Prayers for Seth

Author: hannah

  • Monday, April 12, 2025 Prayers for Ellis

    7:55pm update – I am happy to report that Ellis is responding well to his sedation levels being reduced a little each day. He’s moving more dynamically now with his whole body. He hadn’t moved his right arm in several days, and I had been praying over his right hand specifically – there are so many verses about God holding us by our right hands. I was holding his right hand and asking him to move it when he suddenly started swinging it in circles above his head!

    This is also the first time since he was first sedated, I believe, that his eyes have been wide open. He had really big smiles for the pictures that friends have drawn him and of course the Skillet videos that I played for him. We will meet with the team of doctors tomorrow afternoon or evening and hear more specifics about EEG readings and what next steps are. Clinically he is much improved but his brain is continuing to heal. I wanted to get this out as quickly as I could so that all his many friends eagerly awaiting an update can read this before bedtime.

    Continue to pray for:

    -More healing days

    -No more seizures or setbacks-his stomach – his food does not settle well with him and he has lost a lot of weight. He was skinny to start with.

    -Thanks to God for healing thus far.

    Erin

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  • Sunday, May 11, 2025 Mother’s Day in the Hospital

    Dr said Seth is progressing well on stage 4 and trying for stage 5 (!) of weaning off the ventilator. Pray for relief of the raging neuro storms. Pray that the storms are being used to rewire and strengthen pathways in his brain.

    Cell by cell.

    Neuron by neuron.

    I spent the night with Seth so got to spend the very first moments of Mother’s day with him. My mom is always on time sending special occasion cards out, so I was able to open her Mother’s Day card to me last night. She wrote, “Know that God chose you and Dave to be the parents of Hannah, Benjamin and Seth.” To this I say, I am so blessed to have been chosen.

    Attached is one of my favorite pictures of Hannah, Ben, and Seth when they were little. They surprised me with some awkward family photos last year. 🙂

    To those whose hearts are broken especially today, please know I’m sending extra love to you.

    From Sufficient Grace Ministries:

    Whether you are a mother-in-longing,a mother missing her own mom,one whose mother/daughter relationship is broken,a mother with an empty nest, one whose nest is full, or a mother with children in heaven. Whether you are praying over a hospital bed or rejoicing over a miracle…We wish you a gentle Mother’s Day!

    -Darcy

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  • Friday, May 9, 2025 Stage 2 Ventilator

    Today, Seth is moving to stage two on the ventilator. There are 12 stages of weaning the ventilator off, but can be anywhere from a 6-12 day process depending on how he tolerates it. I know stage 2 doesn’t sound exciting, but to us it’s a huge milestone!

    Hannah put pictures back up in Seth’s new LTAC room.

    I stopped by work yesterday, and talked with a someone whose son had a disability so he understood the hospital scene and family dynamics of taking care of a loved one. We talked about how surreal it was that when we walk out the hospital doors, it is life as usual for everyone else. We’ve been granted a new perspective on things, some heartbreaking and some comforting. God, on the other hand, has perspective on everyone and everything-past, present and future. That’s probably why the Bible is filled with verses of how much He loves us and takes care of us in our day-to-day normal lives or when we are in crisis mode or when we are celebrating in heaven.

    Your homework today is to tell at least 5 people how much they mean to you.

    Specific prayers today:

    Success on weaning off the ventilator

    Little and big miracles to start following commands

    An update on some others we’ve been praying for:

    Thankful for: Ellis’ lumbar puncture showed no signs of infection!

    Trey to be leaving for a more extensive rehab center!

    Silverio went home!

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  • Monday, May 5, 2025 Bracelets

    Yesterday I had asked for prayers for poop (gross, I know). An x-ray of his belly was done to make sure nothing was blocked (its been 4 days since his last BM). Prelim results said there was no blockage but looked like a lot of gas. They stopped his tube feed for the night in hopes that helps get things moving.

    Early this morning, Seth pooped twice (yay!) but he also threw up twice (not-yay!)

    8:00am Dr noted from X-ray there may be an ileus, a lack of movement somewhere in the intestines that leads to a buildup and potential blockage of food material. (Fun fact: our intestines are about 28 ft long!) They will be suctioning his stomach to relieve any pressure of the build up of gas or liquids.

    MRI still hasn’t happened to see if Nocardia is causing brain abscesses. It’s been almost 24 hours since it was ordered (ugh!)

    If you would like one of the awesome bracelets that say “Prayers for Seth” contributed by friends Jeff and Sarah, please message one of us and we will send you one or more (for free of course). Picture is of friends showing off their bracelets. Upload yours to our photo collection!

