Praise God for Taking Good Care of Tina and Ethan

Praise God! Tina and Ethan are both doing well. Ethan will be celebrating his first birthday tomorrow!

Here are some updates on Tina and Ethan. Do continue to pray for them as they face the challenges and struggles involved in the recovery process.

Tina is experiencing less pain. She has stopped taking pain killers, though she still suffers from back pains. Her post-surgery wound still hurts whenever she stretches or bends. She can walk around longer now and is able to carry Ethan on her lap. Tina continues to take supplements and antibiotics, as she rests mainly at home. She has already visited Ethan twice at the hospital. Her check-up last Monday yielded good results. Her liver is normal, and so are her other blood parameters.

Ethan's condition is generally stable. His liver function is slowly becoming more normal, as indicated by his regular blood tests. Bilirubin-jaundice is going down, and ultrasounds show that blood is flowing well through the liver. His nasogastric tube was already removed last Saturday. He now takes food and medicines orally. His appetite is good, and he is showing good, positive signs of recovery.

The first two days after his tube was taken out, Ethan's appetite for milk and solid food were very good. However, this seemed to go down the past couple of days. He has suffered from bouts of fever. The doctors took blood to detect if there's early onset of infection. Nonetheless, they started giving him antibiotics.

Please continue to pray for Ethan as he adjusts to and copes with the side effects of his medications-- headaches, a bloated stomach, weakening muscles and bones... He is unable to sleep well some nights due to air in his tummy. Yesterday's tests show that his sodium level is low, thus, sodium infusion is being administered via IV. Ethan's enzyme levels are a bit high, but not critical, according to the doctor. Please continue to pray as high enzymes might indicate liver rejection.

According to the doctors, Ethan's condition will completely stabilize in 3-4 weeks after operation. They said that the up-down experience is quite normal for transplant patients... Let's continue to pray that god's wisdom be upon his doctors & nurses, and Ethan's new liver will have no rejection and infection.

Happy first birthday, Ethan! Your uncles and aunties send you much love and prayers on this special day... Thank you for being an encouragement and and inspiration to many. May God bless you and your Daddy and Mommy even more in the coming years... May your family continue to bring glory to God's Name!