October 10, 2019– Day +21

Thank you for your prayers yesterday for Bo’s surgery. The surgery itself sounds like it went smoothly. Unfortunately, Bo is still bleeding from the site where the line is placed. His platelets (cells in our blood which help it to clot) fluctuate daily, so he’s been getting more transfusions to keep his numbers up. We are hoping that helps. Another reason he might have issues clotting is the med he’s on to help unblock and heal his liver. The purpose of the med is to break down the clots that have accumulated in his liver, but since it’s breaking down clots, he is having a harder time clotting in the areas he needs to—like his central line site.

As I was thinking through what to pray about this new bleeding issue, I of course want to pray that the bleeding stops and he’s able to clot. However, the bigger, bolder prayer I want to pray is that his kidneys heal and we can be off dialysis for good and have the central line removed. Will you join us in praying for those things?

Bo is still breathing great on his own, and we are rejoicing. That had been an area of concern and something that didn’t quite make sense to his team. If they were taking care of the extra fluid on his body and his liver is shrinking, why was he still struggling to breathe well? It caused some anxiety for me to watch him take hard, labored breaths. But yesterday we had a breakthrough and he was able to come off all oxygen and respiratory assistance! God has been merciful.

The “Plan B” CMV treatment Bo was scheduled to received has been postponed. Since it’s a clinical trial, he has to meet certain criteria. We thought he had met that criteria (unresponsive to anti-viral meds), however because our team switched the med to try a new one on Sunday, he hasn’t been on it long enough to disqualify it’s effectiveness. So they’re going to keep him on it a few more days and watch him closely and keep tracking the virus in his blood. If the virus continues to grow, he will qualify and should receive the cells sometime next week. If they see the new medicine working, they will stick with the original plan of just using the anti-viral medication.

Since we’ve been down in the PICU, the team here is focused on his liver and kidneys and it feels like his transplant has taken a back seat. Our transplant doctor comes around every day to keep tabs on that part of the process, and it sounds like things with his graft are looking great. She even called his graft “very strong”. It makes us SO happy to hear those words! It sounds like if this liver and kidney stuff hadn’t happened, we might have been able to head home soon. It’s hard not to think about the what if’s, but it just makes me believe that God has a bigger plan than we can see. He is bringing Himself glory and we all have the honor of watching it unfold.

Thank you again for your continued prayers. As we were sitting in the waiting area during his surgery, I was imagining all of you praying in that moment and it brought so much comfort and peace. We cannot wait to celebrate all God has done with all of you on the other side of this!

To God be the glory!