Amos Ross Updates

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you for your prayer for Amos these past few days. It has been an eventful 72 hours for our family to say the least. A quick update:

Amos has been improving steadily since he’s been in the PICU and on continuous antibiotics. The medical team here have carried out their “fever hunt” well, and have determined that the Mickey button was infected, along with a possible respiratory infection. As he’s received the right medicine, fluids, and a blood transfusion to help his counts recover, he has begun to feel much more himself. We are very thankful, and especially so considering things could have been much more complex and serious. Today he even had enough energy to get out for a few strolls around the hallway and to play on the floor mat for a bit.

Another point of interest is that the sleep study from last week is to be disregarded. Considering his jet lag, low blood counts, and worsening virus all coinciding that night, the readings of his respiratory patterns just aren’t reliable. This is possibly good news, because it could explain why he was having fits of apnea and therefore spare us the need to keep him on a ventilator at night. We will have another sleep test this week to see whether and how things have changed now that he is recovering.

He is still low on blood level counts and needs to remain on antibiotics for a bit longer. We will probably be at CHOC until Tuesday or Wendesday. While this will have been two full weeks of hospital time for what we thought would be a three night stay, the number of significant issues that have been carefully and successfully addressed easily justifies the delay. We are thankful.

On a more humorous note, while I was assured by some of the top medical professionals in the nation that Amos would certainly lose all his hair this past week due to the chemo, I can report that the process has in fact not begun. Fortunately, I am now prepared to empathize, and Amos is quite amused.

Please pray:

• That Amos’ Mickey button site would soon be free of infection, along with any issues in his respiratory system.
• That Amos’ blood count levels would bounce back quickly and soon.
• That this week’s second sleep test would show very that Amos is not having any apnea spells, and that we can therefore do without the ventilator and all it would entail.
• That the antibiotics would eliminate all infections.
• That Amos would get some tummy relief and be able to have a bowel movement tomorrow (!)
• That we would receive the gift of some family time at our apartment, all together, for at least a few days before the second round of chemotherapy in just over a week.
• That Amos’ spirits, determination, and confidence that Jesus is caring for him each moment would remain steadfast.

With love in Christ,

“I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 31:14

Will, Kelli, Amos, and Luke