heart 12 days ago. Ring also said to be cause of breakdown in muscle tissue. It has to go. Doctors ready to intervene this weekend.. otherwise surgery will likely be scheduled Monday. God's timing.. Mikey may have needed time to recover from the surgery on the 6th.. God will get the glory when Mikey is well enough to come home.  

6-18-11 .. 9:40 pm Mikey is biding his time.. resigned to having this surgery. His blood count is down some, and he seemed quite tired and a little short of breath tonight, but he had a good visit with his little niece and nephew.  

6-19-11 .. 12:30 pm SURGERY TOMORROW.. the surgeon wants his whole team here when they operate on Mikey, so he just came and told us they would take Mikey back at 10:00am tomorrow for a noon surgery when the whole team is here.  

6-19-11 .. 9:35 pm Mikey is a little nervous, after so many problems and delays, but he is in good spirits tonight and believing God for a safe and successful surgery tomorrow.  

6-20-11 .. 9:55 am NO FEAR.. Mikey getting prepped for surgery right now.. given Versed.. anesthesia.. will be wheeled into the operating room in 15 minutes. NO FEAR.. GOD IS ALREADY THERE!  

June 20th .. CLICK HERE for Mikey's video message to you, just before they wheeled him into the operating room this morning  

6-20-11 .. 10:35 am In the operating room right now, for his 2nd open-heart surgery in 2 weeks.. God has got this!  

6-20-11 .. 2:20 pm Mikey's heart has been stopped for several hours now.. He is on a heart-lung bypass machine while the surgeons work on the valve that has given us so many problems.  

6-20-11 .. 3:35 pm .. repair unsuccessful.. reported they couldn't restart his heart after warming.. had to shock him 3 times externally.. back on bypass as they try to replace with artificial valve.  

6-20-11 .. 4:52 pm They're trying to start his heart again.. the artificial valve is in.. the heart has to start before they can do a transesophageal echo to see if the valve will work. Still warming and trying to start Mikey's heart.

6-20-11 .. 5:20 pm still shocking.. heart not restarting yet.. well over an hour.. praying for another miracle  

6-20-11 .. 6:35 pm The mechanical valve is not working.. still on bypass.. Since Mikey's valve was removed hours ago, they have to find a way to make the artificial valve work.. It is all he has now. We have to have a miracle.  

6-20-11 .. 7:20 pm Two surgeons working now.. over an hour and ten mins in fibrillation.. trying to restart heart. More faith, not wavering, MORE. Picturing God's Glory.  

6-20-11 .. 9:05 pm God gets His Glory.. the valve just has a small leak and the heart is restarted. Praise God! We do have a ways to go, still in surgery, but this IS a real miracle after teetering on the precipice!  

6-20-11 .. 11:50 pm Mikey is getting out of surgery, thank God Almighty! We can see him in another 45 mins in CVICU. The little keys on my cellphone are nearly indiscernible tonight.. I really need an iPad or a Netbook... Whew.. LONG DAY!  

6-21-11 .. 1:10 am Mikey is in CVICU tonight.  

6-21-11 .. 7:05 am The boy whose heart was opened 3 times yesterday.. the boy whose heart was stopped for hours and who was hit with the paddles 18 times.. is writing notes to me and should get the vent off this morning as he is already doing things on his own. He'll be talking, a lot, as soon as they pull the vent tube out :)

6-21-11 .. 9:00 am Inside Mikey: 1 carbon valve, 1 porcine valve, 1 Dacron tube, 2 shunts, 1 baffle, 1 generator, 3 lead wires, gortex, .. Wow.. he's bionic!  

6-21-11 .. 10:10 am Coming off the ventilator now.. could be walking this afternoon :)  

6-21-11 .. 11:15 pm Mikey is ubercognizant... hehe.. His vent is out and his conversation is lucid, but he can only speak in whispers right now. We are pleased :-)  

6-21-11 .. 4:25 pm Mikey is probably not going to walk today. He needs rest, and he has an arterial line surgically implanted in his groin. He is talking, but still in whispers. Praying his voice will return very soon, and that there is no vocal chord damage or paralysis.. still very happy with his recovery and progress.

