Lily Update

We had a great time at Greenwood Hills last week. On Friday, our friends the Taters came up to camp to visit us. It was so wonderful to see them. T-Bob and Joe had a great time palling around all day. Lily was there and she was walking! In the pool she could manage well without any external devices. She was able to go to camp this summer.

She is getting around great with just a boot on. She doesn't use any crutches unless she has to go a long distance. She is a miracle. It was only about 10 months ago that we were praying that she would live, and then that she would be able to keep her leg and use it in a normal way and God has answered our prayers. Praise God. She doesn't seem to have any other residual problems from her internal injuries or fractured spine.

The only question, that is still of some concern, is whether her growth plate will allow the leg to keep growing.

Thank-you Lord for answered prayers!!

~Mom

Lily Update

Our friend, Lily, ( The young girl who was struck by and ATV last fall and had her foot/leg crushed, internal injuries, etc) had a GREAT visit with the doctor this week. She had very poor bone healing up to this point. We were praying that this time would show more healing. It was Awesome! There wasn't just bone healing, IT WAS HEALED. She is now able to be up and weight bearing on her very snazzy new crutches. We are praying now that she would be strong enough to go to camp this summer.
~Mom

UPDATES

Elizabeth is doing great with her reading. She is managing quite well with her level 2 STEP books. This is a great relief to mom. I always feel that we have really accomplished something when one of our scholars takes off with their reading.

Our friend Lily is finally starting to show some good progress with her bone healing in her leg. The growth plate also seems to be staying open since the last surgery. This is great news. We are praying that she would be able to walk independently real soon.

(If you are new around here, Lily was struck by a big ATV and pinned to a tree in October. She had a number of severe injuries, but is recovered well except for her leg/foot. She is 10 years old)

Mr Boots sold his big commercial Scag mower last week. He was able to sell it for a little more than he paid for it, even after using it for a year. This was a real blessing! He is out of the lawn cutting business, although he does seem to be busy with mulching and yard clean up still. He can manage that with just a bicycle though. He has a good reputation as a hard worker, so people still want his services. We collected another big oak tree to add to our 'to be split for firewood pile' after a big wind storm on Friday. Mr. Boots will be a busy man this summer.

Our friend Angie is recovering well from her tongue cancer and radiation. Please keep praying that it would be totally gone. We are rejoicing that she has finally gotten the feeding tube out.

My nephew Joshua kneed himself in the head while jumping on a trampoline. What a shiner! Michelle dropped a log on her little toe and broke it. The joys of being alive!

Trust you all are doing well. Thanks for reading!

~Mom

Random Thoughts

This post is just some random things. Michelle did a photo shoot on our last trip to Amish country while I was busy with patients. It kept Elizabeth occupied too. I really like how many of them came out. This is a sampling.

This week has been busy with school and work. Too many late nights and full days. Only one early morning. Today. It snowed last night. Spring is still dallying.

Please be praying for our friend Lily. She was the young girl who had the severe injury to her leg when she was struck by the ATV. She is needing another surgery on Monday. The bones in her leg are not healing and the growth plate is damaged. Please pray that she will not have too much pain and that the bone will heal now.

Our friend Angie finished her radiation on her tongue/jaw about a month ago. She still has a feeding tube because her mouth is so sore. Please pray that this will heal quickly so that she can once more start eating. Otherwise she seems to be doing well and is able to take care of her family again.

My sister Miriam and her husband Todd leave tomorrow to fly to the Philippines for two weeks . Please pray for safety for them. The children will be spending the time with both sets of grandparents. Please pray that this will go well. They are planning to move there in July for a couple years. Todd will be teaching at Faith Academy.

Thank-you!
~Mom

Update

Why no new blog posts for awhile? I have a bunch planned and would have been doing some except our computer had a fever. I had to take it to the computer hospital for some work on the motherboard and a new fan was installed. Now it is back and happy - I hope. I can get my things done again. I don't really like to write on the laptop. Plus, if we have only one computer working the competition is pretty fierce to get on to use it.



Some prayer updates ....

Lily: She is able to partially weight bear on her injured leg/ankle. She is having to be convinced that walking on it is a good idea. She finds the wheel chair to be a lot handier. Please pray that the walking will go easier and that she will want to work at it.

Angie: She was forced to stop the chemo because it was making her deaf. The doctor said it really wasn't necessary anyways. The radiation is blistering all the surfaces in her mouth and causing a lot of swelling in her lips. It is very painful and a real challenge to eat. Please pray for her and her family. She has been blessed with help at home.

I will start posting more regularly now that my friendly computer is feeling better. Come back soon!

There are still 6 days to enter our plant contest. The closest guess is within 12 months. You may enter a second guess, based on this refinement.
~Mom

Updates and Prayer Requests

I am back to blogging! I trust you had a wonderful Christmas and that your New Year is going well.

