Constructing Walls

God is a crutch!

2009-05-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

Be a man! Man UP! Real men do...fill in the blank. Men don't cry. Our society has all kinds of rules that make a man. Some men (and women) reject God because they say that people use Him as a crutch and that it shows weakness. And they don't want to show that they are weak. Like most lies from Satan, there is some truth to this. God is there to be a crutch, and sometimes even a wheelchair, to get us through life. The lie is that you will be less of a person because you acknowledge that you need help, something we all know is hard for men right?. But if we were all transparent and honest we would admit that there are times that we do need help. Whether we are lost, can't put something together just right, can't fix the plumbing or your son is sick in the hospital and just as you think there is light at the end of the tunnel it turns out to be another train.

So answer these questions. Is a man really less of a man because he stops to ask directions? Does a man lose points in the game of life because he actually read the instructions? Is there some secret society of older men who sit around and deem someone less of a man because he doesn't know who the Cy Young award winner was from 1976, or even because he doesn't know what sport that it's for? If these are the guidelines for being a man, then there are a lot of women who are a whole lot manlier then me.

There is one thing that I find interesting in all of this. One principle that I find in the world's view of being a man is that a real man does things that are hard. Real men are strong and can lift heavy weights. Real men ride bulls and get up after being bucked off and trampled on. Real men arm wrestle. Real men get tattoos. Real men wrap up their wound and keep going. Real men play football. Over and over again we see that our society views real men as being able to do things that are hard, that are tough. Men want to do things that no one else can do. Lift more weight. Stay on the bull longer. Climb the business ladder farther. Have more scars. Shot the biggest buck. Catch the biggest fish. Have the most tattoos. Most men are chasing after one of these things. It's what drives them. It's what pushes them. It's what motivates them to sacrifice something to reach their goal. And that's the thing that gets me. Men are willing to sacrifice things in their life to attain something else. Sometimes it's their physical body, sometimes it's their family, sometimes it's their friends/coworkers. Rarely though will they sacrifice their own reputation as a "man." They will not sacrifice that in order to attain the only thing that will not turn into sand when they reach it. The one thing that most men will not do that no one else is doing, is to stand on their knees and ask for help. That is by far the hardest thing to do. It takes more strength to bow down than to pull a semi truck 100 ft. And the other thing is that other men can pull the semi truck 100 ft, big deal.

My point in all of this is that God is a crutch. Life deals us some pretty crippling circumstances and God is the only reliable crutch out there that won't ever buckle under us. If it seems that we have fallen on our face because the crutch is gone, it's not because He left us, it's because we let go of Him and tried to do it on our own. It's easy to worship God when things are easy and going good. And I will be the first to admit that it's hard, catch that men, it's hard to worship Him when things are going bad. But here is the Truth. God never changed. He is no different in the good times then He is in the bad times. The only thing that changes is our circumstances and God never promised us a pain free life. Even Jesus, who was God in flesh, perfect and sinless, experienced pain.

So if you are going through a difficult time in your life, no matter what it is, please don't give up on God. Use Him as your crutch and a wheelchair. Lean on Him for your strength. He is the only one who can truly make us strong when we are weak. Men, be a man and stand on your knees.

Home at last!!!

2009-01-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

Home at last Home at last, thank God Almighty they are home at last. Isaac and mom came home last night after 8 days in the hospital. Isaac is doing great. He won't stop eating and he weighs almost 21 pounds. Thank you for your prayers. We have been blessed again by them and grateful for Isaac's recovery.

We give God the glory and thank Him for all of you who have prayed for us this last week and this last year and a half. With all that this last week had given us (Isaac and our car) God has taken care of our needs in ways that we didn't expect. Our car needed a new fuel pump which was a lot of money. We knew we could pay for it but other things would have to wait. James' mom picked it up from the shop and they told her that the cost was taken care of. Praise the Lord. We thank God for the person/people that He used to help us out.

If you remember one thing about our lives, please remember this. No matter what happens in life, good or bad, God is still God. He never changes. He never leaves us or forsakes us. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil. For God is with us.

No news is good news...right?

2009-01-09T20:57:00.000-08:00

YES!!! Sorry it's been a couple of days since the last blog. The last two nights I, James, have been processing the four deer I shot in Kansas. That's a whole story in it's own. So, after work I've been dealing with deer meat until I go to bed. It's Friday night and I finally have time to blog because I am at the hospital now giving my lovely wife the weekend off of hospital duty. Speaking of which, I would like to take a moment to say that I have the most awesome wife. She has spent a lot of hours and days in the hospital with Isaac and this time with Ava as well and does an excellent job. She is an awesome cook. She is beautiful. She loves the Lord. She loves our children. She loves me and puts up with me. She even let me go hunting while she had the kids. Thank you Lord for blessing me with such a great wife.

Ok, back to Isaac. He's doing great. He started on formula today, although they are limiting the amount he can have to avoid dumping. He is back up to 19 lbs as of this morning. He took quite a walk around the loop on the floor and enjoyed it. Tonight he was walking all over the room and hitting the balloons our church got him. He had a smile on his face most of the night. He will stay in the hospital until the first of next week so that they can make sure his nutrition is on track. So that's the latest. Thank you for all of your prayers. They are greatly felt and affective.

Problem Solved

2009-01-06T20:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's so late in updating the blog. I worked today and was going to update it when I got to the hospital this evening, but the computer was not working right. So, I just got home and will update it now.

