Blessings!

We have so much to be thankful for! We are so blessed! We are enjoying the beauty of spring as the flowers pop up and bloom around the yard.

More every day!

We are thankful that Dallas seems to be 100% fit after his run in with a car.

We are grateful to God that our friend Lily has recovered from her surgery without severe pain. This is a blessing when you are working on grafting bone. She is home now and doing well.

We are thankful for healthy children who are competent cooks and able helps around the house. They are a real blessing.

We are very grateful and blessed that the 'flying toilet' that struck my DH in the neck this week did not penetrate deep enough to hit anything vital. It was just a good gash.

We are thankful for two large stacks of unsplit wood in the driveway. This means the house will be warm next winter and we have a way of keeping the boys busy this summer. :-)

We are most thankful for God's greatest gift of all. Our salvation that was provided by His death on the cross and completed at His resurrection. It is freely offered to all. Why does God love us so much?!! God's gave His son to take sin on our behalf, those who accept it have the promise of eternity in heaven with Him. What can be more awesome than that? If you are a Christian, tell a friend about what God has done for them. It is the Cure to man's most serious disease - SIN.
It is the greatest BLESSING of all!

~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

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

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.