Friday, March 6, 2009

New news on Asher

Okay we got some news on Asher today. We have good news and we have news that needs to be soaked in prayer.

We'll give you the good stuff first as I like to encourage those who pray first before giving them more assignments.

There is an MRI scheduled for Monday to find out more about Asher's heart and they are thinking that surgery will take place some time mid next week. The neurologist came and scanned his little brain and found that there is no bleeding and his brain is reacting normally. So from my understanding, he has a normal functioning brain as far as they can see now. So that is some good news for sure! Thank you for praying concerning this. You guys are awesome at this. Thank you! His urine is still clear which means his kidneys are functioning normally. The medical staff are concerned that there may be some kidney abnormalities but that he could very well outgrow them after the newborn phase of growth is completed. His edema/swelling continues to recede and his organs are recovering quite well.

Pray that the MRI reveals a brand new heart.
Pray that Asher continues to recover favorably.
Pray that the edema/swelling would continue to go down.

Alright now here is the news that we really need you praying for. Chromosome lab tests have come back and have shown that Asher is missing a part of one of his chromosomes (22q11.2 to be exact.). This is also known as DiGeorge Syndrome or 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. It is a genetic disorder that can range from being barley noticeable to severe mental retardation and intense immune system problems along with a whole massive list of other challenges. It is caused by having part of the 22q11.2 chromosome being "deleted". We need prayer for our little Asher that he would either be healed of this and/or that God would cause it to be barely noticeable.

Pray that Asher would be healed of this syndrome and live a long, healthy, happy life.

(Erika here) While thinking over this news, I was reminded of a dream that my mother-in-law had just the other night. She described the setting as a James Bond movie plot and the Bond charactar was dressed in disguise as baby Asher. The double agent was able to go right by the enemy without even being looked at because his size was so non-threatening. He easily ran around behind the scenes and accomplished his assignment. My mother-in-law thought she was a little crazy for having a dream like that...but Matt and I took it as a prophetic dream about Asher's future. I don't know exactly how it will play out...but somehow Asher has a role to fill and he is being equipped to accomplish his task behind enemy lines easily and without detection. That encourages me! ;)

In closing, I want to encourage all of you who are laboring in prayer for my family. We feel so supported and uplifted by all of your many prayers and I really don't know how we would be getting through this without your efforts! Blessings!!!


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update. I am still praying!