Here's the latest. They did the gastrografin enema first thing this morning. However, it would not go in very far. Doc then decided not to torture Isaac anymore and wanted to sedate him and insert a central line and get a better look at what was going on. He found that the blockage was at the end of the intestine and quite a bit of stool was backed up so he cleared it out and was then able to correct the problem. When Isaac had his pull through surgery in July to attach the good intestine to his rectum the surgeon attached the intestine to the side of the rectum. In the last 6 months since surgery Isaac's rectum grew longer, causing it to push against the intestine and somewhat pinch it off. The surgeon was able to correct it with out surgery and now we wait and watch as Isaac recovers and his intestines rest for a few days. He is not allowed to eat or drink anything my mouth for a couple of days. He does receive nutrients via TPN in his central line.

Tonight while I was there I held him for about an hour. Before I had to leave he woke up more and was pointing and grunting at the TV, excited because a football game was on (that's my boy). He also got to play with his Diego velcro ball and board. He was throwing the balls at the board, which he enjoys doing.

Thanks for all your prayers. God is a great God and we have no doubt that no matter what happens in our lives He is Sovereign and always worthy of praise. "For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose." God bless you all for your faithfulness to Him.

When it rains it pours

2009-01-05T20:20:00.001-08:00

Isaac is in the hospital again. He has been sick for the last three weeks on a off. He would have two good days and then the third day he would vomit and not eat much at all, then two good days and the third day bad again. We took him to his doctor this morning who had him admitted to run tests. Tomorrow (Tuesday) they will do a Gastrografin enema in order to determine what's going on. Right now they are calling it an Ileus. The enema will show if it is in fact an ileus which anyone can get from having a gastric virus and will correct itself. Or if there is some obstruction or if the section of intestine that is affected just doesn't work. Worst case, Isaac has surgery to remove that section of intestine. We won't know until tomorrow.

So on our way to Tulsa for his doctor appointment our van breaks down. The gas gauge has been acting up going up and down from E to F. When we left the house it said F but as we got further down the road it moved to E and then the van just quit altogether. So we but two gallons of gas in it and it still would not start.

Through all of this, God is still God. He is still almighty. He never changes, He never leaves us, He is always with us. Be praying for us that 1) the doctors will find the problem quickly, 2) the problem is minor and easily fixed, 3) for our family as we are separated with all our responsibilities, girls in school, dad working, mom with two little ones at the hospital, 4) pray especially for mom as this wears on her physically, not getting good rest, and emotionally, watching her son go through this again and not knowing yet what exactly is going on.

AVA JOELLE!!!!!!

2008-10-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

Ava Joelle was born October 7th @ 11:17 am. She weighed 7 lbs 13 ozs and was 20.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great they will come home this afternoon. And Praise the Lord she is pooping. After Isaac I think we were more anxious about that then anything. Here are a few pics.

2008-07-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

We made it home...finally. Yesterday, the surgeon talked to the nutritionist and she recommended switching formulas to one that's for kids over 1 yr. So, Isaac had to consume and tolerate 5 oz. of this new stuff before we could go home. We finally left the hospital around 4pm. It's so nice to be home again! Thank you to everyone who is and has prayed for Isaac.

2008-07-22T07:39:00.001-07:00

WE'RE GOING HOME!!!!

2008-07-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

Isaac is still continuing to do well. He is drinking his normal amount of formula today. He even ate half a scoop of ice cream this afternoon. Doc was in this morning and said he wants to monitor his eating for today and his night feedings (which he's hooked up to a pump). He will have some lab work done in the morning and if his electrolytes check out ok, then we're checking out of here. Isaac seems to be feeling fine. He's walking all over his crib and being his usual goofy self. His incision is healing really well. When he's all healed up, he will have 2 parallel scars, one above his belly button and one below. We'll take pics of it when the steri strips fall off.

Good Night!

2008-07-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is a day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. The doctor was just in and they are going to remove the IV. Isaac is also taking formula at full strength and tolerating very well. These pics were taken this morning. His shirt is very appropriate now. It says, "Poops! I did it again."

2008-07-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

Isaac has been doing better and better each day. Yesterday he was playing, smiling and acting more like himself without the pain medicine. This video is from this morning. It shows just how well he is acting. He was making funny faces with his mouth because he is teething.

They took the bandages off of his stomach and left them off. Later they will take the central line out and hook up a regular IV because they think that the central line is causing a little bit of an infection, which in turn may be affecting his appetite. Thanks again for all your prayers and keep in touch.

2008-07-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, James and I took the girls to the zoo for being such good girls while brother was in surgery. Here's a couple from that trip.

2008-07-17T21:47:00.000-07:00

This is Isaac the morning of his surgery. He was having a great time jumping in his bed.

Grace took this picture the afternoon after his surgery.

First of all...sorry about not posting anything sooner, but we've had some technical difficulties. Isaac is doing great. He got the NG tube out of his nose today. He then starting pooping like a pro. He's still struggling with a low fever, so the surgeon ordered a chest x-ray, urine culture and a blood culture. He just had that done tonight, so we won't know anything until morning. He is feeling pretty good, but needs an occational dose of morphine. He had his dressings changed today on his central line and his surgery site, which looks great. When he is on the morphine, we can get a smile out of him and he tries to talk a little bit. Hopefully tomorrow he can start drinking a little Pedialyte.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for Isaac and the rest of our family. They are felt and appreciated. We couldn't make it through this without them.

With much love...Alisha

2008-07-17T19:55:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's been a while since the last entry. I (James) came back Wednesday night and worked Thursday so I haven't been able to update as soon as I would have liked. That being said, we have a huge PRAISE THE LORD!!! This one is kinda weird, but I'm amazed at that things we take for granted. OUR SON POOPED HIS PANTS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!! After potty training two other kids, it feels weird to say that with this much excitement. God is good. Again Isaac's digestive system starts up very quickly. He also got to have the tube in his nose taken out today, and Lisha said that they changed the dressing on his stomach and where they made the incision looks really good. Continue praying for him because God is answering them. I will try to get some pics of him on as soon as possible. Thanks again and I pray that God will bless each of you who are praying for our son.

