Friday July 10th

Hello,

I've decided to post a blog as a way to keep family and friends updated on the progress of William while we are in Portland. First and foremost I want to thank you all for your prayers and thoughts for Will and all of us as we are going through what has been the hardest time in our lives. William had a routine surgery to have his tonsils and adenoids removed on Tuesday July 7th in Lewiston. His surgery seemed to go pretty well, and we were happy with his progress until Wednesday when we noticed it was really hard to get him to wake up, and we had to keep giving him oxygen because he didn't have enough in his lungs. At about 8:00pm the doctor decided to have some x-rays and blood work done to see if there was something wrong. By 11:00pm we were rushed to the ICU unit of the hospital because his breathing had become so labored despite all of our efforts to make him comfortable. Immediately upon arriving in the ICU the nurse told us that we needed to go to Portland where there was an entire team of people trained to deal with children-praise God for her honesty. They had to put a breathing tube in him so that his little body could rest from all of the strenuous breathing he was doing. Will had his first (and hopefully last) helicopter ride at about 1:00am. As soon as we got to Portland there was about 6-8 doctors and nurses at his side to try and asses the situation as best as possible. They have come to the conclusion that he has pneumonia in his right lung, which was probably aspirated during the surgery. They have kept him sedated, and he is very comfortable while the machine breaths for him. He is on two different antibiotics that are fighting off the infection in his lungs while they rest.
Today was a positive day for him (and us) as they have been able to turn down the breathing machine a little bit at a time and he is taking a few breaths on his own. We are waiting for the swelling to go down in his throat so that we can discuss taking the tube out. If the swelling doesn't go down by tomorrow then we will have an ear nose throat doctor come asses the situation. The fluid that they are suctioning out of his lungs has been appearing a lot lighter in color which is a good sign that the infection is beginning to decrease. Its pretty much a waiting game from here on out. I will try and keep you all posted as best as I can. He opened his eyes a little today when Daddy was talking to him, and reached out for a hug, but do to the sedation, he went back to sleep-still it was nice to see him awake for a second.
We have been extremely blessed to be put up in the Ronald McDonald House here in Portland. The staff here is wonderful, and only want to make us feel as comfortable as possible. I will forever be in debt to this house and the people who volunteer/work here. We have met a lot of families who are going through a lot of hard times, and it is incredible to meet and talk with these brave, faithful families. The house doesn't even ask more than $10 a night-and would never turn you away if you couldn't afford that. They have provided a place to sleep, shower, free food, laundry, toiletries, and a safe relaxing environment a short distance from the hospital. If anyone would like to make a donation to the Ronald McDonald house you can go to http://rmhportland.org or the address is 250 Brackett St. Portland, Me. 04102-3208. I know I will be making a regular donation as soon as Jason and I can get back to work.

We are optimistic about Will's progress thus far, and are praying that it continues to be good. We can't wait to hold our little boy and have him give us kisses again. So many of you have asked what you can do to help...just pray, Jason and I firmly believe in the power of prayer. Pray for William to recover 110%, and Jason and I need prayer for strength. We also need prayer for Harland and Ryleigh as they are being taken care of by the family(thank you all sooo much for keeping them happy and oblivious to any sadness). We thank you all again for your prayers and thoughts, and I will keep you all updated as soon as new info comes from the doctors.

Thanks,
Amie Frake