Family Fun Minus One

Apologies to those of you who have been checking the blog for an update this weekend.  There was a lot going on - all good - and I was too beat to get to it.  

For starters, yesterday we held John’s 6th birthday party, and it was a rousing success.  If you don’t already know our families, then you may be surprised by the numbers here.  I have two sisters, and Katie has a sister and a brother.  Between us, we have 16 kids.  One of my sisters and their kiddo live in California, so even with just immediate family, we’re already at 15 kids age 9 and under.  John got to invite just a few of his friends, but with all their siblings, that number rose to 27.  27 children under the age of 9, most of them under 6.  So I don’t think I’m exaggerating in saying that Saturday was a crazy day.  

You may be wondering, “With Katie in the hospital, and given all the family has been through lately, why didn’t you postpone, or at least downsize the party a bit?”  Because of this:

For the past two months, when it came time for prayer intentions as school, John has prayed, “That I have a good birthday party!”

So, as Katie told me earlier last week, postponing and downsizing weren’t really on the table.  My sisters-in-law were good enough to pull me and the kids away from the party for a quick family picture, which turned out like this:

Or this, if you’re into the whole ‘pose nicely for the camera’ thing:

Ok, on to the reason that you’re here - Katie has made really good progress this weekend.  The only real challenge has been the pain, which she’s working through.  They’ve had a hard time finding a balance of meds that will help manage the pain, but not make her so drowsy or numb that she can’t walk.  As you may recall from earlier, walking is the treatment for recovering from intestinal surgery, and it gets the bowels to ‘wake up’ and start doing their thing.  So Katie has been suffering through more pain than she’d like in order to walk more.  

On that note, I was humbled this weekend when some friends of our asked us to pray for their child, who will need surgery in October.  I was reminded that as Christians, and especially as Catholics, we believe that suffering isn't meaningless.  I have always admired Katie's affinity for intercessory prayer (praying for other people), and there's no better time for it than when you're suffering.  Because we're this mashup of animal and angel, we believe that what happens to the body has an effect on the soul, and visa versa.  Among other things, this means that our suffering in body unites us with the sufferings of Christ, and the prayers of those in suffering are in some way especially effective.  Don't ask me to get into the theology on this - I was just a youth minister once upon a time; Katie was the theology major.  Or better yet, check out Catholic Answers.  I'm sure they have some good explanation for what I'm trying to say. 

Anyway - my point is this:

If you have something that you'd like us to pray for, please let me know.  You can use the comment box below, send us an email directly, message us on Facebook, send a text - whatever.  If you want us to pray for you for something, just say so.  We'd be honored to do so, and it'd be the least we can do for all the prayers you have offered on our behalf.  

Back to Katie - this morning (Sunday), Katie and I went to Mass at the chapel there at MD Anderson, and it was great.  It’s a funny thing to say given the situation, but it’s really nice to be able to pray during Mass rather than wrangle kids.  Katie received Holy Eucharist at Mass, even though she is on a clear liquids diet for the moment.  Our nurses (who are also Catholic, by coincidence) may or may not have told her it would be fine.  

After Mass, Katie took a nice nap, and then all that walking she’s been doing finally paid off.  I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that everything that should be moving… is.  So call it the walking, call it great doctors, or call it a Eucharistic miracle, but our prayers have been answered!

#PrayForFarts  #Success  #Peristalsis  #WooHoo!

The doctors are very pleased with her progress, and will likely upgrade her to a full liquid diet tomorrow or Tuesday, followed by a full diet a day or so later.  She may be able to be discharged as early as Wednesday, but we’re not holding our breaths (unless we’re in the room when… well never mind).  

Thank you all again for all your very specific prayers for this - it’s so good to finally see real progress on her recovery.  Katie’s nutrition is in good shape, thanks to the full-nutrition diet they’ve been giving her through her IV since Thursday evening.  Apparently they measure every aspect of her nutrition levels and taylor-make a specific nutrition bag for her every day to give her exactly what she needs.  The nasal-gastro tube has been removed (WooHoo again), and she’s starting to look like her old self again!  I forgot to get a good picture of her today - I'll try to get one tomorrow. 

Ok, a couple housekeeping things before I close for the night.  

1.  The YouCaring page is up to nearly $15,000 as of this writing.  That’s completely ridiculous.  If you’re interested, I updated the description over there with a better idea of what we think we’ll need the money for.  Feel free to click on the YouCaring link in the left menu section of this blog to read that.  

2.  We’ve had a number of incredibly generous offers to help with the things I mentioned last time.  Thank you so much!  It looks like we have the fence covered, and we’re getting some help on the plumbing, too.  If for some reason you feel called to help with either of those things or with the gutters / siding, please let me know.  I still can’t process this much generosity from all of you - it’s so humbling.  Thank you.  

Finally, if you’re wondering about me specifically, you can rest easy knowing that I have spent the last 2 nights sleeping at home thanks to Kate’s sister, Lisa, and am planning to spend another 2 nights sleeping in my own bed thanks to my sister, Dr. MC.  The sleep is doing me a lot of good.  Thank you for your prayers for me - they keep me going each day.  

Thank you again, we love you, and may God abundantly bless you!

David