6-21-11 .. 10:00 pm Mikey is tired tonight.. understandably so.. and, we are really looking forward to getting some rest tonight, too.  

6-22-11 .. 7:55 am Heart rate up. Blood pressure down. Can't get up with arterial line in groin or on BP med. Laying in bed is bad. Xrays show some fluid in his lungs, and he has an infection. Unable to speak to doctors. ACH policy: parents leave when docs make rounds and during shift changes. Only info comes from nurses during shifts. ACH is not the great place it once was, not cardiac care. Mikey's voice is trying to strengthen :)  

6-22-11 .. 1:30 pm Doctors say they want to look at Mikey's heart function again to find out why he is not improving as they expected. He is getting an echo right now to see how the valve is working. Blood count still low after 2 transfusions. Pressure too low, rate too high. Infection, now large bed sores on hips and upper back, MRSA.. yellowing of his eyes.. still much to deal with. We're here for the long haul.  

6-22-11 .. 6:45 pm Doctor's made their rounds, but parents aren't even allowed in the hallways when doctors are rounding. As I left I heard enough to know they were discussing the results of his heart echo.. the results we have waited many hours for. They left without speaking to us again. From being in his room, I know that his heart rate is 130s, too high, and BP is 52, too low. He's awake, but tired and weak.. has not been out of bed since surgery.. getting sores, even losing hair.. sizable bald spot on the top of his head :(  

6-22-11 .. 10:30 pm Tomorrow is a new day, and God is already there! Not wavering.. at all :) .. spoke with a new doctor late tonight who looked at the echo results and he said he could not rule out hemolysis.. the destruction of the blood cells, which is what monday's surgery was to have resolved. By faith, I believe Mikey will begin a healing TREND, and these other problems will resolve. Amen. So be it. 

6-23-11 .. 9:15 pm Needing prayer again.. turn for the worse.. been waiting to post because we don't know what is happening.. he's terribly congested, fluid in lungs, high fever and his oxygen saturation is down in the mid 80s, even though he has been receiving much oxygen, and the gave him 2 more blood transfusions this afternoon.. xrays, echoes, blood and urine samples, now they're taking him to the cath lab.. he's frightened, as are we, but we know what to do... pray and believe. Dee Dee and I need strength to keep going these endless hours.  

6-23-11 .. 11:35 pm Mikey may have a clot in the valve, causing high pressure flooding his lungs with blood.. causing coughing and congestion. With the new mechanical valve, he needs Coumadin the rest of his life to prevent clotting, but it takes 3 days to work. Giving him Heparin now to dissolve the clot, if there is one. He'll get oxygen via Bi-pap mask to pull fluid and blood from his lungs. Mikey is fighting this high-pressure mask.. Poor kid.. wish I could wear it for him. Gonna be another long night.  

6-24-11 .. 6:45 am Given something to help him sleep.. It's terrible that he has to wake with this pressure mask... he can't communicate with us.. he just has to lay there.  

6-24-11 .. 9:40 am The clot idea was wrong and they don't know what is wrong. He's filled with fluid.. they mentioned putting him on a ventilator and think his new valve may be stopping now! I'm trying to explore any option.. there are few. The doctor who operated for our last stay here committed suicide. His replacement, Michiaki Imamora is trying, but he has opened Mikey's heart 6 times in the last 2 weeks, barely returned him alive, and Mikey is still in grave condition. . How can we agree to let him try a 7th time.  

6-24-11 .. 10:25 am Doing another echo. To find out why the valve is still not working?  

6-24-11 .. 1:25 pm Gravely ill. Exploring moving him to another state, but doctors say they don't think he can be stabilized enough to move. They are doing a heart cath and a transesophogeal because they think the mechanical valve is failing. The surgeon is on vacation, meaning his assistant would have to do an emergency open-heart surgery if he cannot be stabilized soon. God please take over.

6-24-11 .. 9:05 pm On a ventilator now.. nothing more could be done for him. They'll be inserting a feeding tube through his nose down into his stomach as well. ACH will try to stabilize him, then try to find another hospital where they can fly him (by jet, not helicopter). This isn't over. We place Mikey into Your mighty hands, Lord.  

