After 21 days in the hospital, we were very excited to hear the surgeon say we could go home a day earlier then expected! Thanks Dr. Tam for the great surprise!

Praise the Lord with us for His healing hand as He used surgeries, scans, doctors, nurses, drains, and bags upon bags of antibiotics to help restore our little girl!

How many people does it take to help care for a sick eight year old? A quick thank you to the following folks:
Doctors: Tam, Clark, Olson, Barry, Blankenship, Terzo, McGrew, Lenser, Morris, Im, Imanaka, Tran, Liu, Hung, Lin, Montes
ER Room: Gayle, Kit, Jessica, Jessica, Dan
ICU: Trina, Gemma, Thuy, Lorie, Kelly(daytime), Kelly(nighttime), Dama, Sherry, Hilary, Karen, Margaret
Peds: Bianca, Jessica, Amanda, Rossie, Surinder, Elizabeth
…and everyone else that I forgot to mention…I tried to write down all of your names!

Surrounded by her biggest fans!

Quietly making noise,
Fletch

Hello from the ICU! That’s right…you heard me…I said it…the Intensive Care Unit. The exact same room that we left three days ago. More on that below…

I appreciate all the communication and requests for updates, thank you for loving my little girl through prayer…it has been one very long afternoon/evening. Caroline went in for surgery at 3PM. It was a very positive experience. We had a great pre-surgical discussion with both her primary surgeon and her “interventional radiologist.” He showed us that the fluid had again shrunk in size, but was still large enough to attempt to drain. They were both super confident, light-hearted and very encouraging as we talked.

Her surgery lasted about an hour and a half. Results were mixed. They had no complications getting to the pocket of fluid, but it was too thick to drain enough with the tube size they needed to use. They are hoping the fluid will liquify and drain in the next few days.

Now she has two drains leaving her side and belly. They are uncomfortable, but they are both working. As soon as the infections clear, she will get them removed. It could be many weeks! Yikesy!

Recovery tonight has been a little sketchy. Her heart rate and breathing have been way too fast, so the surgeon ordered her to the ICU for observation. Her spirits and attitude are great though! (On a personal note, this has become my home away from home and I’m enjoying my nights here with private nurse care…except for the 5am wake-up call from one of her doctors, it is not a bad gig…tonight it’s Nurse Margaret, she’s not Nurse Kelly, but Caroline and I really like her).

So…
We are working on breathing and trying to get out of here.
We are praying for good blood tests each day.
We are praying for a stabilized temperature.
We are praying for her ability to eat and keep food down.
We are praying for effective drains

God was very good to us today! We are thankful for all the ways he cared for our little girl!

Hope that answers it. Let me know if you have any questions.

Quietly making noise,
Fletch (and Caroline!)

King Solomon said, “Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.” – Proverbs 15:22

We just hit the two-week mark in the hospital. Pesky little appendix!

The first drain procedure on Tuesday has been successful. Caroline has been more comfortable and her infection has been slowing. The only problem is that it is not slowing fast enough or completely. So, the surgeon has decided to go after the second large collection of fluid in her lower abdomen. This is the trickier of the two areas I mentioned.

After speaking with several “Interventional Radiologists” the conclusion was made that the least invasive approach was to go after it with a catheter drain. Risky? Yes. After weighing all the risks, this option contains the least amount of risks and the greatest chance for success. In reality, surgical risk is somewhat determined by the experience of the surgeon. The IR doctor performing today’s procedure was confident that this is a routine procedure. Tuesday’s IR doctor, based on experience, was much less confident in his ability.

Her drain procedure is scheduled for this afternoon and our prayer request is simple:
Pray for a safe, effective procedure
Pray for her as she goes under anesthesia for a fourth time in two weeks.
Pray for this to work

On a very happy note, we asked the doctor to give us wheelchair privledges, so we get to cruise around the hospital and even bring the brothers and sisters in to see her…big pre-surgical boost for Caroline!

Quietly making noise,
Fletch

However, there is more to talk about today…because it was 21 years ago today that I asked the young freshman Kendra Hopper to join me on our first date. Apparently, I was a big spender back in the day and took her to TOGOs for “Turkey/Avocado on Wheat.” It must have worked, because sometime later I told her I loved her “and now we have eight kids.”