2008-07-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

Isaac is now out of surgery. He did great and is resting comfortably. The doctor said that where he reattatched the small intestine was a little ways up from the rectum. So he still has just a small amount of his colon. He said that little bit of colon should slow down the flow of stool and help absorb some water. We are not for sure at this point how long Isaac will have to be in the hospital, we are hoping no more than a week. Thank you again for all your prayers.

To Brooke who wrote a comment, I'm sorry I have not responded sooner but I just saw your comment today. We would love to converse about treatments and what we have gone through.

2008-07-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

Isaac is in surgery right now. I just talked with the nurse and she said that they had the results from the pathologist and they came back negative for the cells. So they are continuing on with the total colectomy. He has been in for 2.5 to 3 hours and is still doing great. Thanks for all your prayers.

2008-03-02T17:56:00.000-08:00

God is good all the time. This last week has been tough for us, mainly Alisha, because Isaac has been sick. He started throwing up last Friday and did only once a day on a off the rest of the week. After a week of him not getting better and the doctors here not being able to help with his special condition, hirschprung's disease, we took him to the ER in Tulsa Saturday morning. He was dehydrated from the vomiting and dumping, which is having as much output as input. They gave him an IV, drew blood and took stool samples for testing. We stayed down over night and Isaac and Lish are still there tonight. We don't know what caused him to be sick, but he is doing much better. Over the last couple of weeks he had lost 2 lbs. and this last week we knew he was not feeling good because no matter what you did, hold him, rock him, let him play, etc. he just whined, which he never does. After being on the IV just a few hours, he was beginning to act more like himself. And all day today, Sunday, you could not tell that anything was wrong. He even got to start taking formula again and he was keeping it down. Praise the Lord!!!!

Barbara, James' mom, came over and watched Grace and Faith Saturday and took them home with her Saturday night. She told us that at supper Faith prayed for the meal, but then Grace said that she wanted to say a special prayer which went something like this, "Dear God, please help Isaac feel better. We don't know what is wrong with him, but You do. So please make him better. Amen." WOW!!!! Jesus said in Matthew 18:3-4, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." And in 19:14, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." You know I have heard adults say a prayer just like that and in fact I have said that very prayer, but how many of us stop and think about the principle of it. It's faith. "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see," Hebrews 11:1. A 5 year old is sure of her hope in God and certain that He is there. She has never seen Him but she has faith. None of us have seen God, nor have we seen a single story recorded in the Bible take place. But the principles that underline each and every book, story, parable, page and verse can be and for Christians should be visible in our lives today. How is your faith? Over the last eight months God has taught me something about my faith. In dealing with Isaac's first two weeks and observing other people, Christian or not, I have discovered a few things. 1) Being a Christian does not exempt me from tough times i.e trials and tribulations. Jesus said in John 16:33, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Just because I follow the God of creation does not mean that my life will be smooth sailing. Take Job for example. God bragged about his boy Job, yet his life went through the ringer. Joesph was sold into slavery by his own brothers. The disciples encountered a storm while physically with Jesus. And even Jesus himself suffered a gruelling, painful death. Every person of the Bible, regardless of their decision to follow God or not, encountered tough times. 2) These tough times are what define, test or reveal our true faith. After the bottom fell out of Job's life his own wife told him to curse God and die and then three of the friends accused him of bringing it all upon himself. However, Job continued to give praise to God and kept his faith sure. I just saw a process of melting down steal for making pipe. Once it was all melted down all of the impurities would rise to the surface to be skimmed off. The fire revealed the true metal. It does not matter what we say our faith is like, when the storm comes our true faith is seen in how we react and how we respond to God. Peter's faith was revealed when he began to sink while walking on the water, Jesus said ,"You of little faith." When Abraham was taking his son Isaac to sacrifice him, Isaac asked, "Where is the lamb?," Abraham responded, "The Lord will provide." Abraham believed (had faith) and it is seen not is the easy times but in the tough and it was credited to him as righteousness. It is from those who follow God that I discover something else. 3) Our survival from the storms in life depends on how we prepare during the calm times. I recently heard a story of a pilot of one plane who was coming into land and encountered another plane taking off from the same runway. In an instance the pilot who was landing pulled up to avoid collision and the sure death of all passengers. After circling around and landing safely, one passenger asked the pilot how did you make such a quick decision to pull up? The pilot responded and said, "I made that decision 19 years ago." Pilots are prepared to make every decision before the situation ever occurs. Had the pilot waited until that moment to decide what he should do it would have been to late to decide and then react. We have to prepare during the calm times so that we will respond correctly during the storm. We must realize during the calm times that not only is God real and there is good in this world, but there is also the opposite, evil and Satan. Since God is good and does good, how can we logically blame Him for the evil and bad things that happen in life. Romans 8:28 says that God works for the good of those who love him and are called to his purpose. Again Jesus said to take heart for He has over come the world. So, when the tough times, the trials, tribulations, sickness, death, uncertainty etc happen how do you respond? Do you cling to God's hand trusting by faith that He will take care of you? Or do you blame Him for the bad things? I want to encourage you to develop your faith in the calm times so that when the storms come you will give praise to God and have the peace that passes all understanding.

2008-02-21T08:32:00.000-08:00

Grace and Faith like to play dress-up. Aunt Joy gave them some beautiful prom type dresses for Christmas. When I ask them if I can take their picture, their first response is, let me go get dressed up. Grace also has to put on her kid make-up.

