Day 72: RUN d a w d le RUN d a w d l e

Today John was excited to walk, and run, and then he would dawdle, and people would stop to encourage him to walk further and he would of course be looking at them and then at me like they were crazy. Silly kid, despite the snotty nose he did get to run and play a good bit of today and this evening went to visit Dalton, a little boy who is in the PICU whose mom visits with us during meals at the cafeteria often. John was a bit intimidated by the PICU but was handling it well right up until the nurse with the yellow gown and mask came his direction, then he started crying and looking for a way out.

I'm excited to see his energy level picking up. He's up at 8am now, he still needs a 3 hour nap at about 1, but then has the energy to run and play all evening. This is new, since surgery he's really only had the energy to run and play a bit before lunch and not much at all afterwards. I'm excited to see how his energy level picks up as the days go on. The other exciting part is that he's doing this on less and less TPN and more and more g-tube feeds. Prior to surgery John was down to the point where he could only tolerate 10ml/hr of 16 calorie formula, this is less than he could handle at about 18 months old. Now he's up to 47 ml/hr of 20 calorie formula and will go up another ml tomorrow. The more he can do with his gut the better off his liver is and the closer he is to getting rid of that central line.

We continue to be thankful for your prayers, love and support. We are constantly reminded here how precious life is, and pray for the backpack boys and the cancer patients and all the families and hospital staff that surround us that they will be strengthened in their faith, or come to faith in Christ, and truly know just how precious life is.