Thursday, June 18, 2009

A Minor Complication

These three emails came in last night from Tim Tam:

Email#1:
The first was titled "Moises is going back into surgery in 1 hour," and said the following

"Moises has a lot of swelling in his bowels which is not too abnormal after a major surgery.

Unfortunately this has put undo pressure on his lungs and kidneys.

Midday he had to be put on a ventilator to help him breathe.

They are going in to unstitch the stomach muscles to create more room and take the pressure off the other organs.

Instead they will now sew an adjustable mesh, something like Velcro that can be tightened down as the swelling drops over the next few days and eventually they will re-sew the muscles closed again.

This operation should take about an hour.

The doctor sees this as a small setback.

Magdalena keeps hanging in there. Lisa hanging with her."

Email #2:

The second was titled, "Surgery delayed till this moment," and said:

"It wasn’t until just now that an operating room opened to take Moses.

It is a little more complicated than I last reported.

Another part of the cause of his swelling is internal bleeding.

They have given him seven units of blood but very little has come out the drain which they put in during the last surgery.

Add to your prayers that they are able to find the leak and repair it."

Email #3:

Finally around midnight, Tim sent this final email of the evening titled, "cautiously optimistic:"

"Moises is now out of surgery

They found several places where blood was coming from any finished patching him up.

He is in much better shape now.

The doctor says he will be on the ventilator for 3-4 days until swelling drops and abdomen muscles resewn.

Magdalena and the small crowd sitting with her all all relieved now and will be able to sleep.

We spent the last 2 hours looking at photos and videos and retelling the story of Gods miraculous work and how his invisible hands have orchestrated an amazing chain of events that no one else could have planned or even imagined.

A Happy Magdalena sits behind me now giving the good news over the phone to her husband and children who have been keeping watch….waiting for this good word."

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Surgery was a success!

The surgery was a complete success.

The surgeon said it went as well or even better than expected.

It lasted less than 6 hours. We couldn’t get mom to walk or eat anything today but after a post-op visit from the surgeon she was smiling again and began to eat the food she had been carrying all day.

Now the intestines are connected, abdomen muscles sewn back, skin remains open till threat of internal infection passes. Over the next 10 days the bowels are expected to become active and then slowly introduced to food again.

From his TV viewing he has already decided on a local Mexican restaurant for his first meal.

In a month or so the skin over the abdomen will be stitched up and perhaps a return trip to Belize can be scheduled.

He will have a couple of rough days now as is normal for post-surgery. His mom has moved from their regular room to a chair beside his bed in the ICU.

She will have a rough night tonight as well but from exhaustion and not fear. Before the surgery Moises saw her sadness and told her not to worry because God was with him.

Thank you all for helping to carry him through this on your prayers.


Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Back Safely From Galveston

25 FPCA members spent June 7-23 in Galveston working with EFCA Crisis Response to assist those who have been impacted by Hurricane Ike. It was a wonderful week. We divided into four teams. One team's primary responsibility was to put a new roof on a house and gut the inside of a house (so new sheet rock can be put up). Two teams worked on putting up and mudding sheetrock. Our fourth team worked in a house that was almost completed and did a lot of trim work, installed doorknobs, put up sheetrock, and helped get the house ready for the homeowner to move into.

In addition, our Agape singers/ringers performed on three separate occasions (once at a church, and twice at retirement homes). We have quite a few pictures to share, and many stories of how we saw God at work. For now though, we wanted to share three pictures of our team and various times throughout the week.

This is a picture of the majority of our team on Sunday morning (taken just before we loaded into our vans and headed down Galveston).

Wednesday night the Agapes sang/rang at St. Stephen's Presbyterian Church in Houston. The church treated us to a delicious dinner, and it was a wonderful night of fellowship with another church community.

This picture was taken Friday morning, our last day of work in Galveston. We stayed at Galveston Bible Church (the men slept on bunk beds in the Sanctuary and the women slept on bunk beds in the Sunday School class rooms).


It was a wonderful week, we saw God at work in amazing ways, and hopefully we will be able to make additional trips to Galveston in the 2009 year.

Moises Surgery is TODAY!

This email was sent last night from Tim Tam regarding Moises surgery (which is going on this morning!):

Almost 6 months since the accident and tomorrow morning is the big surgery.

Lots of love, prayer, and incredible medical care has brought Moises from the edge of death to this point of health and strength to undergo this major surgery.

Today he received a blood transfusion to further strengthen him and to compensate for any blood loss associated with tomorrows procedure.

This afternoon I went over to play with him and asked if he was nervous about tomorrow. He just laughed. He was disappointed it wasn’t done last week and looks forward to getting it over with and back to his home in Belize.

Though he is still a little jaundiced, he was in great spirits and exploding with energy.

He has a good understanding of what to expect for tomorrow.

It was hysterical listening to his conversation today with one of the doctors.

In one of the attached photos he is instructing the doctor not to use tubes through the nose because they are uncomfortable and will only make it difficult for him to breathe.

We have a date tomorrow before surgery to go for a walk in the hospital courtyard and see how the tomatoes he planted are doing.

Perhaps these will be part of his first real meal after surgery which the doctor says may be 2 weeks after the surgery.

As for mom…………she too is very happy. She says she is without fear. We watched videos of her children and husband that made her cry. She really misses them and her home. Though her new baby isn’t kicking yet, its presence with us is plain to see.

PRAY………….is the reason for this email

Please pray with us through tomorrows surgery.

I will let you know how it goes.

TT

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Moises Surgery Update and Galveston Mission Send-off

Moises Update from Tim Tam:
Over the last several weeks we have been privileged to see great improvements in Moises' health, physically and emotionally.   As he approaches the end of this time of preparation for surgery there continues to be great need for prayer.  He has been battling another infection and jaundice.  To deal with the jaundice they had to disconnect the IV line that feeds his body nutrition for a time until he recovers.  

Both he and his mother are wearied from the length of this ordeal.  There is a spiritual phenomena that takes place around Moises.  Even from the time of his struggle for life in the Belize hospital God has used this little guy to inspire others and strengthen their faith.  As we might then expect, there is also a spiritual battle taking place.  Moises and his mother both sense evil poised against them.  They are currently having dreams that depict this battle for Moises.  

For all these reasons I ask you to please be vigilant in your prayer support.  If all goes well, the surgery it tentatively scheduled for June 16. 

Galveston Music and Mission Trip:
This morning a group of 25 youth and adults were commissioned at the early worship service and packed up in vans for a music and mission trip in Galveston, Texas.  The group will spend a week providing Hurricane Ike relief work on a home repair project.  In the evening the Agape Youth Choir will give local musical performances.

Please keep these folks in prayer as they act out God's love by helping our coastal neighbors in need.