Homeward Bound - His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

January 11, 2023

Today we get to go halfway home. Ezekiel has been cleared to leave the hospital. It’s been a long 8 weeks and we praise God for his mercies and grace that have carried us through. Thank you to all the saints for praying with us and supporting us. We are so grateful to our families, to the church body and the amazing medical teams at Sick Kids. There are so many people to name and though the list is too long to include here know we are grateful for each of you. A huge thanks to Dr Honjo, Zeke’s amazing surgeon who did all three of his surgeries. He came every day for 8 weeks to check up on Zeke and we are so thankful for him.

We are not able to leave to go to Calgary just yet has he is weaning from a couple more meds which they have let me do out of the hospital with some follow up visits. We will be at Ronald McDonald house. We still have the thrombosis team following up with an ultrasound at the end of the month to see how the blood clots are progressing. And we also have our cardiology clinic visit as well before we leave. There’s lots to transition into. This discharge is different for us because Zeke is going home with a feeding tube. His time in the hospital with intubation has created an aversion for anything coming near his mouth so to get nutrients in him he has an Ng tube.

A couple of things to be praying for, his 6 week wean plan mapped out by the pharmacist to go well and for his withdrawal symptoms to get better. Right now he gets a lot of sweats, throwing up, tremors and irritability overall. This is to be expected as we’ve been told when babies are on strong narcotics for a long time, and two months of these high dose meds is long.

Pray for the referrals being made to the children’s hospital in Calgary to link us to the right paediatric cardiologist. Pray for the older kids as they fly home with Ben this weekend and for our time apart to be swift.

Zeke still has a ways to go in his recovery, weight gain, healing psychologically, weaning from the ng tube and some physio therapy required. Pray for us to find good help for all of these elements.

I added the Psalm below because it summarizes God’s goodness and steadfast love for us through this trial. He has helped us, carried us through, answered prayer and preserved Zeke’s life. For this we will praise him and say he is good and his steadfast love endures forever.

Psalm 118: 1-29

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

Out of my distress I called on the Lord; and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”