Isaac is sure happy wearing his daddy's old A-Team shirt. It's so cute on him!!!

2008-01-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

Grace's school asked if she could get her picture taken for the new billboard that will be up for 2 months. I think it'll be up in Feb. and Mar. She's the cute one on the far right.

2008-01-03T18:03:00.000-08:00

Isaac's name sure does fit him...Laughter.

Faith loves to sing with the Shuffle. I think she was singing Amazing Grace by Chris Tomlin.

The A.D.D. in Faith lets her multi-task...She can kiss her brother and watch kid shows at the same time!

This was taken at Grace's Christmas program for school.

BUBBA!!!

2007-12-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been so long updating.

Isaac is now up to 12 pounds and 3 ounces. Praise the LORD!!!!!!!

Isaac; sleep smiling the other night.
Grace, Faith and daddy doing our annual Christmas time tradition where dad reads the nativity story and the kids hang the nativity ornaments.
This year Faith got to put the star on top of the tree. She was so brave she told us.
Isaac does funny things in his sleep sometimes.
Isaac and grandma Wall.

2007-12-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some cute pics of Isaac. The top one he is modeling his new hat, which his mom made for him. Below he is showing off his great smile, which he has a lot.

Grace just turned 5. We can't believe that she is growing up so fast. She is really enjoying Pre-K and is getting so smart. She was so happy when she got her new guitar for her birthday. She played it all day and ended up with a blister on her thumb because she was not using a pick yet.

Isaac's Dedication

2007-10-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

Today we had Isaac dedicated to the Lord at church. We do this to symbolize that we as parents are giving him to the Lord and then the Lord gives him back to us to raise in a Godly manner. It is our hope that all of our kids grow to truly love and serve God and to honor Him with their lives. We know that Isaac has a great start at this because of all of your prayers for him in his first four months of life. If it were not for you and your prayers we would not have been able to dedicate him this morning. So, THANK YOU again!!!!! And to God be the glory.

From left to right: Dawn Marie (honorary mom/grandma) Mimi (Lish's mom), Lish, Grace, James, Isaac, Faith and Grandma (James' mom).
Pastor Joe praying for and dedicating Isaac.

2007-10-09T20:34:00.001-07:00

Last night (Monday) Isaac ate his first supper, well solid supper that is. He ate it like an old pro too. As you can see below he liked to show it off. His mom taught him that trick. Tomorrow (Wednesday) he gets weighed again. Hope he gains another 9 ozs.

HALF WAY THERE!!

2007-10-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here is little Isaac Mathew weighing in at 10 lbs 3 ozs. That's right ever since he started the feeding tube he has been gaining weight. He has to weigh 20 lbs before they will do the pull through surgery so we are half way there. He gained 9 ozs in one week. God continues to work miricles in his life. Now that he is gaining weight he is becoming more active, alert, and smiles a lot more. We have never been so glad to see fat rolls. :-) Thank you for your continued prayers and please stay in touch.

Amazing Grace

2007-09-18T20:05:00.001-07:00

This is a very powerful video with the remake of a very powerful song! God wants to take away our chains to sin and let us live in freedom!

2007-09-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

Here is Isaac taking a bath. His MIC-KEY button (feeding tube) is the white thing you see on his stomach. We are now having to use it to feed him through the night so that he will gain weight. He has not gained weight in the last month so the doctor's wanted to get him set up with a feeding pump.

Sorry it's been so long updating the blog. I really have no good excuses. Please continue to pray for Isaac. The prayer now is that he will start gaining weight like he should. He is doing well other wise.

Wednesday

2007-07-04T18:30:00.001-07:00

Sorry that there was not an update on Tuesday. We were busy, excited, exhausted, etc.

ISAAC MATHEW IS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We brought him home yesterday afternoon. He is adjusting great to home life. In fact when we have to change his ostomy bag, he hardly cries. In the hospital he wouldn't stop crying. The girls are very excited to have him home. They keep wanting to hold him and touch him and kiss him and watch him. Grace will be a great big helper when we need her. She is already helping mommy when she has to change his bag and she likes to make sure he doesn't roll off the couch when we have to leave the room. Yes, he does almost roll over even at 2 1/2 weeks. He is a strong little boy. He tries to scoot all over when we change him.

There will still be many more trips to Tulsa, but this time we will have him with us. The surgeon was very surprised at how well he was doing. He said that he had two other patients with the same condition as Isaac, but they didn't do near as well as Isaac. Lisha told him that we have people in almost every state praying for him. I don't think I can say it enough that we are very blessed to have so many friends, family and strangers that are praying for Isaac. Thank you all for your prayers.

Monday

2007-07-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

It's official. Isaac will come home tomorrow. That is from the surgeon's mouth. Finally 2 1/2 weeks later, Isaac gets to come home and we get to hold him whenever we want. The surgeon told us tonight that he was extremely shocked how well Isaac is doing. Lish told him that we had people in almost every state praying for him. We can give testimony to the power of prayer, and you can too. Now that Isaac will be home we will still need your prayer. The journey is not over yet. Once he is home we will have to be careful not to let him get sick, if he does he may need to go into the hospital and be hooked up to an IV. There will also be the added care of his ostomy bag and G-tube, which after a while we will become pros at it. We will have to watch him closer over the next year to make sure he is doing well in all areas. There will be the regular check ups down to Tulsa with the surgeon, whom we are really pleased with. The last couple of days Isaac has been weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs 1oz. He continues to eat well and have great vitals.

Again I apologize for the lack of pictures. We just got a new camera as a gift and have not uploaded the software for the pictures yet.