6-24-11 .. 10:10 pm It's not over. It hasn't ended. The battle does belong to the Lord, and one way or the other satan loses and God gets His Glory.. that's the end.  

6-25-11 .. 8:10 am opening his eyes, nodding  

6-25-11 .. 9:40 am Remarkable visible improvement. The heart function is critical and will have to be addressed, but ACH is giving him intensive pulmonary help w/several nurses & several respiratory therapists present most of the time & he's responding. They traded the ventilator for a Cpap mask. He immediately began to speak. It wasn't damaged vocal chords.. it was just that he was too weak to speak before he got this aggressive support. We're still looking for a heart repair, and not sure where that will be, but today he is getting good support from the ACH team in CVICU east, and it shows. Doctors have been more forthcoming as well.  

6-25-11 .. 10:00pm Mikey received intense support all day by a team of cardiologists, respiratory therapists & highly-skilled heart nurses. Heart, & lung support. Fluid was removed by the liter.. a good 2 liters before noon alone. All day they fought to keep his heart rhythm and remove fluid from his lungs. There are a lot of variables for tomorrow. Will he be stable? Can he, or will he fly to another state? God's got this.  

6-26-11 .. 7:30am Miracles happen on SONday. TGIS, Thank God It's SONday. Miracles happen every day. The miracle of salvation happens every SONday.. if you're goin' to the right church hehe  ;)   Lord, let this be our Miracle SONday for Mikey's Miracle.   

6-26-11 .. 10:30pm 7 liters of fluid have been removed from Mikey.. so far. 7 liters.. Imagine a 2-liter bottle of soda, then multiply by 3 and a half! For you nurses that understand these things, this is negative 7 liters.. Input minus output. In other words, if he took in 2 liters he would have put out 9 liters to be negative 7.. That's a boat load! Great news. Nothing but great news today. Improvements in all areas. More to come. God receives the Glory.  

6-27-11 .. 9:55am Tough morning with coughing up blood, congestion, and labored breathing. Praying for improvement in all these areas today.  

6-27-11 .. 6:55pm Mikey crashed again this afternoon. He's on a pressurized vent mask, 30 liters of 60 percent heated oxygen, a slew of meds, drips, and a menagerie of tubes and wires. ACH's ENT scoped him and found paralysis of the left vocal chord. His lungs are whited out with fluid, he's coughing blood and may need to be intubated tonight. Fluid is the enemy that is trying to destroy our child. We rebuke this fluid in Jesus name!  

6-27-11 .. 9:55pm Mikey is FIGHTING, harder than he ever has in his life!  

6-28-11 .. 7:50 am Mikey's conversation is lucid this morning. He was hallucinating during the night and started going into respiratory failure. They rescued him.  Each time I am able to put one foot in front of the other, I know that people are praying for me, too. God has changed things quickly before. He still can. HE'S STILL GOD. WATCH AND SEE!  

6-28-11 .. 11:50am A loyal friend and prayer warrior, Ralph from San Angelo, sent me a short email with the subject "Mikey is a lamplighter". Here is that email; "John Ruskin sat at the end of life's day watching a lamplighter  with torch in hand, lighting lamps on a distant hill.  The man  himself could not be seen, but a long string of lights were  behind him.  Finally, Ruskin said to a friend, "That is what I  mean by a real Christian.  You can trace his course by all the  burning lights he leaves behind him." ~Ralph~

  Ralph graduated to Paradise recently, but sometimes he still speaks to me. Today is one of those times :)  

6-28-11 .. 7:05pm New plans for Mikey. Once again doctors agree they can do nothing more and they're looking for another heart hospital.. Houston and Dallas have not returned their calls. Boston is a possibility.. DC, Cleveland and others. I do not know where, or if we're leaving tonight or tomorrow.. 2 hours or 2 days.. he has to be stable and intubated before transport. 2 things I do know: God is in it, and He's already there.  

6-28-11 .. 8:00pm Lord help us find a place where a doctor has successfully repaired a peri-leak in a 29mm carbon mechanical mitral valve via heart cath.. where they also have a good surgeon in case of failure.  

