Yep.  Today is day 19, and although we are out of the ICU, we are on the peds floor waiting for her fevers to stop and for her eating to improve.  That's been tricky; the antibiotics she's on are making her nauseated.  The taco she ate for dinner last night was a huge, big deal- the first thing she'd asked to eat-  but it didn't stay in her tummy :( Please pray that she'll just continue to improve.  Pray for my other kiddos, who have been sweet, kind, and understanding.  They're also missing their sister!  Pray for my husband and myself, who feel as if we're in an endurance marathon. Thanks!

I know it seems like prayer requests for our daughter have not stopped, but this is our 11th day in the ICU for her ruptured appendix. Over the past week she has developed a few fluid-filled infected areas in her abdomen and her surgeon has made the decision to go in and drain them non-surgically.  Sounds easy enough, but one of the areas is precariously located near some arteries, so getting to it with a needle/drain is complicated and risky. The procedure will take place this morning at 10:30AM (CA time) under general anesthesia. *Please pray with us for a safe and effective procedure. *Pray for safe anesthesia... going to sleep and waking back up. *Pray that they find the target and can drain the infections. *Pray that her organs and arteries are protected from injury. *Pray for peace while we wait to hear the results. We have no estimates on how long this procedure will take, how effective it will be, or when we will be home.  We have been told that due to the nature of the infection, it will be weeks to months before she is back to 100%. Thanks for praying!  I'll update here to let you know what happened!

From my husband: Healing has been slow for our daughter following last Friday's emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix and a septic abdomen. (Note: it was 15mins to locate and remove her appendix and an additional hour of cleaning her abdominal cavity of infected fluid). So, throughout the week, she has battled infections, pain and hints of pneumonia. Last night she had a follow-up CT scan and they found two more large abdominal abscesses. This morning her on-call surgeon and radiologist analyzed her scans and they debated a less-invasive drain procedure versus more-invasive abdominal surgery. We waited all day and about an hour ago we heard the conclusion: The infection is too deep and dangerous to try the drain procedure. At the same time they don't want to rush to reopen her with more surgery. Since she is showing slow/general improvement, they've added two additional strong antibiotics. The decision was to monitor her today and tomorrow. On Monday, her regular surgeon returns and he will consult with the on-call surgeon and they will corporately decide whether or not to do more surgery. She gets around pretty well, but she will remain in the ICU through the weekend. Thanks for praying. It has been a long week and will continue. We are looking forward to a bounce-back without surgery!