Chase is Hanging in There

Chase is continuing to do his best to “hang in there” while his status remains fairly stable at the moment. His bloodwork last week showed another drop in his hemoglobin level and we immediately did a blood culture – suspecting an infection. Fortunately, we were aggressive with the diagnosis as the lab confirmed the infection the next day and we immediately began treating with IV antibiotics again. Chase’s doctor suspects that we didn’t treat his condition long enough the last time and perhaps there’s a residual pocket of bacteria somewhere that wasn’t knocked out. We’re hoping to get it taken care of this time with a longer treatment. Up until that point, Chase had started making progress again with his breathing over the vent and the rest of his vitals and bloodwork were very stable.

We recently started using a Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) machine to provide more consistent and regular exercise for Chase’s legs throughout the day – research has shown that this approach can help accelerate brain repair. Ironically, the home-based EEG and brain stimulation treatment that was conducted this week showed more amplitude in his brainwave activity again – although it seems too soon to be related to the use of the CPM machine.

Nevertheless, this is clearly getting to the weary stages of this battle for everyone including Chase. He’s such a fighter and a strong trooper that his ability to continually respond and overcome these hurdles never ceases to amaze us. However, if he doesn’t start to turn the corner soon, we’re just not sure how much longer to expect him to sustain this fight. While we’re doing our best to keep the faith along the way, this is an incredibly exhausting journey. We keep praying to the Holy Spirit to provide wisdom, strength, and comfort in the situation so that we can more clearly understand God’s will for the direction we should proceed with Chase.

Thanks again for all the prayers and support!

God Bless!!

John & Carol Sammut
Chase & Barbara Ann