I took a break to enjoy Christmas and get caught up on my office paperwork, and year end stuff. I am almost done. Yeah!! I have a number of blog posts to get out over the next couple days. I hope you enjoy reading them.

First, a Lily update:
Lily has returned to school and is doing well. She is still not able to weight bear and is limited in her mobility. Her school is not handicapped accessible so she has to go up the stairs to her classroom on her behind. She is glad to be back. Please do pray that the motion in her ankle would increase so she will be able to walk 'normally'.

We would also appreciate prayer for our friend Angie. She is a thirty-ish mom with an 18 month little boy who was diagnosed with an aggressive tongue cancer. Very Rare, in fact the doctors can't remember a case like hers. She never smoked, chewed or did any of the behaviors that make it more likely. They did surgery about 2 months ago, and thought they got it all. Now they aren't sure and this week she started radiation and aggressive chemotherapy. There are a lot of side effects to both treatments. Please pray for her and her husband Jason and their little boy Brady. She has felt really sick this week after the chemo. Thanks!

Keep reading.
~Mom

Lily Update and other News

Our friend Lily is doing quite well. She has started the more intensive physical therapy as an outpatient. They are working at mobilizing the ankle before she can start weight bearing. The ankle is still swollen and very tender if it gets bumped. She is planning on returning to school after Christmas break. She was able to play her violin at the school Christmas concert. She is pretty spunky. Please keep praying that the ankle heals well and she is able to use it in a normal manner.

The other big news is that My Hubby's sister Susan and her husband Guy had a little boy Josef William on Wednesday. This is their first boy after three girls. Everyone is doing well. Guy is going to be able to stay home for two weeks to help which is great. Pray for Susan as well. Her family is busy and she is not a young mama anymore. Don't have any pictures yet.
~Mom

Lily and Other Random Thoughts

We are so glad to be able to tell you that our friend Lily is home from the hospital. This has been the best possible medicine for her. She is off all her pain meds and is enjoying tooling around the house in her wheel chair. She is starting to eat more. She will have to return to the hospital in about a week for more skin grafts. Hopefully that will only be a three day stay. Please keep Lily and her family in your prayers. There is still a long way to go before she is recovered.

This is my Dad. He and Mom are taking JoAn and Michelle down to Mountain Top Youth Camp for a week. The camp is called 'Daughters of Destiny'. It is a week of Bible teaching and learning new practical skills. The girls are doing some tatting, doll making and other fun hand work. They really enjoy the time with other like minded young women. It is a spiritual encouragement as well as a break from household and work responsibilities.

JoAn is working hard to save money for some further training. We are looking at the College Plus pr;gram. It enables one to earn a fully accredited four year degree in less than two years and for a lot less money. You do most of your study at home. It is a good way to get the education you want without going into serious debt. (www.collegeplus.com)

I do miss JoAn. She is gone much of the time now with working. Our lives have gotten busier as we have added 3 more students to our homeschool. It is for an unspecified period of time. Their mom is unwell and we are enjoying their company. Michelle is especially glad to have another girl join our school. Brooke is 12 and she and Michelle are good friends. Chance is 7 and has an amazing mind for memorizing. Ulysses is 3 and pays close attention to the other children. He is a busy boy and we are glad he still takes a nap. The children spend a lot of time playing volleyball in the back yard.

To end this post. I stole the following two random thoughts from Thomas Stowell in his latest post. They made me giggle.

*Upon learning that the Constitution requires a president to be a natural born citizen, a college student said: "What makes a natural born citizen any more qualified than one born by C-section?"
*Airlines that keep passengers trapped for hours in planes sitting on the runway should be prosecuted for unlawful imprisonment.

~Mom

Lily Update and other tidbits

Our friend Lily is still in the hospital, but she is continuing to improve. She has done well since her surgery a week ago when they rebuilt her leg and foot. The grafts all seem to be taking and healing. Today she was fitted for her back brace and was able to sit up for the first time in almost 2.5 weeks. She won't be ready for re-hab until she can put weight on her leg, so she is going to be released to go home, maybe in the next week. Please keep praying for her and the family. She has a lot still to go through. She has another surgery scheduled for more skin grafts in 2 weeks. Pray for strength and peace as there is a lot to persevere through. The hospital is only allowing parental visitors now. They are afraid of swine flu spreading. This is a hardship for Lily and their family. Joel and Lily are twins and are used to being together.

We had a nice visit on Friday with our dear friends the Stauffers. When our two families get together there are 17 children (although several of them are young adults now). The children have a grand time playing together. It is always a bit shocking to drive up to their house and to see a sign with large letters saying 'Kids for Sale'. It is only when you get real close that you see the much smaller print above it saying 'goat'.

Elizabeth really enjoyed holding baby Ezra. He was a little under the weather and so he was content to just be held, even by another little person.

Michelle was taking pictures again. I liked this one with the spider web with the raindrops on it and the blurred background. You can see by the gray sky in the background that fall is arriving on the North Coast.

