Update on Brandon

Thanks to all who have been praying for Brandon. It means so much to us. The phone calls, emails, prayers, and concerns have all been a real encouragement during this time.

Brandon is doing well. Each day this week, he has been able to see a little more out of the injured eye. He started out by being able to see shadows and shapes and then on Thursday, he was able to read the large "E" at the top of the eye chart (20-400) with his injured eye and able to see the doctor's hand. The doctor said the pressure in his eye was good, there was still no sign of infection, and the blood in the eye continues to clear away - all good signs. He said since he was progressing quite well, we did not need to have another appointment until Monday. That will be with the retina specialist to tell whether or not his retina is detached. The first sonogram of the eye they did gave reason to think that it was, but the doctor did another sonogram on Thursday and said according to that sonogram, it didn't show retinal detachment. He still wanted us to meet with the retina specialist on Monday to be sure and we will go from there.

We sense and feel God's hand working through all of this. God is helping Brandon to heal, giving him a good attitude, helping to rest by reading books, and giving grace to all of us.

While in Hershey, we met 2 other ladies who have children with leukemia. The one lady's daughter has leukemia and is 8 years old. They have given her a 30% chance to live. The other lady has a grandson who is 4 and has leukemia. As we went back to our room that night, we thought about how blessed we are. You can live without an eye, but to have leukemia would be far worse. Brandon was pretty concerned about the 8 year old who has a 30% chance to live and before bed asked that we would pray for her together. Perhaps God wants us to help someone else through all of this.

The doctor said Brandon is by no means out of the woods yet, and rest is very critical, but he is progressing and we are thankful for that. As the blood clears away and the eye heals, we will know more of how much sight will be restored. At this point it is just waiting. We are still praying that God will restore Brandon's vision fully that it may be a testimony to all of the healing power of God, but if it is not His will, we are resigned to whatever He would choose.

We have finally made it to the house where we will be living for the next 6 months and are trying to get settled in. It has been hard on Jonathan, our two-year old, as he has been in a different place everyday. He doesn't seem to know where "home" is yet.

Thanks again for your prayers and concerns. God is on the throne and we believe He is hearing and answering our prayers.