Friday, June 5

Well, Joseph and I (Jill) spent the entire day at Riley. Last night, I noticed that Joseph's neck scar was bulging. Thankfully, we were at a friend's house who resourcefully had the number for Riley. I talked with the dr. on call, but decided to wait until morning so we could see Joseph's surgeon. Before we headed for home, Joseph spiked a fever of 104.2. I thought we might need to go to the ER, but Ibuprofen brought the fever down pretty quickly.



On Friday, we did see Dr. Rouse - the surgeon who repaired Joseph's esophagus. (BTW, we have been so pleased with his demeanor, explanations and expertise.) He said that Joseph did have an infection that would need to be drained (meaning: day surgery). The good news was that Joseph had a dilation scheduled for next Tuesday, but they could do both of these procedures at once. It was a long day, but at least we didn't have to spend the night at the hospital! Most likely, Joseph has a microscopic leak at that site, which will heal in time. He did have another esophagram done, but the leak cannot be seen. That's probably good news in that it will not take long to heal.


About the dilation ... the place where Joseph's existing esophagus was stitched to the new part (anamostosis) scars when it heals and closes off his esophagus a little bit. We're talking millimeters, here. The dilation kind of breaks the scar tissue apart so it can continue to heal with a wider circumference. He'll most likely need a few more dilations as he goes through the healing process. This is outpatient surgery and he needs to be under a general anesthetic. Just another reason we're thankful to live so close to Riley. Another reason is that several of the doctors recognized us in the surgery waiting room and stopped by to say "hello." They've been very personable and have treated Joseph very well. Too bad he gets anxious at the hospital and won't talk to them :)

Enough medical info and on to the best news! When I was putting Joseph to bed that night, he asked for his favorite Bible story: David and Goliath. Afterwards, he said, "Goliath doesn't believe in God." I agreed and asked him if he believed in God. He said, "yes." I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to follow up on that, so I asked him if he had ever asked Jesus into his heart or if he knew what that meant. He said, "no." So I explained things, checking with him along the way to make sure he understood: Jesus is God's son; all of us do bad things sometimes (sin); Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins; He rose again; if we are sorry and ask Jesus to forgive our sins, He will; if we ask Jesus to be the Lord of our life, the Holy Spirit will come into our hearts to help us obey Him. I asked Joseph if he wanted to do this, and he said, "yes!" (This was especially significant because I've asked him before and he's said, "no.") So we prayed together and Joseph asked Jesus to come into his heart and he became a child of God! His salvation is sure, but we know that he will continue to grow in his understanding and commitment of this momentous decision. It almost seems too simple, but Jesus says, "Let the little children come unto Me" and that we must have faith like a little child. We will acknowledge Joseph's childlike faith and encourage him and pray with him to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Please rejoice with us!

~Jill