6-29-11 .. 2:20pm Accepted.. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota met our criteria and they have accepted us, thank God. Things CAN change. Mikey is very critical right now. If he is stable enough for safe transport, we could leave for Minnesota in the morning. Thank You, Lord..  

6-29-11 .. 5:10pm URGENT: they say Mikey is barely hanging on and he must go now.. kidneys shutting down etc.. Must go immediately. We are leaving in minutes to meet a Learjet that will rush us to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Rochester is preparing.

6-30-11 .. 12:30am It was an amazing crew that was able to squeeze Mikey and all the tubes, hoses, drips, ventilator, oxygen, monitors etc. into this small jet, but they did so, and got him here safely. At 38,000 feet, and traveling at 540mph, we arrived at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN in under 90 minutes. It's nearly midnight now and they're still working to transition and stabilize him. Mikey is in one of the finest facilities in the country now. God was in this...  

6-30-11 .. 11:40am Mikey is still in a coma-like state, though a lot of this could be the drugs. His heart function is very poor and his kidneys aren't functioning right. They are still testing and evaluating him, but he can't have any procedure right now, because his temperatue is 108! (42.2 Celsius). Rebuking fear and casting it out.. we stand on faith. We stand on history, on God's perfect record with Mikey.. He has never failed us.  

6-30-11 1:06pm VERY URGENT.. Need prayer now. Going into life-saving surgery right now, even though high fever.. must be done now! Mayo Clinic found that his valve was left flapping with only half of it even attached and the surrounding area damaged.. must remove and implant new valve to an undamaged area. "may not survive" "may have permanent damage to organs" if he survives. Odds bad.. Huge miracle needed. Thank You, Lord, in advance.  

6-30-11 7:25pm My Lord, my Lord, Mikey has survived his 7th open-heart in 24 days. We know there could be other problems to deal with now, as he comes out of surgery and we'll pray about that, but what an amazing God.. What an amazing God .. What an amazing God. This is supernatural.. It's miraculous to the nth degree. Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God is He! The exclamation mark is insufficient..  

6-30-11 .. 9:05pm Out and looking good .. Numbers good.. better.. Kidneys trying to work.. Responded to requests to move his fingers and toes, indicating no stroke or brain damage.. two of the risk factors. We love Minnesota.. Praise God!  

7-1-11 .. 2:00pm Mikey is off the ventilator, eyes open, whispering.. seeing TV.. basically improving!  

7-1-11 .. 9:55pm Mikey had a good day.. came off some meds.. still on oxygen..4 liters per minute.. still has the arterial line in.. Really needs some sleep.. been too stressed to sleep.  

7-2-11 .. 10:45am Femoral artery line out, sitting up, voice better, kidney function good!  

7-2-11 .. 8:45pm Mikey is sitting up in bed, watching TV.. voice is coming back well, sipping drinks and taking a few bites of food.. stood and took a few steps today .. just 48 hours after his 7th open-heart surgery within 24 days. God is good!  

7-3-11 .. 9:15pm Mikey walked a few more times around the nurse station today. He had a "pick line" inserted tonight for long-term IV access, blood work, anti-biotics, etc.. His fevers are abating, but the fluid in the lungs is still a big concern. Overall, he is doing very well.. seems to be getting stronger every day, Praise God!

7-4-11 .. 8:45am Mikey is very swollen with fluid, arms, legs, ankles.. feet are ice cold, numb, tingly.. chest tubes still in, increased diuretics.. still able to walk.. getting special wound treatments for huge, hideous bed sores from Little Rock. They remove dead skin & drain the wound, & bandage daily.. poor kid.. They have very dedicated & proffessional teams to address these problems.. Thank You, Lord, for getting us here!  

7-4-11 .. 4:10pm Pastor Don came to visit Mikey today and hand-deliver notes and cards from church. He came right as they were removing 2 of Mikey's chest tubes.. prayed with us and really cheered Mikey up :-D  

7-4-11 .. 9:40pm Mikey started building fluid again tonight.. very puffy.. arms, hands, legs, ankles and feet. Moved to another room. If we can defeat this fluid, we can get on schedule to come home. We rebuke this fluid in Jesus Name.. It has to leave. Thank You, Lord. Amen.  

