Great news! All of Lucas’ numbers are up. The hemoglobin (red blood) count went from 8.1 to 10. The white blood cell count went from 3 to 6.1. The absolute neutrophil (infection fighting cells) went from .4 to .5. Even the doctor could not explain why Lucas had such a substantial increase in such a short amount of time. We know the prayers were heard & God is healing Lucas!

In addition, the GI doctor tested 2 stool samples. Both samples came back as having no blood in the stool. So they do not believe Lucas is bleeding internally. Such wonderful news!

The hematologist doctor believes the big dip is due to a few factors. #1 Lucas was a preemie so he was not born with the same amount of blood as a full term baby. #2 He lost blood during the esophagus surgery. #3 In June, he had blood in his stool when he was admitted to PCH. #4 He’s had many blood draws for tests which are constantly depleting his stock pile. The doctor believes Lucas will resolve the issue on his own in time. The doctor does not know how long it will take. But doctor is hopeful Lucas hit his lowest numbers last week and will continue to improve from there. We go back in 3 weeks to retest. The doctor wants to let Lucas build up his numbers on his own. So no additional medication will be added at this time. Lucas’ numbers are still low but showing great signs of improvement!

We are so grateful for all of the prayers! Yet again Jesus has shown his mighty healing power. This is proof that miracles do happen. We give all of the glory and praise to the Lord!

Could I be any cuter?…Nope!

Today is the much anticipated hematologist appointment at 1:30pm. Not knowing why Lucas’ RBC’s and WBC’s are low is driving us crazy! Of course, a few times a day, we give in and start to think terrible thoughts. Instead I am going to stay focused on the positives and have faith that God will protect Lucas. Amen!

Yesterday, Lucas figured out the backyard is more interesting than his Mama. Sad day. Ha!

Over the last week, we’ve had many highs and lows. The positives are a successful surgery (awesome!), Lucas progressed to drinking formula without thickener (big milestone), and we confirmed Lucas does not have any vocal chord damage (so happy!). We just started to feel like we were out of the woods and heading towards the light.

Unfortunately, we just received some bad news. Lucas’ newest hemoglobin results came back as 8.2. Over the last 3 weeks he went from 9.2 to 8.2. Not what we have been hoping for. Back in June when he was at 7.8, we had a blood transfusion which brought Lucas’ hemoglobin back up into the 12 range. Fast forward 2 months to today, and Lucas has lost 4 whole points. On Friday, we have an appointment with a hemoglobin doctor to figure out what is causing the constant hemoglobin decline. Most importantly, we need to create a game plan on how to resolve the issue. This time, we are extremely concerned for the unknown. Praying the issue is correctable.

This morning, Lucas was discharged. We are all home and resting. Lucas seems to be feeling well without any pain. Just more tired than normal. Very happy we pushed for the surgery!

Reminder – The next time we visit Phoenix Children’s Hospital, we need to pack our snow pants & jacket. The hospital is ice cold! We live in AZ where it is over 100 degrees outside yet inside the hospital it feels like we’re staying at an ice hotel. Remember, we have stayed at the Quebec Ice Hotel. So, we know first hand the true similarity in freezing cold temperatures. Sooooo cold!

Big brother Skyler likes to watch over and protect Lucas when he is sleeping. Skyler is such a good dog!

Success! No leaks! Lucas went from 4mm to 7mm at the esophagus repair site. A normal esophagus should be at 12mm. So we will need more stretching surgeries in the future.

The doctors foresee Lucas should start drinking a higher volume again and not be in pain when he drinks. Over the last 2 weeks, whenever Lucas would drink he would cry after 45ml of formula because the formula was getting backed up in his esophagus due to the 4mm stricture.

The doctors decided we should stay over tonight to keep Lucas under observation since he is under 50 weeks gestational age. He is in a little pain. But that is expected.

We are feeling so blessed to have had a successful surgery! Thank you Lord!

Feeling blessed to have both Dr. Egan & Dr. Graziano performing Lucas’ surgery at 2:30pm. Thanks for the many prayers. We know God will be at Lucas’ side during the surgery.

We are elated to report the dilation surgery has been scheduled for Friday at 1:30pm at Phoenix Children’s Hospital! We have been calling the surgeon’s office daily to push the scheduling process along. I even got an Aetna NICU Concierge Representative to call the surgeon’s admin to expedite the approval process. One day Lucas will realize that we will always do everything possible to keep him happy & healthy!

In advance, thank you for the many prayers for Lucas to have a successful surgery without any leaks.

We are in the process of scheduling a dilation procedure/surgery at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. As expected, a stricture has formed at the repair site. This makes it difficult for Lucas to drink because the fluid backs up in his esophagus at the repair site. The surgeon will sedate Lucas and then put a tube down his throat. Once at the repair site, the tube will expand like a balloon & stretch the area. Most likely he will need another dilation 3 weeks after to further stretch the repair site.

Over the first 3 months of Lucas’ life, we’ve had an abundance of highs and lows. Through it all, we’ve always been confident that Lucas will win every battle. We will never know why God chose this path for Lucas. We just know we will keep the faith that God will continue to heal Lucas. Thank you for the prayers!

Someone was born to be a Sun Devil! Go ASU!!!!

Every day, I am in awe at how many people are following the blog. Back in May, we started the blog to keep all of our loved ones and dear friends informed of Lucas’ battles and victories. By looking at the daily number of views for the blog, it is obvious that Lucas has an abundance of prayers coming his way. Thank you!

The blog site has a stats section which shows an overall count of every country where our blog has been viewed. Get ready to be impressed at how far away we have friends and how many of you are crazy world travelers (like we used to be…ha!). Below is the list of countries where the blog has been viewed. Amazing!

United States
United Kingdom
Hong Kong
Israel
Jamaica
Italy
Switzerland
Belgium
Ireland
Greece

Early this morning, Bryan came up with a wonderful idea…we took Lucas on his first stroller ride outside in our neighborhood! We made it a short first time out by just passing 4 homes. We took many stops along the way to point out things to Lucas. Both Lucas & Skyler fully enjoyed the stroll!

Note to Self – Do not wear your pajamas outside. If so, you are destined to run into your neighbor & feel awkward. 🙂

Don’t worry Mom & Dad. I’m feeling grrrrrrrrrrrrreat!!!

After 4 weeks of good news, we are now faced with a new battle to fight. Lucas’s newest hemoglobin results came back as 9.2 which is below the norm for a two & a half month old baby. When we had a blood transfusion in June, Lucas was at 7.8. After the transfusion we were at 12.4. Over the last 6 weeks, he has lost more than 3 full points. This is extremely heartbreaking to Bryan and me. Now, Lucas is taking poly-vi-sol with iron on a daily basis with hopes of rebuilding his hemoglobin number. After 3 – 4 weeks, we will retake the test. Praying we see a vast improvement.

I should mention Lucas has a good retic count at 3.3%. So his body is trying to make red blood cells. Way to be a fighter, Lucas!

The low hemoglobin could be due to Lucas being born so early that his body didn’t have enough time to make a sufficient supply of red blood cells in the womb. Also, babies can have a big dip in hemoglobin between birth and 4 months. Or, we could be fighting an unknown medical issue which is causing him to become anemic (ex. internal bleeding). Please keep Lucas in your prayers that God heal him over the next few weeks. Thank you!

Lucas still looks adorable!