Thanks again for your prayers and please keep praying as he comes home and over the next year. We were reminded yet again, yesterday in church at how great God is.

"The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty Let all the earth rejoice, all
the
earth rejoice. He wraps Himself in light, and darkness tries to
hide. And trembles at His voice, trembles at His voice. How
great is
our God, sing with me, how great is our God, all will see how
great, how great
is our God. Age to age He stands, and time is in His
hand, beginning and
the end, beginning and the end. The Godhead three
in one, Father, Spirit,
Son, the Lion and the Lamb, Lion and the Lamb.
How great is our God, Sing
with me, How great is our God, all will see how
great, how great is our
God. Name above all names, Worthy of all
praise, My heart will sing, How
great is our God."

Our God is great and I hope that you can "sing" with me that our God is great. All will see that our God is great and they can see it in Isaac.

Sunday

2007-07-02T04:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry I don't have any pictures today. We got back late Sunday night and so I'm doing this before I go to work Monday morning. I did want to get something on so that I don't get in trouble from all of you who are keeping up with Isaac's progress.

We were told last night that Tuesday will be his homecoming, it's in his chart now. And last night he nursed for the first time since he was half and hour old. He latched on perfectly and ate great. He is still not dumping and he continues to have his feeds increased. His last feed last night before nursing was 90ml.

Thanks again for all your prayers. I pray that God will bless you for your prayers. Know that they have been answered.

Saturday

2007-06-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!! Wow! We are still being amazed. Today when we got to Isaac the nurse told us that he was at 60ml for his 5:00 feeding and that at his 8:00 feeding he would go up to 70ml! That's full feeding! Oh yeah, then we notice that something is missing...his IV fluids!!! And that's a day earlier than we were expecting. The only thing he is hooked up to now is his monitor. We were told that after 24 hours with no IV and full feedings he would be able to go home. His homecoming is getting very close. We see everyday the answers to all of your prayers and we thank the Lord for all of you who are praying for Isaac and we thank Him for answering prayer.

Friday

2007-06-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

We got a call today from the doctor and she said that they had increased Isaac's feedings to 50ml. Full feeding is 65ml so he is getting very close. They will increase him to 60ml on Saturday and 65ml on Sunday and take out his IV PICC line. Then after 24 hours if he is doing good, he gets to come home!!! He has been doing great with his feedings, so we are optimistic that he will come home then. Just to show the power of prayer, his nurse told us tonight that everyone is amazed at how well he is doing already. They just can't believe that he has recovered so quickly. God truly is great and He is worthy of all praise and glory.

"Hi everybody"

"YYYAAAAWWWWNNNNN....It's hard work being this cute."

Thursday

2007-06-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

Another great day today. They increased his feedings from 20ml to 40ml, and boy does he love it. He eats it right down with no problems. He still looks great and is doing great. There is talk of him coming home, hopefully, Tuesday. Right now our prayer is that the pathologist who is now looking at the biopsies from surgery will come back and say that there is more good intestine then we thought. God has answered so many prayers and has worked a miricle so far and we pray that He will continue to show His glory through little Isaac.

Daddy, Grace, Isaac and mommy. Faith is not allowed in the ICU unit until she gets a couple shots which she is due for. Faith said the other night that she does not want Isaac to come home because she does not want to get her shots.
"I love my big sister."
I don't care who feeds me, JUST FEED ME!!!!

Wednesday

2007-06-27T19:34:00.001-07:00

Praises just keep on coming!!!! Today they increased his feeding from 10ml of Lish's milk to 20ml and they hope to increase it again before tomorrow!!! He is handling it very well. All of your prayers are being answered. Thank you. The doctor hopes he can go home early next week. He has gained weight, now he is 7# 12oz, almost back up to his birth weight. He is still stooling well and eating great. We did find out today that the surgeon did not remove the intestine below the ostomy. They sent the biopsies they did during surgery to another pathologist to confirm what they found. Basically, they could be wrong about the Hirschprung's covering the entire colon. If they were initially wrong, then Isaac could have more intestine then we first thought. Thanks again for all your prayers and keep them coming.

This is Isaac with his new "Prayer Shawl" from Aunt Dorthy and Uncle Don and their church. They have a group of people who make them and then pray over them before they send them out. Thank you very much!!!
Fast asleep!!!
Look at those cheeks and that lower lip.

Oh yeah, that's good!!!

Tuesday

2007-06-26T19:51:00.001-07:00

Hello all! Well you can't tell, but in that bottle was 10 ml of mama's milk. He started on milk today and has been doing great with it. They will slowly raise the amount of milk and lower the amount of fluids through the IV. The hope is that he will take the milk and not just pass it right through his intestines. So far he has been doing fine. The nurses still have not found an ostomy bag that will last like it should. We did have a record with the last one lasting 24 hours. His umbilical cord stump has not fallen off, so they have to leave it open to the air to let it dry out and eventually fall off.

We have some more great pictures of him from today, so enjoy and thanks again for all your prayers. Keep 'em rising.

Snuggling with daddy!

"Hey, where did my hand go?"

Monday

2007-06-25T17:13:00.001-07:00

Well the updates have slowed down quite a bit, which is a good thing because that means things are moving along like they should. As you can see from the picture below, he started eating today. It's only Pedilite because they want to start easy on his stomach. So far he has taken that really well. If after 24 hours he is still eating without vomiting, his stomach isn't bloated and his is passing the food through, then he will be able to start eating milk. Then hopefully we will have a better idea how soon he will get to come home. Also, today we had the ostomy queen put on his ostomy bag so hopefully it won't leak anymore, which we have had trouble with, kinda gross. Anyway, good news all around for today. I start back to work tomorrow, so the updates will slow down to at least one daily. And since we are pretty much waiting for him to come home now, there won't be much to update with.

