I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart, Luke got his trach out and is doing great!

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart? Where? Down in my heart. I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart, down in my heart to stay and I’m so happy, yes, so very happy, I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart and I’m so happy, so very happy, Luke got his trach out yesterday. That was the song that I sang on the way home from the Hospital yesterday. To say that I am happy is putting it mildly, I would like to announce to the world God's goodness to our family is great!

God is so good all the time! Let me begin by going back to the day of the bronchoscopy procedure. As the nurse was going over the directions for the procedure, nothing was said about getting his trach out, which is called decanulation. So Gordy asked her about why it was not written on the paper, she said not to sign the paper and have us wait for the Dr. to explain what was going to happen that morning. When he came in to go over what would be happening, we brought up the fact that decanulation was not mentioned on the paper and asked why. He said that he didn’t want to put it down because he was not sure if Luke was ready to get his trach out, so we asked how will we know if he is ready. He said if there was not any scarring tissue or granulation in his bronchial and if he could handle swallowing and breathing without the trach he would try to take it out, but he sounded doubtful. I just could not become discouraged, because I truly believed in my heart that Luke was going to get his trach out that day, I had such peace in my heart, though satan tried to steal it continually.

I was asked if I would like to stay in the room during the procedure and I said sure, so I was able to pray right behind Luke the entire time and watch as the scope was happening. I did not see any scarring or anything but beautiful pink tissue as he would go down different parts of the bronchia’s. They took out the trach and he was having a difficult time breathing for just a few minutes and the Dr. that was giving him his IV and monitoring his vital signs made the comment that he thought that if it was left out he would be seeing Luke that night in the Intensive Care Unit, I began to pray all the harder and went over to Luke since he was awake and talked with him, he began to settle down with his breathing when he knew I was there and his stats began to look good and the Dr. changed his mind. They both said that they guessed he could try to keep the trach out and that they were guardedly optimistic. I told them that I would take the optimistic part of that and that I was praying that we would be leaving there the next morning with out a trach. As the Dr. who made the comment about seeing him that night left he said to Gordy, we may be seeing you tonight, Gordy replied to him why are you planning to stop by his room for a visit? He just gave Gordy a funny smile and left.

It was wonderful having the peace of God, that only He can give that morning and know that because I felt the Lord had told me that Luke was going to get his trach out it was going to happen. No matter what the Dr.’s said, or what the circumstances looked like. I was so excited to also be told by the pulmonologist that Luke’s muscle tone is doing so much better and he is looking so good. That was like putting another happy song in my already joyful heart.

Thank you for your prayers. The hospital stay was great. We had many people stop by with tears in their eye’s rejoicing with us that Luke is doing so wonderful. My sister Cindy was with us through out the day helping with Lily and Luke and then in the evening my wonderful friend Yoli, came to help with night duty again. She had been there every night while Luke was in the hospital the original time. We had a great night praying, watching Luke, while doing our Bible study and testifying to our night nurse. My sister Jill was also able to stop by for a quick visit in the evening. I knew that I would not be able to sleep much because they said the only way we would be dismissed to go the next morning is if Luke’s oxygen levels stayed above 90 all night. So I only got about two hours of sleep. Luke did great, once again showing that God was with him each step of the way.

I have one last wonderful thing to tell all of you. During the procedure Gordy stayed in the waiting area and while he was praying for Luke, he once again gave him to the Lord. As he was praying the Lord showed him a wonderful dream; as he symbolically put Luke in the arms of Jesus, Jesus just reached down and gave him a kiss and it looked like he breathed a breath of life into Luke, then he set Luke down on the ground and Luke ran back to Gordy. Gordy felt like the Lord then said to him I am the Lord that is healing Luke. Gordy and I were in tears as he shared this with me after the procedure, knowing that we continue to see a miracle in process.

Luke is doing great, our biggest prayer requests right now are that God will keep him healthy and that he will not get any infection in the trach hole. Also that he will continue to have a strong cough to get out any remaining secretions in his chest so that it won’t go into bronchitis or pnemonia. May God richly bless you today and just know that He loves you more than you can even imagine.

Love in Christ,
Luke’s Mommy Sue