Symanzik Family Update

Thursday night, Kurt and I noticed that Jerard's first shunt site seemed red and swollen.

Friday morning it looked worse so we took him to Dr. Soriano, the neurosurgeon, for a check up. Dr. Soriano drew off some puss- like fluid to test it.

Over the weekend Jerard starting running a fever and the sore on his shunt site 'popped' and oozed out stuff.

Today, Jerard had a check up and we obtained the results of the culture and sensitivity taken Friday.

He has pseudomonas aeroginosa - an opportunistic pathogen which exploits a break in the host defences. It can cause UTI and other infections. It's the number 1 hospital-acquired infection.

So what's that mean for Jerard?

Probably more IV antibiotics and a need to replace the shunt.

A determination will be made tomorrow about the need to rehospitalize him and a shunt-replacement surgery.

Pray for Jerard to get well. Pray for our family for the stamina and endurance we need for another hospital stay if that is determined to be the best course of action.

On Saturday we took a needed break from hospitals and doctors and went on a snorkeling boat trip. We left the twins with yayas (baby watchers) and went out on a boat called the Flying Squid (pictured above). We had a great time!

Kirsten and Ben swimming off the side of the boat which was anchored over a coral reef.

Mikayla and Kurt snorkeling. The coral and fish are stunning.

We stopped for a picnic lunch at Talicud island.

Eating lunch and spending time with friends.

After lunch we stopped at a dive spot called "The Wall" which is named after the beautiful sheer drop off just about 20 feet from the shore.

This is the coral under the boat in about 5 or 6 feet of water. It looked much better under the water, believe me.

What is a boat trip without a funny face from your daughter!

At today's one week post-op check up the paediatrician found no evidence of pneumonia in Jerard!
Jerard will have a CT scan next week to check on the shunt placement. Our prayer is all will be well and no surgeries will be needed anytime soon.

Thought I'd share a few pictures of the guys in our family.

We were blessed with the gift of a rocking chair. The boys are really enjoying being rocked in it. Ben found it comfotable enough to sleep in one night!!! Kurt and I are thankful for the nice chair!

One night, James was fussing so Ben took him into his bed, read him a story, and was singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, little star" to his brother. It melted this momma's heart!!!

Kurt with James and Jerard shortly after we arrived home from the last hospital stay.

Today the doctors allowed us to take Jerard home from the hospital. This time he was hospitalized for 13 days during which time he had two operations. By God's grace he was well enough to go home, though he does have a case of pneumonia right now so please pray about that. On the way out the nurses all wanted pictures of Jerard to remember him by. They grew pretty attached to him.

James on the left and Jerard on the right. James is 7.7 kilos and Jerard is 4.7 kilos right now (17 and 10 pounds respectively). By the way, they are 5 months old as of a few days ago.

Thank you for everyone's prayers for Jerard and our family. We really needed God's grace and we received just what we needed. We have been blessed.