Thanks again for all your prayers. God has been faithful and has answered them. He truly is great and mighty. He is the Creator, and the One who knows how to fix all our problems. We give Him all the glory and honor.

Below: When mama got close, he knew what to do. Kissie, kissie.

That's right, BOOMER SOONER!!!! Beat Texas!!

Sunday Evening

2007-06-24T16:38:00.001-07:00

Well it's Sunday evening. One week after we first came down to Tulsa. He is still doing great. His surgeon was off for the weekend so another doctor was doing rounds for him and he did not put in an order to let Isaac eat. So we wait another day. Hopefully tomorrow when Dr. Rothenbach sees him he will let him eat. Isaac really wants to. He roots around and will take his pacifier for a little bit, but when he realizes that there is no food involved he gets a little irritated. We wish that mama's order could over ride the doctors, but it doesn't.

I got a couple of great shots of Isaac smiling in his sleep this afternoon. It's so nice to see him smile and know that he is not in pain. The doctor did order no more pain meds for him. They are having a hard time keeping the ostomy bag on him so when they mess with that he gets mad at the nurses. We are still very encouraged with his progress and hope he can come home this week, but we have not talked with the doctor about that for sure. Thanks again for all your prayers. Isaac is only 9 days old, but God has taught me a lot through this little guy, as He has with Alisha, Grace and Faith. Keep praying. We are seeing first hand the power of prayer and are amazed at how many people around the country are praying for this little guy.

Be encouraged with this beautiful smiling face.

Saturday Night

2007-06-23T20:50:00.001-07:00

Things are looking really good. The nurses have been telling us that he could be able to eat soon. We have to wait until the secretions coming from his G tube are clear for 24 hours and they have been clear today. So hopefully he can eat tomorrow!!! He looks great. Tonight he was awake and looking around for quite a while. He had to have his ostomy bag replaced because it was leaking and he made a big mess all over and the nurse had to change his bedding. So mama and daddy got to hold him for the first time since before surgery. It was great!!!! Thank you all for your prayers. God is really going to puzzle the doctors now!! Keep praying!!! Well it's late and we want to get some good rest tonight. Finally some great news which helps rejuvenate us. Thanks again.

Saturday Evening

2007-06-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!

We found out this morning when we called the nurse to check how he was doing, that he was starting to poop in his ostomy bag!!!! It had been 24-36 hours after his surgery and he is already working again. The G tube that drains his stomach is showing clear fluid, which is awesome and after 24 hours of clear secretions he can start eating. He was taking to the pacifier like an old pro, so starting to feed should not be a problem. He is still taking some pain meds though, but looks a lot better today then he did yesterday. The whites of his eyes are white, not yellowish. When he was awake he did not show his painful face. And as you can see he looks great. Keep praying. We have not talked to the surgeon yet today, but we have a feeling that he is going to be pretty shocked. The Lord is revealing His glory and power through a little 1 week old baby boy.

I couldn't get all the pics I wanted on this entry, but I will upload them later tonight.

Friday Night

2007-06-22T18:46:00.001-07:00

Well it was a slow day, compared to yesterday. Isaac slept most of the day, which is ok since he is post op. He would open his eyes a little bit every once and a while but not for long periods of time. It's good to finally have some answers and some progress toward a solution. Some other good news is that he is weighing in at a hefty 7# 10.7oz. Not bad since he was 7# 14oz when he was born, and then was down to 7# 4oz earlier this week. We are hoping that he will soon be able to start eating mama's milk. The surgeon said that we might be looking at two more weeks in the hospital with him. It just depends on how well he progresses.

Well I think there was a lot more I wanted to say, but I'm so exhausted that I can't remember it all. So, keep praying. I pray that God will blesses all of you who have been so supportive through prayer and keeping up with the blog.

Friday Evening

2007-06-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

Well not much has happened today. We did get a call from the nurse this morning at 7:00 saying that they took his breathing tube out and that he was doing fine. When we got up to see him he was sleeping but as soon as we started talking to him he woke up and tried to look at us. He is in some pain from the surgery, so they have given him some pain meds. When he did wake up he had a squinted face like he was in pain, but not too bad and he would cry a little bit, which we have not heard much of so we were grateful to hear him.

Not much time to blog much right now, I will do more when we get home tonight.

Thursday Night

2007-06-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

It's 9:30 and my mom, my sister and myself were just up to see Isaac. He is still doing well but as you can see from the pictures below he still has the breathing tube in. He is breathing great on his own, but they want to anesthetic to completely wear off. So it is only for support.

You are probably wondering what you are seeing all over Isaac. The tape across his face is holding in the breathing tube. The red spot just above his diaper is the ostomy. That is actual intestine, the red spot is. It is attached to a bag which is hanging off to the side. The white gauze next to the ostomy is holding in a tube that is draining what the old tube in his mouth was draining.

Right now Isaac is looking at being in the hospital in Tulsa for a least 2 more weeks. It could be that long before his digestive system gets started up. The surgeon was hopeful that it might be sooner since it was further up the intestine, yet he was still concerned with the possibility that the nerves that are there are not working right.

Please keep praying. Pray that the digestive track that has the ganglion cells will work without complication. Pray that Alisha and I will get the rest we need and the rejuvenation we need to make it through each day.

Thursday Night

2007-06-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

It's almost 7:00. Again I'm just now getting access to the internet because we are just now getting out of the hospital.

