As of Friday evening, Danny is off the oxygen mask! He still has a tiny tube in his nose to assist his breathing, but this is a step forward. Also, he is able to be fed from a bottle, rather than a tube. The doctors are changing his position (lying on his back, side, etc.) and taking measures to guard against pneumonia and bronchitis. Please pray that Danny will be able to cough sufficiently to rid his lungs of the phlegm that accumulated during and since the surgery. He is still weak, but the doctor said that he is out of danger. Danny’s heart remains enlarged and his left ventricle is not yet contracting on its own, so there is still much to pray for. The reason for Danny’s jaundice is still unknown. Medicine and special lamps have been used to bring his bilirubin levels down. As of today, they have come down to 40 from 200. Once the levels get down to a normal of 20, the doctors will be able to take steps to pinpoint the cause of the jaundice. Thank you all so much for continuing to uphold this baby and their family in prayer.

I received a call from my sister saying that the surgery was successful. However, the doctors could not take care of all of Danny’s heart problems in one surgery because he was so weak that he would not have been able to survive it. This time they took care of the coarctation of the aorta. Apparently his aorta was so narrow that it looked like an hourglass and had almost grown shut. When they cut him open, they saw that one of the vessels that come out of the heart and go to his right hand was strained and pressed against his esophagus, resulting in problems with swallowing. They had to remove that vessel.

We ask you to continue to pray for Danny as he is still in life-threatening condition. His heart is significantly enlarged and the left ventricle still does not contract on its own (he is on medication right now to help it contract). These things are to be expected due to the strain on his heart, as it has been trying to pump blood through such a narrow opening, and they should return to normal in time. My sister and her husband thank you for all your prayers and ask you to continue to uphold them before the throne of grace for the long road that still lay ahead.