    Specific prayers:

    Fever and physical relief, good MRI results.

    Healing and comfort prayers for Ellis, Trey, Silverio, Danita, Ranjini, Janelle, Frank, Joyce, Sam, Caleb, Vincente, Jesse Jr, Derek, Lindsey, Betty, Steve, Anna, Michael, the families of Todd & Lex.

    These are many of the families we’ve met at the hospital, each with a different story, different care, different prognosis. The thing that is NOT different between us all is our God that created and holds the earth and universe together, is the same God that knows us before we were born and continues to love and hold us in His hands. We trust in His promises!

    -Darcy

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  • Sunday, May 4, 2025 11:30am

    No big events the past 24 hours. Occasional fever keeps being an issue. The antibiotic, Bactrim, is not responding to the mystery lung bacteria confirmed as Nocardia, so the pharmacy will come up with something else. He’s been given a bit of insulin a couple times when his blood sugar gets too high.

    Dr looked at the wall of pictures and commented he is glad we are all here for him.Tomorrow is still the plan to go to the step down unit in Tower 2. Seth has made such great progress while he’s been here and we are ready to help him move on to the next step!

    On the morning of the accident, 4/3, one of our church members also ended up in a different hospital due to previous falls and brain injury. Over the following days, his wife and I were texting because our “men” were in the ICU, or intubated or awaiting CT scans at the same time. Even though our situations were different, there was comfort and encouragement between us since we both knew how we were feeling. Denny passed away on 4/21 and his funeral was yesterday. The sermon was about Denny being amongst all the others that went before him rejoicing around the throne of God. The final hymn was “Go, My Children, with My Blessing” -which is such a God thing because I was going to make a post about this specific hymn.

    I’m one of those moms that saved A LOT of art work from my kids’ elementary school days. I can’t remember how long this one has been hanging on my pantry door but it has been there a long time! It must have been a memory work assignment of Seths (you’ll notice his initials in the corner).

    It’s a comfort to me that Denny and Seth and all of us are given this same promise: Go, my children, with my blessing, Never alone.Waking, sleeping, I am with you; You are my own. In my love’s baptismal river. I have made you mine forever. Go, my children, with my blessing – You are my own.

    -Darcy

    PS, For those that remember my post about sweatshirts needed for the 9th floor patients, Denny’s wife gave us his sweatshirts to be of good use to others. ❤️

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  • Sunday, May 4, 2025 12:56am Prayers for Ellis

    4pm update – Ellis was nearing the end of his full-scale 6-hour EEG when I came to visit this afternoon. The doctor I spoke to said that Ellis hasn’t had any clinical seizures since yesterday (meaning they aren’t physically visible).

    Unfortunately it being Sunday, we have to wait until the neurologist comes in tomorrow morning to see the results of that scan to see if there have been seizures occurring or not, and then proceed from there (for a CT scan and lumbar puncture).

    Ellis is looking ok, he is stable, and the nurses are taking very good care of him.

    Pray for:

    -Another seizure-free 24 hours.

    -Tomorrow (Monday) will be a stressful and important day. We will meet with the neurologist and get the latest EEG report to see if we can proceed with the lumbar puncture.

    -Pray for the answers we need for Ellis to be treated accordingly.

    We’ve been seeing the same moms and dads come and visit their own children here for the past few days. There are 10 beds in the PICU, and most of them are full today. There’s now a 9 year old girl across from Ellis. The parents of the 2-month-old baby next to Ellis are from Myanmar. The picture I am attaching is of myself and Watie, the mom of the 1 year- old, Aliana, who I mentioned here before. She had surgery for a heart condition two weeks ago when her heart stopped, and the doctors are concerned about brain damage. Watie is from Kedah (a neighbouring state) and is staying at the hospital dormitory to be with Aliana. I’ve been surprised how far my rudimentary Bahasa has gotten me but Google translate has helped a lot too. I told her a few days ago that I would pray for her daughter and that I pray to Jesus who is a healer. She said she would pray for Ellis also. I stopped by Aliana’s bed this afternoon and asked Watie if I could pray for her then too, which we both did together. No mom or dad ever expects or wants to sit in those waiting room chairs. But God comforts us so that we can comfort others. We all really have nothing else we can do anyway except wait and pray. I am so grateful in a new and unexpected way now how we don’t have to be stingy with prayer. I’m not going to hoard all your prayers for Ellis because I know that God can heal him and his cousin Seth, Aliana, and all of the kids in the PICU – with just a word. So today we can pray for all of the above and all of the children (and their parents) there, knowing that God knows and loves them all extravagantly.

