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| Xander in happy, healthy days before the 5th of Feb. |
While I was in California this past couple of weeks, we found out about this little boy, 7 year old Xander, whose parent is works at Amazing Facts. His family is friends with some of Ali and Jonathan's friends.
Xander was diagnosed with Influenza A, an ear infection, pneumonia and mild respiratory distress on Feb 5th. He was soon admitted to the hospital where he got sicker quickly.
Soon he was flown to a children's hospital in Sacramento and was put on an ECMO machine.
This is the latest update on Xander.
Thank the Lord he is improving but please pray for him and his family as he starts to recover.
Thank you.
"I just wanted to say thanks for praying! Xander’s parents are personal friends of mine and it has been real encouraging to see how many people are praying! Here is the latest big and exciting update from his parents:
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Psalm 50:15
We are amazed and overwhelmed by the goodness of God today. We know so many people have been praying for our precious Xander, and the Lord is answering those prayers!
When we walked into Xander’s room this morning, the first thing we noticed was his feet. The color was improved even from last night, and the swelling was way down as well. His little toes have been swollen nearly four times their normal size, but this morning the swelling was down by nearly half. Moving up to the head of his bed, his face was noticeably less swollen than it had been just 12 hours earlier. He looked like our Xander again.
Yesterday, the bandages and EKG/EEG leads were removed from his head, so this morning the nurses were able to wash and style his hair. He is also now stable enough to tolerate being turned, so they are repositioning him every two hours.
Xander’s heart function has improved overnight so much that it was presenting a challenge. He was pumping blue blood (blood that has not yet been oxygenated), and the ECMO can’t process blue blood, so they had to close his heart valve and let it get some more rest. He is also trying to breathe over the respirator, but his lungs still have a lot of fluid in them, so they increased his sedation to let the lungs rest. If the dialysis doesn’t remove enough of the fluid from his lungs by Monday, he’ll get a chest tube. Once the lungs are clear and rested, they’ll begin allowing him to breathe on his own.
His kidneys are still not functioning as well as the doctors would like them to, but there is still time for improvement and the doctors are optimistic that they will improve soon.
Xander is still responding to our voices, and the Child Life specialist brought him an iPad with his favorite Christian Kids’ music on it so his brain is being stimulated all day.
Xander’s progress is truly miraculous. His nurses were so excited today to see how well he is doing. This evening, Dr. Pham was all smiles when he checked on Xander, and he said “Take a picture of him today, because soon we’ll be looking at a very different picture!” This is the first time he has expressed genuine confidence in Xander’s recovery, and his optimism is so exciting for us to see.
Specific prayer requests for now are continued improvement in his feet and kidneys, and protection for his brain from seizures and brain bleeds.
We are so incredibly grateful for everyone who is praying for Xander’s healing. Please know that your prayers lift us up and keep us going through the long, hard days by our little one’s bedside and the difficult separation from our three other sons. We could not make it through this journey without each one of you. THANK YOU!"
More updates about Xander can be found at his
CaringBridge site.
