Latest update is at the bottom

We saw John on 7/10/99. They have taken him off of the ventilator. He is breathing on his own. They are feeding him 4 cc every 3 hours. He is doing great. A special thanks to everybody for your love, support & prayers. I will up date this as often as possible. Dan, Mary, Danielle & John

7/11/99 John's jaundice is way down.His feeding has gone to continuous 2cc every hour. His breathing is very good.

7/11/99 Saw John tonight. His color looks really good. He has lost weight to 2lbs 2 oz. He is ticklish. And loves to hold hands.

7/12/99 John was taken off of the C-pat (nose air) and is completely breathing on his own. Was also taken off tpm (extra nutrients).He is now getting 5 cc of formula & mother's milk every hour. Jaundice is getting better everyday. He is doing great.

7/13/99 John does not like having a wet diaper and he lets the nurses know about it. Mary got to hold him for almost a hour today.And he liked it very much. Should be off the lights for the jaundice in a day or two. He also is back up to his birth weight. He is doing better then we all expected.

7/14/99 Nurse said John was boring today. All he has done was sleep. Jaundice is even better and should be off the lights tomorrow.

7/15/99 Everything is the same. He is doing fine and putting on some weight. He is still on the lights.

7/17/99 He is doing great. John is off the lights.And is putting on weight. Mary got to change his diaper today. Nurses said every time they change his diaper he kicks them. I got to hold him for the first time. All he needs to do is grow a little.

7/19/99 John's jaundice got a little worse so they put him back under the lights. Other than that he is doing great. They are adding calories to his food. To help him along. He is up to 6 cc a hour of food.

7/20/99 Everything is about the same. He is putting on about 30 grams a day. I screwed up on his weight (you try and figure grams to oz.) He is up to 2 lbs. 3 oz. Almost up to his birth weight. He saw Grandma & Grandpa & Jill & Tommy today.

7/22/99 His jaundice is a lot better. He is off the lights again. He is above his birth weight. (1097 grams) His birth weight in grams was 1085. His feeding is up to 6.5 CC a hour. He loves being held.

7/23/99 They are giving John a blood transfusion tonight. The doctors feel he does not have enough oxygen in his red blood cells. Other than that he is doing great. He looks really good and he is responding to my voice.

7/26/99 John has developed an infection called Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC). It is a serious infection that affects the intestines. For more info on NEC, check out the link to NEC on the home page. He developed this infection on Saturday and is currently in critical condition. So far, he has stabilized and has shown some improvement. He is currently on 3 different antibiotics and they seem to be helping. He is such a little fighter, but could use your help. Please send your positive thoughts and prayers, they are helping.

7/27/99 John made it through his surgery tonight. He had part of his intestines removed. He still has more than enough intestines left for a normal life. He is still critical. But stable. Your thoughts and prayers have helped. Thank you all. Dan, Mary, Danielle & John

7/28/99 John is still critical,but stable. He is still fighting the NEC. They can not take out all of it. He is responding to our voice. He is a tough guy.

7/29/99 John is still stable. He is moving around a lot more today and grabbing at all the wires hooked up to him. He is driving the nurses crazy. (All ready giving women a bad time) They have removed the intestines that have been destroyed by NEC. He still has NEC, but he and the antibiotics should be able to fight off any more damage.

7/30/99 The nurses put John on his stomach to sleep and he seems to prefer it. He is starting to heal and is sucking on his ventilator tube. His color looks a lot better today. He is still fighting the NEC, but is claiming small victories everyday.

7/31/99 John was taken off one of the medications today (another small step). He is doing better than the surgeon expected. His expected stay at Good Sam is 4-6 months.

8/2/99 John continues to make small steps towards recovery. They have removed the tube that went down to his stomach to suction out air. The nurses say that he is sucking so hard on his ventilator tube that they can hear him. One nurse gave him a "custom-made" pacifier(it had to fit in his mouth along with his ventilator tube) to suck on and he seemed to enjoy it. He is becoming more alert since they are reducing his pain medicine.