Isaac came out of surgery around 5-5:15. Everything went great. They did not find Ganglion cells in any of the colon. They did not find any until about 20-24 cm up in the small intestine. There is enough left to do a pull through. He has an ostomy, which I can finally tell you what it is, because now I know what it is. What they did was cut the intestine at the transition point and took it out to the abdominal wall and it is sticking out of his belly just a little bit with a bag attached to it which when his system begins to work he will poop into. If all goes well in about a year that will be removed and they will then do the pull through. However, there was something with the nerves that were there that was abnormal, so they will need to keep an eye on that and make sure that the good intestine works well enough on it's own before they will remove the ostomy.

Well we are going to go eat now. Keep praying for Isaac. Pray for his doctors, Dr. Rothenbach (pediatric surgeon) and Dr. Jackson. Thank you to our moms for coming down and sitting with us and special thank you to Aunt Joy for taking off work and watching the girls for us today. Thanks also to her boss for letting her. Thank you to all of you who keep up with the blog and pray for us and Isaac. Most of all Thank you to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His love and blessings and for His hand upon our lives.

Thursday Afternoon

2007-06-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

I'm just now able to get on-line, it's 3:10. At about 12 noon, we finally got the results back from the pathologist. Still no ganglion nerve cells so it looks like Hirschsprungs Disease. Surgery was scheduled and he went down at around 1:00. They will be taking biopsies of his colon and on up the intestine track until they find good cells. They will then but in an ostomy at the point where the good cells are. The length of intestine that has no cells will determine what to do next. If it's short enough they will be able to do a pull through once they know that everything else works. If it's too long or too much of the intestine is affected, we will have to research other options, talk to other centers and doctors who have more specialized knowledge, and then see what can be done. We are waiting on word from the surgeon right now.

The surgeon and gastro doctor both told us today that the poop he has been doing does not change anything. They said that some new born babies will leave the hospital with Hirschsprungs Disease because they are pooping but later become constipated and have to come back to the doctor to have it fixed.

Isaac still has the doctors puzzled, and mom and dad going crazy with the emotional roller coaster. Please keep praying.

We are not sure how long the surgery will last it just depends on how many biopsies they have to do.

Wednesday Night

2007-06-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

We don't know who was praying little before 6:00 pm CST, but it went through. Not just the prayer, but some poo as well. That's right you are looking at Isaac's dirty diaper. Just this evening Lish and her mom, Carol, were with Isaac while I was purchasing the fine gifts you see below with him. I returned to the hospital a little after 6 and Lish met me at the door saying that he had just pooped. She said that he had been pushing out toots and had been trying to push something out for the last hour and a half after I had left. So, last we knew a doctor had not checked on that but we think we have a huge praise. We don't know yet what exactly it means but we have never be happier to see poop. I told Isaac today that God is going to use him in a mighty way to reveal His glory and this could just be the first example of that. Thank you for all your prayers and as you can see below, they are going through.

Above: Isaac with his new OU shark eating an OSU fish. The nurse on duty did not find it very funny, so I would not be surprised if it turns up missing.

Below: Isaac and his very first monster truck. OU monster truck of course.

Wednesday Evening

2007-06-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday evening almost 5:30. Just a little over an hour ago the surgeon talked to us about the results of the biopsy. At this point we still have no answers. The pathologists want to do more stains or tests on the biopsy before making a definite decision. The test they have run so far were showing no ganglion cells (nerve cells), but again they want to be 100% sure before making a decision.

So now here is what we are looking at. Tomorrow (Thursday), hopefully, around mid morning they will have the tests done that they want to do. If it is Hirschsprungs Disease they will do surgery to determine just how much of the intestinal tract is affected. They will do that by taking biopsies all the way up the track until they find good nerves. If it is a short distance they will then do a pull through and cut out the bad colon. If more is affected they will have to do an ostomy at the point where the good intestines end. Then hopefully in a few months the ostomy can be removed and then a pull through can be done.

If it's not Hirschsprungs Disease they will have to explore with more tests but not surgery. Just doing a surgery for exploratory purposes will delay things further because just opening the abdominal cavity could shut down his digestive track for up to 10 days. So they will most likely have to get other doctors from other centers involved to figure out what is wrong. We don't know if Isaac will have to be transferred to the other centers or if they can just send the test results to them.

Again we hope for news and find that we must wait. Please keep praying! Our God is good! Chris Tomlin has a new song in which he says,

"How can I keep from singing Your praise, how can I ever say enough how amazing
is Your love. How can I keep from shouting Your name, I know I am loved by the
King and it makes my heart want to sing."

We must keep holding on the the Hand of our Father. He is the One who loves us, no matter what, unconditionally.

Wednesday Afternoon

2007-06-20T11:39:00.001-07:00

It's Wednesday afternoon. These are a few pictures I took this morning while we were in to see Isaac. He is still going great other then his digestive system. He did have a very small amount of poo in his diaper when we got there today. We are still waiting the results of the biopsy and the surgeon was pushing to get them ASAP. An update on his weight, he is weighing 7# 4 oz now. Just 10 oz less then birth. He is getting nutrients though the PICC line (IV). As you can see in the pictures he was awake for a little while. He woke up just after we got there and started talking to him. He was also doing well at sucking on the pacifier. So we can tell that he wants to eat. Hopefully we have results this afternoon. We only got to see him for a short while this morning because they were doing surgery on another baby and had to close down the unit to visitors. We will be back in as soon as we can. Thanks again for your prayers and support.

Wednesday Morning

2007-06-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

Good morning. We talked with Isaac's nurse again this morning and he had a good night. His vital signs are looking good still and he is still on room air doing good.

I realized this morning that I have not mentioned where he is in Tulsa. He is at Saint Francis Hospital in the Eastern Oklahoma Perinatal Center or EOPC.