Thomas was putting out a trap in the back field. Can you see what is in the trap? NO? Look close. It is black and white. It is NOT a cat. Unless you mean a 'polecat'. He got it released without being sprayed. Enough trapping son!

ALSO we still DO NOT have a winner in our herbal identification contest. Come on People!!

~Mom

Keep praying for Lily

MONDAY EVENING:
Carol - 9 hour surgery complete and doctors said it went well. We'll know if the grafts are successful in about 5 days, with the next 48 hours being the most critical. Thank you for praying for us today. Please continue to pray for healing.

Monday 2:30 PM Lily has been in surgery for 6 hours and things have gone well. THere is still about 3-6 more hours of work to be done. This will be the most sensitive. It is the skin and muscle grafts. Keep praying for the doctors and that the Tater Tot family will have peace.
SUNDAY UPDATE:
From her Mom:
Lily has had another good day. Surgery is scheduled for 8 AM tomorrow and could last as long as 12 hours. The plan is for full reconstruction of her right leg, ankle and foot. Please pray that the Great Physician, who gave these surgeons their skill, will guide their hands and Lily's leg would be saved and restored to full function.
TOWFH (the old white farm house) says:
She is undergoing bone, muscle and skin grafts. Pray that the doctors find the circulation in her leg improved. Pray for the family. The hospital she is at is a long drive from their home. Pray that they have safety on the road and that they would have God's peace tomorrow. It will be a long day for them. Thank-you !

UPDATE 9:30 AM Friday
Lily had a good night - much better than her parents'! A vascular surgeon has been added to her "team" and the reconstruction surgeries are still tentatively scheduled for Monday, possibly doing everything at once instead of separa...te surgeries for the bones and skin and muscle grafts. Your prayers are being answered.

They are going to do another clean out operation on her leg again today.
Keep praying!

PRAY for LILY

See Updates at the bottom:

Last year the Mangos went to Washington DC for an extended field trip/vacation. We were invited by our friends the Tater Tots to stay at their home. This was a grand undertaking for them as they were used to having just their twins around. The twins , Joel and Lily, are the same age as T-Bob. We had a wonderful time. We even got to watch the fireworks on the 4th of July over the mall in DC. We had a mini reunion with them on our trip to Gettysburg. They came and visited us for the day. The children got to renew their friendships.

On Saturday, Sept. 19th Lily got hit by a large ATV and had to be life flighted to a trauma center.
Her Mom sent out the following report on Sunday at 4:30.
4:30 PM Sunday. I firmly believe that, not only does the "fervent prayer of a righteous man avail much", but the fervent prayers of many righteous men avails even more. We are so encourage by the countless prayers going up for Lily and our family. Thank you for asking your friends and church families - people who don't even know us - to pray.It has been a good day. Lily continues to stay stable. She was wide awake this afternoon and smiled at her Dad's jokes. She is still intubated, so she can't talk, but she's communicating with us well.
We spoke to the orthopedic surgeon. The bones in her foot, ankle, and lower leg were crushed and she lost significant muscle and skin. Tomorrow (Monday) they will take her back into surgery to clean the wound again and assess what is viable. From there the will start to plan reconstruction of the foot and leg.
I'm not completely sure of all the abdominal injuries.. They had to remove a section of her bowel. There were tears in other places and a laceration on her liver which was repaired. They expect all of this to heal.

She also has some fractures in her spine. They expect these to heal without causing any problems. She will be fitted for a back brace one her abdomen heals.

So you can see we have a long, difficult road ahead of us, but there is so much to thank the Lord for. A couple of specific request are for protection from infection, viability in her leg and foot, and that they will be able to take her off the ventilator after surgery tomorrow.

Please pray especially for Joel. He's really missing Lily.

As of 5PM EST, Monday, they were just taking her to surgery. Please keep the family in your prayers.

UPDATE: 8:30 PM Monday Sept 21.

surgery went very well. No sign of infection and everthing appears viable. The surgeon gave us hope for a good long term prognosis, but it will take a miracle. We believe in miracles! The next surgery is planned for Friday to reconstruct the bones, then plastic surgery sometime next week for skin grafts. THANK YOU for your prayers.

UPDATE: 3:15 Tuesday

Lily has made good progress in the last 12 hours. She is no longer intubated and they were able to take off the neck brace. She is more comfortable and in good spirits. Please keep praying for the healing of her leg, especially as they start with the skin and muscle grafts.

UPDATE: 8:30 PM Tues

Lily has been moved out of PICU. She will be in a regular room now.

UPDATE: 7 PM THursday

Lily continues to progress well. THe latest highlight is that she ate an orange popsicle today. Today they also did an angiogram to see what kind of blood supply there is left in her leg. She did have a good visit with her brother Joel yesterday, which helped them both. Tomorrow (Friday) she will have the bone graft done and then on Monday they will try and do the muscle and skin grafts. She is feeling a bit homesick. PLease keep Lily and her family in your prayers.