The latest e-mail update...

Here is an e-mail I sent out today udpating everyone on Chris's situation...

I haven't updated in a while...But there's been so much going on with Chris and his foot.

I'll update the basics and then copy the latest e-mail from him at the end...

The last update was that Chris was going in for another surgery on April 20th. Well, from what I understand, they took about 2" off the left side and 3" off the right side of his foot. At first they seemed very optimistic about the results. By Tuesday they were saying that if it continued to look good, the swelling stayed down, and the infection started to subside like they hoped Chris would be able to go home for a month with in-home nurse care for the (now) wound, and then come back for the skin grafts toward the end of May. However, a day later they decided the infection simply wasn't getting under control like they would like. Because of this they wanted him in a more sterile environment and put in the order to have him transferred to St. Elizabeth's burn unit (room 134) for further treatment. This is also a proactive move in that the skin grafts would probably have to be done here anyway.

Tami sent a picture of Chris's foot yesterday ~ if you can imagine, the top of his foot looks almost unreal (Scott & I both said it looks like a Hollywood horror flick makeup job) with approximately the size of an 8 oz. steak missing from the top of his foot. The area is blackened in spots and obviously infected. (for someone who doesn't do well with horror flicks it was not an easy picture to look at for any length of time. Knowing there are people who are curious and trying to imagine what it looks like, if you'd like to see it e-mail me back and I'll send it in a separate e-mail ~ I don't want to attach it here because most people have pictures show in their e-mails automatically and not everyone cares to see it.)

This is definitely starting to wear on my sister. Jake, the youngest, is still at home in Norfolk during the week for school ~ he was in Lincoln yesterday for a soccer game (God's amazing attention to detail....), and Tam did get to see him play, but then only got to talk to him for about 5 minutes after before Jake had to get on the bus to head back home. When I called her she answered the phone in tears. (And, although we are cry-ers, this was more indicative of the toll this whole thing is taking on my sister than anything else.) Please continue to pray for them ~ in every report there is an amazing instance of God doing something in their lives...and it's pretty awesome.

So, with all that, here's the latest from Chris ~ an e-mail I received today....Thank you all for praying! If you'd like to help in some way, please contact me and I'll share with you an idea I have that is making this a little easier to be so far away...thanks again!

Dear Family & Friends,

Well a little update on what's happening, today the Doc looked at my foot and felt that the swelling hadn't changed, maybe even increased a little, plus some red is going up my leg. He suspects a pocket of infection somewhere around my ankle. So tomorrow morning I go in for another surgery, he said he will start out small and he wants to stay away from my ankle bone because that complicates the skin graft process. But he will have to remove any bad tissue that may have tunneled to wherever. I would appreciate your prayers, I know you have been faithful in that, since I checked in the hospital, and we appreciate it very much. To be specific pray that I will handle the surgery well and that the Doc will be able to find the problem, correct it and that my healing will be more progressive because of it. Pray for Tami she is having a hard time handling this, and at first when they transfered me here to St. E's it was like pulling the rug out from under me (stole that from my father-in-law). I am adjusting better now, I feel good other than my foot hurts a little. I did have my hopes up on getting home sooner, I just have to put it all in the Lord's hands and remember He sees the big picture.

Thanks to everyone,
Chris

I'm going to be posting a list of prayer requests Tami & Chris have asked in their e-mails on my blog ~ http://trayctalks.blogspot.com ~ check it regularly since I sometimes go there to write about what's going on without filling your in-box with multiple e-mails. Likewise, if you would like to NOT receive these updates please let me know and I'll remove your name...thank you!! God bless...be on the lookout for where He's working today, okay?

Trayc
Whether we can mentally grasp what God is doing isn't the task we have at hand...whether we are available to see God moving is the question we must ask ourselves as we go about our daily tasks.