7-5-11 .. 7:40am Sleeping.. Oxygen saturation 96% on 2.5 liters per minute. Asking God to remove all excess fluid from Mikey's body and restore him and bring him home. Amen.  

7-5-11 .. 3:20pm Nothin' but good news. Swelling down, fever down, taking steps w/o oxygen, took him for a wheelchair ride outdoors, kidney and heart function good.. Praise God! We had another nice visit and prayer with the local AOG pastor.. Thank you, to those who contacted him for us. After more tests we could leave soon.. with a lot of instructions and plans for follow-through in Fort Smith.. maybe this weekend even!  

7-5-11 .. 10:25pm Mikey is still doing well this evening.. getting some needed rest :)  

7-6-11 .. 10:55am Mikey is coughing a lot.. xrays still showing a lot of fluid on lungs and his blood count is down to 8.4 .. He will be getting a heart echo today, and we're really looking forward to seeing those results.  

7-6-11 .. 5:15pm Good news again this afternoon. We could be leaving Minnesota saturday for Little Rock and then coming on home from there.  We just got out of Mikey's heart echo, and both valves are in place and working.. the heart function and kidney function are well, and diuretics are working on the fluid. He will have a longer recovery period and require medical attention in Fort Smith and at home. God is good!  

7-6-11 .. 8:25pm Had a coughing spell again which put him back on the oxygen, but he's feeling better, just really stressed with everything.. wanting it all to finally end so he can go home. We're still hoping that day is not to far off, thank You, Lord :)  

7-7-11 .. 3:50pm Had another nice visit with the local AOG pastor, a Mennonite pastor, the hospital chaplain, and a call from OUR pastor.. very nice! Mikey's blood count was too low, so he was transfused again today and still "wet" lungs, but a good day. Not leaving just yet.. but we're hoping now to leave Minnesota for Little Rock SONday afternoon :)  

7-8-11 .. 10:45am Mikey is fine this morning.. early morning xrays, wound care, shower, short walk.. gonna be a good day.. thank You, Lord :)  

7-8-11 .. 6:35pm Mikey is still doing very well.. may leave late SONday.. lining up medicines, doctor appts, places for blood draws, wound care, etc.. we'll be very busy.. Mikey will be quite limited for a while and he'll need a lot of TLC.. which he WILL get ;)  

7-9-11 .. 10:00am Mikey is doing well this morning.. I dressed him in some "real people" clothes today in lieu of the moonie gown :)  

7-9-11 .. 8:10pm Mikey lost 20lbs in the last few weeks.. the hard way :(    from 167 to 147. Looking good tonight.. resting comfortably... no problems.. God is good.  

7-10-11 .. 7:10am walked a half mile in the rain w/no umbrella, to get breakfast for Dee Dee & Mikey (patting myself on the back) and just as I was almost back, the bottom of the wet sack burst, BUT.. it's still SONday.. and Mikey is doing well.. even though I'll miss our church, Mikey is doing well and it's still SONday, and we expect to be back in church wednesday!

  BTW, everything in the sack was wrapped.. I salvaged it and everyone got their sausage biscuits, oatmeal and breakfast burritos :)  

7-10-11 .. 10:15pm HOME! 108 degrees in Fort Smith? Not enough to make us go back to Minnesota.. Thank God Mikey is home!  

7-13-11 .. 10:25pm Pray for Mikey tonight.. he developed a nosebleed after church that just won't stop... may have to go to the ER. He is taking large doses of Coumadin .. blood thinner due to his mechanical valve. He is also having a lot of PVCs (premature ventricular contractions) which are frightening!  

7-14-11 .. 7:00pm Mikey's blood count has raised. His electrolytes are okay. And his xrays are better. All good things! Spent the entire day in hospitals and clinics, but it was still a great day.. Thank You, Lord!  

7-15-11 .. 12:40pm Gradually regaining a modicum of normalcy.. walked a few laps around the cool indoor track at the fitness center .. made a few visits and prayed for friends at nursing home and hospital.. now Mikey will rest somewhere cool for the next few hours this afternoon.