We are now waiting on results from the biopsy and we will then have more information as to what will happen next. Keep checking in to the blog and I will keep it updated as much as possible. Thanks again for all your prayers.

Tuesday Night

2007-06-19T20:46:00.001-07:00

Just a little while ago I talked to Isaac's nurse and she said that he was doing well. He had come out of the anesthetic and was doing well. He had been on a ventilator during the biopsy because of the anesthetic and at 8:30 he was taken off of it and was breathing on his own. His heart rate rose a little and so the doctor gave him a little bit of pain medicine and now he is doing fine.

For those of you who have medical backgounds please forgive my misspellings.

Tuesday afternoon

2007-06-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well it's Tuesday afternoon and here is what we know right now.

The pediatric surgeon finally did the biopsy. Isaac still had not passed the barium, but they did not want to wait anymore. They did the rectal biopsy this afternoon. He was back by 2:30. The doctor said that he did great and they were able to get an adequate sample. Now we wait for the results which won't be in until sometime Wednesday.

They are now concerned that all three areas on the abdominal cavity, large & small intestines and the stomach, may not be working.

We have no definite answers, but the good news is that they were able to take the next step with the biopsy. Hopefully tomorrow we we have better answers.

Keep praying. The doctors are puzzled by his situation. Pray that God would further puzzle them by correcting what's wrong. Pray that God would protect our family from the ill affects of fatigue, frustration and emotional exhaustion. Pray that we would continue to hold on to the Hand that is reaching out to hold on to us.

Here are some pictures we were able to get today while he was awake.

2007-06-19T06:51:00.000-07:00

Here are the updated pics of Isaac. It's Tuesday morning and there is no new news. We will keep this updated as best as possible. Just keep praying.

Hold on son!
This is how we feel. Isaac is holding on to his daddy. We are also holding on to our Daddy! Thank you Lord!!

2007-06-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

Well it's very late Monday night, actually early Tuesday morning. We have again returned home hoping to get some better rest. We still do not have any definate answers as to what is causing Isaac's bowl troubles. They have again ruled out what is called a mal-rotation of the intestines, which would have occurred during development in the womb and would also be causing him to be very sick right now. They have also pretty much ruled out marconium ilius which causes marconium plugs, which would have stopped up the intestines. This is good because marconium ilius is a symptom of cistic fibrosis. What is now at the top of their list is what is called Hirschsprung's Disease. This is basically where the nerve cells at the end of the colon are not working or not there at all to make the colon push the poop on out. This can be treated with surgery. They are waiting for Isaac to pass all the barium in his digestive tract before doing a rectal biopsy, which will then tell us if he has Hirschsprung's or not. The barium was used for the upper GI that was performed and is passing slowly out of his system.
Please be praying that this will pass quicker so we can get to the bottom, no pun intended, of all of this. The poor little guy has been poked and stuck all over from top to bottom and in just about every hole. I tried to get some pictures loaded up of him from today(Monday) but was unable to. I will get them on as soon as I can.

Thank you very much for your prayers and please keep praying! Please pray for Isaac to be an example of God's glory with a quick recovery. Please pray for strength for mom and dad. It is begining to take a toll on us emotionally, wanting to be with him, yet knowing that we also have two girls that need us as well. And we just want our baby home.

2007-06-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

Please be praying for baby Isaac! He was born healthy and well but was not eating or pooping after 24 hours. He was life flighted down to Tulsa, not for emergency sake but because the crew was able to make it up and back between storms. They are looking for the problem. So far they have eliminated the most serious problem they have talked about, but had not completely ruled out the possibility of surgery. We have already seen the power of many people's prayers because we have been receiving good news from the doctors and nurses. He has started have some small bowl movements on his own and some with enemas. His vital signs are great, he looks great (thanks to his mom) and everything else works fine, he is just having trouble pooping. So please keep him in your prayers and hopefully he can come home soon.

Random Pics of Isaac Mathew

2007-06-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

2007-06-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

Daddy, Faith and Isaac
Billy Shay (Daddy's boss) and Isaac
Danna Shay (Bartlesville's Extreme Makeover winner and Billy's wife) and Isaac

Here sisters Faith and Grace teach baby Isaac "funny faces!"

This is Mimi Jager and baby Isaac

This is Dawn Marie (our pastor's wife and our adopted mom/grandma) and baby Isaac!

This is Kyle (guitar player/redneck/co-worker/friend) and baby Isaac

2007-06-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

Here's mama and son!

Here is Big sister Grace and little brother!

This is grandma Mary (adopted honorary) and Isaac!

This is Grandma Wall and new grandson!

Here's mom and dad with our new son!

2007-06-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

Introducing for the very first time via the internet, Isaac Mathew. Born Friday, June 15, 2007 @ 9:41 a.m. He weighed 7# 14oz and was 20.5 inches long.

2007-05-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

Recently, James got to go to Maryland and stand in support of one of his best friends, Aaron, at his wedding to Katie. Here you can see that they got their cake and ate it too. Best of luck and may God bless and protect your marriage.

2007-05-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

We breed Shi-Tzu puppies and here is our latest litter. They are 31/2 weeks old now. We have, from top to bottom, Mater, Lightning, Sally, Brownie and to the right Blacky. If you didn't notice we mostly went with a Cars theme.

2007-05-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

Here are Grace and Faith enjoying two of their favorite past times with Aunt Joy, reading and camping.

2007-05-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

Here is our family on Easter Sunday. (James, Alisha [baby Sam?], Grace and Faith.) Gracie picked out my tie this morning. She likes Larry. Grace is 4 years old and can tell you all about Jesus and why He died on the cross and not only that He died but that He rose from the dead.

I am amazed how much our little girls know and understand.