Update - 28 Sep

Dear friends, I thank you for your prayers for Lizzie. I know you prayed becos Lizzie is much better this morning. Thank you!! With additional O2 thru' the ventilator (40%), Lizzie's O2 level was in the 80s when I visited her this morning. The surgical team came by and said that they will try to remove the ventilator this morning. It's about time, cos Lizzie's been making suckling noises(asking for pacifier or, better, milk bottle!!). Elaine and I thank God that despite not acceding to our request for no surgery, He made this surgery count. Lizzie is pink as a lobster and quite alert now. She was about to look at mummy, daddy and visitors. She opened her eyes and look when I called her name. Before I left NUH this morning, the docs came in and switched the ventilator to unassisted mode. Lizzie is breathing on her own!!! They also reduced the O2 to 30%. Although her O2 level dropped to 70, the docs are confident that she will be about to manage it on her own. Lizzie's finally getting her pacifier. We are praying that she will be discharged from Paediatric ICU this weekend to a normal ward. We will update you again. Thanks for your prayers.
God bless, Simon

Lizzie in critical condition

Dear friends, I went to see my Little Lizzie this morning. She opened her eyes for a while but they are not focused. The nurse told me that her O2 level has been in the 60s. When I was there, it dipped to the 50s. The registrar and professor were called in. When I left the hospital, they were still trying to improve her O2 level. The prof told me they will still go ahead to remove the ventilator today.
Please pray for Lizzie that:
1. there will be no further desaturation of her O2 level. Pray that God will open up all the air passages and her lungs so that oxygenated blood will flow freely and her O2 level will rise.
2. the current low O2 level will not affect her brain or her physical development. No part of her body will be affected as God provides the grace for her not just to survive, but to live victoriously.
Thanks for praying.
May God bless you too. Simon

Surgery done on 25 Sep

Dear friends, we saw Lizzie for a long time on 24 Sep.
She kept her eyes open for the longest time - 5 hours straight. We can tell that she is tired but she refused to close her eyes. It seemed that she could sense something is going on and wanted us to see her eyes before they close for a long while. The memory of that day is so precious to us (I have uploaded those pictures in Day 47). Lizzie went thru' the surgery to implant an artifical stem to aid blood flow to her heart. She is now sedated and intubated (a tube inserted thru' her mouth to her lungs to aid breathing). According to the Docs, the surgery went well. However, Lizzie has lots of tubes and insertions into her arms and legs. The number of electronic devices hooked up to her tiny body is depressing. Elaine and I are hoping that these devices will be taken off Lizzie in the next few days as she grow stronger and heals. More importantly, we are hoping that she will be able to breathe on her own so that they will take her off the ventilator. Once she is off the ventilator, they will stop the sedation and we can see Lizzie's sparkly eyes again. Please pray for our little Lizzie. She has gone thru' so much for a 48-day old baby, barely full sized.
Thanks for your kind thoughts and prayers.
God bless,Simon & Elaine

Final scan before surgery

Dear friends, the cardiologist scanned Lizzie today at our request before the surgery on Monday. The disapointment continues. Lizzie's condition is the same. Still nothing from God. Elaine and I spoke to the surgeon this morning and confirmed that the surgery will be done on Monday morning, probably around 8.30am. It will be approximately 2 hours long. The procedure is to put an artificial stem on the right side of Lizzie's heart to provide more blood flow from the lung to the heart. Following the surgery, Lizzie will be warded in a different ward for recovery. She will also be on medication, although mild, permanently. The surgeon is not able to tell us that this will surely be the only operation needed before the open-heart surgery when Lizzie is 20kg. Subsequent follow-up surgeries may be necessary before that. Please pray for God's grace and mercy for our little Lizzie. She is sleeping soundly every day (otherwise crying angrily for her pacifier!!), oblivious of the surgeries she need to face for years to come.
PS: Please do not come down, or send us anything. We appreciate allthe gifts and visits with great gratitude, but we really only need your prayers for Lizzie.
Thanks, Simon & Elaine

Surgery date confirmed

Dear friends, the Docs had a meeting today and confirmed that they are operating on Lizzie on Monday, 25 September.
Your kind prayers are most appreciated.
Thanks, Simon & Elaine

Possible surgery on 22 Sep - Pls pray!!

