March 31, 2000

Dear Family,

It is Friday afternoon about 3:30PM.  I have some better news today, which
I will save for a little bit later in this letter. :)

Last night I got to trim Skylar's finger and toenails.  Because he is
unconscious I was very very careful not to nip his skin.  It was actually
comforting to me to be doing something practical and useful for him.  It
was also encouraging to see that the nails are still growing.

When we arrived at the hospital this morning we were glad to see that
Skylar had had a good night, that his blood oxygen levels were still good
and that they had turned his pressure down another notch.

I was a bit distressed when one of the doctors told me that they were going
to remove the IV lines in his groin and add a line to his neck.  Apparently
when a line has been in for a couple of weeks there is an increasing risk
of infection.  I asked why these should be any different than his Hickman
catheter which has been in him for almost a year now.... and was told that
especially in the groin area there is more likelyhood of foreign matter
interfering.

And so with just a brief "Good morning Skylar" I headed off to go to work on
my technical project.  After working for almost an hour, Pam burst into the
room and told me that the "care meeting" (a conference with the doctors) was
about to start, so I dropped what I was doing and went with her to the 
meeting.

The meeting as a whole was very encouraging.  They told us that they have not
given up hope for Skylar to recover.  His lung disease ( I can't remember the
acronym they used - I'll report it later ) is still very severe; however, his
other organs are still functioning well and in fact have recovered well since
the time two weeks ago when he was admitted to the Pediatric ICU.  His
bilirubin count is now in a normal range.  Praise the Lord!

As far as the lung disease goes ( ACRD? I'm not sure, but I think the
acronym means, roughly, "Bad Lung Problems We Don't Understand" ), the
plan is to continue to wean Skylar from the ventilator (that is, to gradually
reduce the pressure and oxygen settings ), perhaps somewhat slower than the
last attempt.  If he continues to respond well to the weaning, at some as
yet unspecified pressure they will perform a tracheostomy (sp?)  While this
procedure may sound extreme (it involves piercing his throat and inserting
the ventilator tube there) it is actually for his comfort and benefit.  Once
it has been done, they will be able to allow him to awaken and he will have
his mouth unobstructed so that he will be more comfortable overall and will
be able, God willing, to communicate with us.

The prospect of this is very encouraging!  Praise and bless the Lord with me
for this hopeful circumstance!  Please continue to pray and request that
God will complete the good work He has begun and bring about this great step
forward in the near future.  Please pray for Skylar's protection through
every step of the difficult procedures ahead, and especially that he might
not be overly afraid when the time comes to awaken him.

The prognosis for the lung disease is that Skylar may have to remain on the
ventilator for a long time, perhaps months... but we are greatly encouraged
to have this added hope for his recovery.

Thank you for your continued prayers and letters and scriptures that you
share with us.  We love you all.

Love,

Dann (for us all)