Kenj…thanks for saying yes to a turkey (sandwich)! Let’s keep it crazy, but serious!

Quietly making noise,
Fletch

How many fluid-filled areas does she have?
Like I mentioned, she had two areas of infection (actually more, but two big areas). She was out-cold for the procedure and they were able to re-scan both lesions Tuesday morning. The first pocket was drained easily and they left the drain in place. Prior to draining it was the size of a softball. The second lesion was tricky and it really isn’t until you see the CT scan live and in person that you understand the complexity.

Why did they leave one of fluid pockets?
The pocket of fluid is at the base of her abdomen. It is precariously tucked behind her bladder and uterus and in front of her rectum. On the sides it is flanked by minor arteries toward the back and major arteries toward the front.
In order to drain, they guide a needled into the middle of the pocket, place a tube into the pocket and leave a drain in place for a few days.
The safest approach is from the back/side, but she would have a tube going through her butt muscle (I’m not trying to be graphic, but imagine a pencil going through your butt-cheek while you are sitting in a hospital bed…not very comfortable huh?).
The decision was to leave it, because it had shrunk from the size of a lemon to the size of a lime. Not great, but it was shrinking…and the surgeon did not feel comfortable plunging through arteries and leaving a drain through so much muscle.

Now what do they do?
They drain the big abscess and see if her body kicks in to attack the second smaller one and the remaining little ones. They have her on a full compliment of antibiotics through her IV.

How long until we know?
Every day they draw blood and check her numbers. By last night, her white blood cell count dropped in half, which means that her body is not “fighting” as hard or it is not working so hard on infection…in simple terms…her body is winning! Her surgeon was pleased with that fact.
On Thursday, they will take another scan to evaluate the size of the remaining pockets and decide how to attack them.

What can we do to help? Do you need anything? Can we watch your kids? Do you need food?
We are taking this one day at a time. We share sleeping responsibilities at the hospital and there have been a few we’ve asked to relieve us over night, so we can stay home with all the kids.
So far, the kids have been doing well in the midst of worry and just plain missing their sister.
We have food!
So many people have asked and I promise we will ask you if we think there is something that we need, but until then…choose an hour every day that you will go to the Lord in prayer for healing, for peace, for rest, and for all of us to learn from God.

What about your other kids?
The other 7 Fletcher kids have been taken care of by some good friends and family. They are all worried about their sister as we reach the two-week mark with her gone. Over the years, we’ve had people that consistently love our children and enjoy having them in their homes. For us, knowing that our kids will be somewhere they are being cared for by people that actually like them (not just watched or nannied) has been great.
Having two teenage boys has also been a great blessing. These guys have been diligent to keep school work going, play with little siblings, handle change on the fly and understand the pressures put upon two weary parents. I can’t say enough about these guys.

Can we visit Caroline in the hospital?
Hospital rules dictate no children, apart from family. Other than that, since each day is different, just text us first and we can let you know if it is a procedure day or a rest day!

…and now for the unspoken questions or comments…yes I’ve heard about these too…”
-No, there was no lesson to learn. The flu hides appendicitis remarkably well. We took her to the ER as soon as we thought we should have…
-Yes we know what our kids are doing/not doing while we are gone. I’d act funny too if my parents were missing and stressed. It may seem like they are watching movies, playing video games, texting (us), and spending a lot of time with friends! We know…and we’re cool with it! Like your mother always tells you – don’t judge a book by it’s cover!

Thanks for the love and care you’ve shown for all of us with facebook messages, text messages, emails, and phone calls. We do our best to update facebook or the blogs, but we forget and it gets busy and we get tired…yet it is important to proclaim the accomplishments of God and I don’t want to forget!

Lastly, remember our hope is not in doctors or in antibiotics or in surgeries or in timing. Our hope remains steadfast in God. He can use any means necessary, including modern medicine, but it is always Him that heals and always for His purpose and for His Glory!

Quietly making noise,
Fletch