Please keep praying!!!

This is just a brief post to ask you all to KEEP PRAYING for Jack! He has not shown any improvements over the past 12 hours or so and he really needs to make some strides. Please pray extra hard that he will begin waking up soon! It has been amazing to see God answer prayers for this little boy. Please don't stop!!

For those of you who don't have Facebook, here's a note George left on the wall of Jack's group:

"Today is the first day we have been able to check this page. We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and prayers from friends, family, and strangers. Please know that your prayers are felt and effective. We know that God answers the prayers of the righteous and that he listens to the persistant and you have been both those things. Please keep up the good work:)

Know also that we are praying for you. When we feel we are out of things to pray for Jack we turn our thoughts to praying for all of you. We thank God for you and pray that he will give you the stamina to keep praying Jack through the long road he has ahead of him.

We love you all!
In Christ's Love,
George and Shannon"

Some Brief Updates

We just got back from our daily visit to CHOP to see Jack, Shannon and George. Everyone is doing well. Jack is doing well on the new ventilator, and the whole family agreed it was good to see his little chest rising and falling (on the old ventilator this didn't happen). Shannon told us they are still looking to see more, clearer urine. An EEG done on his brain showed no significant damage, which of course is wonderful news. There is still much that needs to happen before his full prognosis is known, but every positive sign is an answer to prayer.

Another item to add to your prayer list along with his kidney and general organ function: Doctors are wanting to see Jack wake up. They have not been giving him sedatives and if his kidneys are working and flushing out the sedatives from earlier, he should start to open his eyes more. Obviously this is something we would LOVE to see!! It would be great to see our little man looking more alert. Tonight one of the nurses suctioned some fluid from his mouth and he seemed to respond, so that was encouraging.

Best moment of the day for me personally: Shannon told us one of the doctors said they would like to do an MRI but that can wait and they may do it next week. It was just so wonderful to hear them planning to do something for him several days from now. It has been so touch and go that to hear the doctors planning ahead for him is great!!

Thank you for your continued prayers!!

Updates

Last night doctors switched Jack's ventilator to a more mobile, gentle one. They're hoping this will help him to get more oxygen and to breathe more on his own. He has taken a few breaths on his own this morning. He can be moved more easily now, so hopefully today they will perform an MRI to look at his brain and his other organs. He's still producing urine, but needs to be making more.

Several people have asked how Shannon and George are doing, so I'll do my best to answer that question.

Anyone who knows my sister and her husband knows that they love and adore their children and also that they are two people with a huge amount of faith and trust in God. They were absolutely thrilled to be having this little boy and want him to be with them for a long, long time. So of course, seeing him so ill and not knowing if he's going to live has been very hard on them.

But they trust that Jack is in God's hands. They consider every moment they have with him a blessing and know that God is watching over him and knows what is best for him.

Physically, Shannon is still recovering. Having her c-section and then having to get back on her feet right away to be with Jack has been tough. She's sore and has had some swelling in her legs from being up too much. She's getting better, but she could definitely use prayers for her healing, too.

We've also had people ask what they can do for Shannon, George and the girls. Right now, the girls are with my parents and Shannon and George are staying at CHOP with Jack. Their biggest need is just prayer. Friends and church family have offered to cook meals and do laundry and things are pretty well covered for now. So please just continue to pray and we'll let everyone know if there's something the DeVols need.

Thanks so much for all your prayers and love!!

Monday Night Updates

We just got back from the hospital about 30 minutes ago. While we were there, Jack started peeing!! Hallelujah :) The more urine he's passing the better! It indicates kidney function, and that is his most critical need right now. George gave us some notes he had taken from a meeting with the doctor outlining Jack's needs like this:

#1 Priority: Kidney function. Over the next 24-48 hours Jack's kidney function NEEDS to start improving. This is absolutely vital for his survival. The fact that he was passing urine when we were there is an excellent sign, but there still needs to be a significant increase in the amount he's passing to show real improvement.

#2 Priority: Heart/oxygen levels. He needs to be able to get adequate oxygen to his lungs and the valve in his heart needs to close. So far, they have been able to gradually decrease the amount of oxygen he's receiving from his ventilator. This is a good sign, but we still need to see continued improvement.

#3 Priority: Brain function. As we've been saying, doctors have no idea what damage there is or the extent of the damage due to swelling and lack of oxygen. Once his kidneys and oxygen level improve, they will be able to learn more about the brain. He needs an MRI done on his brain to show the possible damage. Right now he is sedated because he needs to be still and sleeping while on the ventilator. Once the kidney function and oxygen levels begin to improve and he is not so sedated, we'll be able to watch for "normal" baby things like crying, wanting to eat and squeezing fingers to indicate brain function.