Dear friends, Lizzie is into her 42nd day today and she is still in Neonatal ICU. Her condition is stable but her O2 level fluctuates from the high 80s to low 90s (higher better) to low 60s. Earlier on (in Day 6 or so), the Docs have started medication to keep her PDA open for oxygenated blood to flow from her lungs to her heart. That medication has since been increased to the maximum. On the night of 3rd October (Sunday), we received a call from the Prof handling Lizzie's case, saying that she will most probably be operated on in the morning of 4th October because her O2 level remained low for the past few hours. Fortunately, Lizzie's O2 level rose and stabilized overnight, thus negating the need for emergency surgery. Since then, the Docs have tried many things to get her O2 level up. They tried enclosing her head in a box filled with O2, bloodtransfusion, treatments of possible infections and even put an O2 tube in her nostrils. Her O2 level still fluctuates daily between the high 60s to the high 80s. I see Lizzie every day in the morning before work and again in the evening after work. The most precious moments were those when her eyes are open. They are so bright and sparkly and Lizzie will look at me very intensely as if she has a lot to tell me. Sometimes when I look into Lizzie's eyes, I can see the pain she is enduring. It is as if she is asking me for help. If you are a parent, you will know that it is very torturous to know that your child is suffering, and you are powerless to do anything for her. The thought of her suffering tears me up from within every single day. If I can give my life for hers, I will not hesitate even for a second. If only there is a way to trade my heart and chromosomes with hers….Elaine and I prayed for Lizzie every time we see her in ICU. We prayed for her every night. We prayed for her on every journey to the hospital. Yet, God has not come to her. Before her birth, we prayed that God will heal her, but every scan showed no positive results. We prayed that God will heal her at birth, but Lizzie was born with congenital heart defects and Digeorge's Syndrome. We prayed that God will heal her without medication or surgery, but the Docs have already started the medication on her and it has reached the maximum dosage. Yesterday, we learnt that the surgeons are making arrangements for Lizzie's surgery this Friday. WHERE IS GOD?!! WHY IS HE SILENT?!! It is not that we do not believe in medical science. If God choose to heal her through a surgery, so be it. However, the surgeries I am talking about here involve putting artificial tube to replace her missing pulmonary artery. As she grows, they will replace this small tube with a larger one, hence another open heart surgery (when she is 3 or 4 years old). There may yet be another surgery when she is a teenager. In addition to the risks involved, these surgeries mean that she cannot be active and cannot live life as a normal healthy person. These surgeries also do not do solve any effects of Digeorge's Syndrome. It is particularly hurtful when I read the bible and listen to worship songs. The bible tells me that God is loving, faithful and merciful. That God hears the cry of His people and come to their aid. That God is faithful and will not forsake His people. That Godwill send His angels to guard His people that their feet will not strike a stone. That God has plans for His people that will prosper them and not harm them. How is He showing His faithfulness to my child and my family? To a life that is created to bring Him glory? I have asked God for nothing but for children to glorify Him. Why doesGod allow my child to suffer for the rest of her life? What glory is there for God that Lizzie is weak or even disabled? What good are we to God if our time and resources are taken up to take care of Lizzie instead of serving Him? How will pre-believers see us? What purpose does it serve when these pre-believers see God's people suffering unexplainably and endlessly? Elaine and I are beyond desperation. When we thought we have reached the lowest point in our lives, Lizzie's situation got worse. When will these end? How much more does God think we can take? How much longer does God allow Lizzie to suffer? Are we not God's people? What are we supposed to think and do? We are struggling every day between having faith and hoping in God, seeing the reality of Lizzie's suffering and her O2 level dipping and friends thinking that we are in denial. I am sorry for venting and complaining. While I am extremely frustrated, I am still holding on to my faith in a God I have knew for the past 18 years. Please pray for Lizzie, that the surgery this Friday will not be necessary because God has intervened.
Thanks and God bless, Simon