Hey Everyone! It's almost Christmas and Lincoln is doing pretty good...PTL! Last night he got his 6 month vaccinations (5 of them) so he is feeling kinda sore. But other than that, things are stable. His last echocardiogram shows no change in the heart function, which is good. He is breathing comfortably, even though his lungs remain a little wet. His color and perfusion are great. His blood oxygen content (saturation level)is a little low these days but the cardiologists are OK with it as long as he looks good and has good pulses and blood pressure. You can pray that his saturation levels come up. Lincoln is doing new things everyday. He loves to watch his legs and feet as he kicks them up and down. He is starting to turn his body to his left side more...the right side is still a little weak. He loves to stick out his tongue...we'd like to think it's his personality but we think he is teething. He is also recognizing the fact that being held is sooooo much better than lying in the crib all day. If you put him down he'll let you know. His Uncle John came to visit him and take his daddy to the Charger's game for a much needed break. Liza, one of Lincoln's favorite nurses loves to hold him more than work we think. She is always telling us to go do something so she can hold him. Continue to be steadfast in your prayers...Lincoln is doing good but there are the occasional bumps in the road that trigger us to worry...and we don't like bumps. We pray for a new heart soon! We hope everyone has a merry merry Christmas! We miss you and love you all very much! J&K

Christmas time is here! For Lincoln's first Christmas, he got to help decorate his and his brother's Christmas tree with mommy and daddy. He even met Santa and got to wear his own Santa hat! We also took a trip out of the PICU into the hall and passed out candy canes...Lincoln loved it!

Lincoln and friends! Lincoln got to go visit his friend Holly, who is in a different PICU on her 1st birthday. He got all dressed up and even brought her a rose. Be praying for Holly as she started having major difficulties a few days after these photos were taken. She too is waiting for a new heart. Here is Lincoln and mommy with one of his favorite nurses, Jen. David and Michelle Aaron and Roger and Jocie Bergman even came for a visit.

Lincoln Is Doing Better!

Hey Everyone...sorry to keep you hanging with lack of news on Lincoln. He is doing good! Everyday since Monday (the day of the stroke) he has been showing signs of improvement. He is starting to fix his eyes on objects and tracking them. He is even smiling more and found the TV over his bed again. His head control is getting better also. It's amazing to see how he is already starting to compensate for the neurological losses and make those connections again...God is so good! Pray for his hearing...we are not sure if he has any hearing loss due to the stroke. He has not been responding normally to sound stimuli like he normally does. Other than that Lincoln is pretty stable. Pictures are coming soon! Talk to you soon. We love you all! J&K

Yesterday Kristen and I came in to see Lincoln in the PICU like we do everyday. When we got to his bedside we noticed his eyes were open wide and gazing off into nowhere. When we picked him up we noticed that his head would lean to the left, not wanting to straighten. All day we noticed Lincoln not being himself and noticed that his eyes never focused on us or any other of his favorite toys. We had been concerned all day and finally early this morning they did a CT, EEG and MRI scans of his brain. We found out that Lincoln has suffered a small stroke. According to the MRI there had been a blood clot that was lodged in the center part of his brain preventing blood flow to an area that affects motor function. The cells of this part of his brain are damaged permanently. On top of that, there might be evidence of small seizures. We have been told preliminarily that this was a small clot and stroke, and that the effects should be limited to only his eye movement and head control...everything else looks OK. Allthough he does not track or follow with his eyes, they are still not completely sure if there is any loss of sight yet. Obviously the biggest concern is if this affects his status on waiting for a heart...the answer so far is, NO. This hopefully should not change anything in regards to his cardiac condition, management in care or being on the waiting list. It just means that he will have to be on more medication and watched extremely close. We will have to follow up on the stroke with another MRI...most likely today to be sure there has not been any clot growth or hemorrhaging. However, the Dr's are positive that even though he has some decreased motor function...given his size and the fact that he still has a lot of growing up to do, the chances of him regaining back some of these functions are good with time and physical therapy. Obviously because of the news today, the wear and tear on us is huge! Lincoln is just not himself now and it's hard to see him not smiling or focusing on us. Emotionally this hits hard as it is just one more thing to add to the pile of concerns and problems. Granted, Lincoln is still stable and is hanging on...PTL!...but the longer we wait, the more susceptible he his to problems. Please pray for Lincoln today as we go through more tests. We will be looking forward to seeing what God does in the next few days and how His Glory will be revealed. We love you all! J&K