As we've been saying recently, the kidneys are the most important prayer need right now. Everything else is dependent on the kidney function. So pray specifically for the pee to keep coming!! As my mom's friend said, it's the "golden elixir of life"!!

More News on Jack

Doctors say today that Jack is stll "treading water" - he has not progressed at all but does not seem to be regressing either. The major concern and prayer request is for is kidney function. Right now they are only functioning nominally on their own. His inability to expel fluids causes swelling in his body which means his lungs and other organs don't have room to grow and function properly. Doctors say that it is reasonable to expect his other organs to greatly improve if his kidney function improves. Please pray that this will happen soon! It needs to happen in the next few days if he is going to survive.

Another pressing concern is Jack's heart valve. In utero, babies have a hole that allows blood to pass between the heart chambers. This normally closes on its own, but because Jack was premature and under so much physical stress, it has not. Doctors say they can give him medication to close the hole, but they hesitate to do so because he is already so medicated. It needs to be closed in order for oxygen to circulate through his heart and to the rest of his body.

We do not know much about his brain function or how severely his brain may have been damaged from his other health problems. Unfortunately, his movements seem to be lessening and this most likely means his brain is sustaining damage.

Please pray for his kidneys to start funtioning and his heart valve to close properly!!

Jack Update

Tonight around 10:00 we got a message from Shannon saying Jack's numbers were dropping and to please pray. Mom quickly spread the word to start praying and we all hurried over to CHOP to be with him.

Once again, God was listening and Jack rallied. Apparently too many adjustments had been made to the different medications and machines that are supporting him. The combination of all these changes at once had caused him stress and his oxygen numbers had started to drop from the high 90's to the low 80's (100 is perfect). But by the time we had reached the hospital, he was beginning to stabilize.

It's just past midnight as I write this and Jack, his parents, and his little sisters are all getting some much needed sleep. In a few minutes, we'll be heading home also to get some rest ourselves!

Continue to pray for stability and improvement throughout the night. You all have no idea how much the prayers of our friends and family have meant to Jack and his family!!

Jacob Price "Jack" DeVol

Thursday April 30, 2009 1:51 PM 7lbs. 2oz.

On Thursday, my sister's baby had to be delivered via c-section. We knew she was going to need a c-section, and it was originally scheduled for May 5th. But problems with the baby led to it being moved up.

A few years ago, Shannon needed an emergency blood transfusion. The blood she received was not an exact match with her own and so her body developed antibodies against certain proteins in the donor blood. This can become a problem when she's pregnant because her own body will attack her baby's blood if any of these proteins are present. I hope that was a decent enough explanation.

Throughout her pregnancy, the baby was monitored to make sure he did not become anemic (a sign that his blood was being destroyed by antibodies in Shannon's body). He did great all along, but last week Shannon noticed he was moving less and scheduled an ultrasound with her doctor. The doctor felt that the baby was becoming anemic and had to be delivered early to receive a transfusion. We all - including the doctors - thought he would be delivered, receive a blood transfusion and then be a normal, healthy baby.

Unfortunately, Jack's body had trouble accepting the transfused blood. Each time the doctors would give him a transfusion (3 total, I believe), his own blood would break down the donor blood. This caused him to become more severely anemic as the oxygen level in his blood dropped lower and lower. Because he did not have enough oxygen circulating in his body, his organs began to fail. His liver became a main concern and he was transferred to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. When he arrived at CHOP on Friday night, he was in such bad shape that they did not expect him to survive the night. As soon as we heard about his condition, Jamie and I headed right up to New Jersey to be with him and my family.

Thankfully he made it through the night, and continues to fight. His liver and kidneys were a main concern because he did not appear to be passing urine. This caused him to become very swollen as the fluids they were pumping into him were not being passed through his system. Thankfully, a check of his catheter showed it had become dislodged and when it was replaced, he passed a large amount of urine. A baby peeing has never been such good news before!! It means that his liver and kidneys are functioning at least to some extent and already the swelling has begun to subside.

The long-term effects on his system are not yet known. Currently he is in stable but serious condition - an upgrade from last night, but he's still no where near out of the woods. He may continue to surprise us by regaining more and more organ function, but as of right now, we just don't know. If he makes it, we're not sure what organs will be effected and what problems this may cause long-term. A brain scan was performed earlier today and hopefully we'll know the results sometime tonight.

Please keep little Jack in your thoughts and prayers, as well as his family - especially Shannon as she tries to be there for her little boy and recover from her c-section. She was discharged barely more than 24 hours after the procedure to accompany Jack to CHOP. Right now, every time we've prayed for a miracle, our prayers have been answered. Pray this continues!! My whole family appreciates the prayers and support from everyone!!