Come forth as gold

Since I last updated you on Daniel's condition, he's been tested once again. On Sunday morning, he began having excruciating pain in his hip and leg, he had a fever, and his output was scant despite having had several liters of fluid. I spoke with Dr. Gilbert who was concerned that Daniel might be in renal failure. (Thankfully, that was not the case.) She suggested we take him to the ER at Vanderbilt and said he would need to be admitted for hydration and tests. We went through the whole ER process, and Daniel was admitted to the hospital late Sunday night.

Since that time, his doctors have done a number of tests to determine if/where he has infection in his body. There has been some disagreement among them, but they finally decided that Daniel should undergo a procedure today to remove some of the fluid that has collected in his hip since his surgery. They can see several pockets of fluid on CT scan, but they aren't sure if it is abscess or just normal post surgery change.

Unfortunately, the procedure was not a complete success today. The radiologist was only able to withdraw a small amount of blood from the hip joint. He told me sometimes the fluid is so thick it cannot be removed with this procedure. They may try another method using a CT scan along with bigger needles than he used today in x-ray. He did send the blood to the lab to be cultured, but he doesn't really expect to get a definitive answer this way. He said surgery may be the only option to remove the infection completely along with more antibiotics. (The surgeon doesn't think the fluid in the hip is infection; we'll have to wait and see.)

While in the hospital, Daniel has continued to have periodic high fevers - one as high as 104.2. His pain level has been off the charts at times, but it is better controlled right now. Since he is feeling so bad and is sleeping much of the time, he has not asked for visitors yet. He hopes to be better soon so that he can see his friends and family.

Prayer requests:
1. healing
2. pain control
3. less time asleep so he can communicate better (He really wants this.)
4. Mr. Carroll
5. God to be glorified

Just so you know, Daniel hasn't given up. He's being tried, but his faith remains strong.

God's best to you all,

Doug

"But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." -Job 23:10