    -Erin

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  • Saturday, May 3, 2025 7:50am

    Seth had a good night. X-ray looks good so he will get remaining chest tube out. BP & HR pretty good. At the moment his fever is down but still an issue.

    I woke up from a dream that the mystery lung bacteria (besides the Valley Fever and Staph) was finally figured out and was called Harvest. About 10 minutes later as I was telling the nurse about my dream, Dr came in to check on him. The mystery bacteria is confirmed to be Nocardia, a type of bacteria that is found typically in standing water, decaying plants, and soil. Now they just need to figure out the sensitivity of it to determine what antibiotic will help.

    It’s another healing day! Cell by cell. Neuron by neuron.

    I’ll leave you with this beautiful song to reflect on today. I appreciate the music that has been forwarded to me. I have a hospital play list with them all for Seth.

    Jesus Is

    -Darcy

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  • Friday, May 2, 2025 5:03pm

    Today is another healing day. Cell by cell. Neuron by neuron.

    I’d like to make this update a public service announcement for those with children over 18. Please be proactive and have them sign a Healthcare Power of Attorney, Living Will, and Mental Power of Attorney.

    Seth signed these forms in January and without them, we, as his parents, and him being over 18, might not have been given power to make medical decisions on his behalf or be able to access his medical records. On the morning of the accident, I grabbed the forms on the way out the door to the hospital. As I was putting them in a bag, I prayed out loud asking that his condition wouldn’t be serious enough to use them, but also thanked the Lord that we had them ready. I never thought we’d use them but I’m relieved we were prepared.

    Each state may have their own forms, but Arizona’s forms can be found on the AZ Secretary of State’s website (You can choose to register them or just keep them for your own records).

    A Financial Power of Attorney would be a good one to add as well. 🙂

    Being spiritually prepared is what the passage Luke 12:40 talks about. “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

    A Clay Jar publication author, Ed Jarrett writes, What if, instead of warning you, Jesus just knocked on your front door and invited you to move to the place he had prepared for you (John 14:2–3)? Would you jump at the opportunity, going without hesitation? Or make excuses why today would not be a good time?

    The truth is, we do not usually get any warning. Instead, we are told to always be ready. That does not mean I should sell everything and sit on a mountain waiting for him. It does mean that I should live each moment as if, in the next moment, I might be standing before him.

    Always be ready, looking forward to that day when he takes us to be with him forever.

    Amen to that!

    -Darcy

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  • Friday, May 2, 2025 6:52am Prayers for Ellis

    Nothing to report on Seth, he had a good day and night. We’ll post an update on him later. In the meantime, an update on our 11 year old cousin Ellis. We appreciate your prayers for him as well.

    From Erin:

    5:50pm update – We met with the attending neurologist, Dr Sindhu today. Ellis has been on a continuous EEG nonstop that no seizures had been detected on during the night. Once a day they do a more thorough EEG which they did on Ellis at lunch time. In the last ten minutes of the 2 hour scan they detected a seizure. It was what they call an electrographic seizure and not a clinical one, which means it couldn’t be seen in him physically but was detected in his brain. So our 48 hour wait time for a lumbar puncture unfortunately restarts and Ellis has to remain as is, with a few adjustments to his medication, over the weekend. Some of his antiseizure meds are also sedatives so he will remain sedated. The good news, though, is that his seizures have lessened in frequency and severity. A lumbar puncture test will be able to tell if his brain is suffering from infection or inflammation. Inflammation can be treated with steroids but they cannot give that if there is infection. Which we cannot know without a lumbar puncture. So in the meantime we just wait and pray.

    Pray for:
    -continued rest for Ellis’s brain
    -No more seizures
    -Patience.

    Our pediatrician warned us in the very beginning to expect ups and downs, that this would be a marathon and not a sprint. Reuben and I have both run marathons and we can both tell you this is more like a long-term endurance race (that you never signed up for). If you look at an EEG reading, there are lots of little ups and downs. The neurologists are most concerned with the bigger spikes – the greater peaks and the valleys. Those irregularities are the seizure activity. Pray for those peaks and valleys to be straightened out and levelled.

    “The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.” -Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭7

    Benjamin and Ellis in the go kart when they came to visit -HC

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  • Thursday, May 1, 2025 10:30am

    Seth still had a fever overnight. His remaining chest tube may be clamped today and his BP meds adjusted. The PEG tube looks good so they will start feedings today. Seth would ask for double cheeseburger or Raising Canes flavor, if he could.

    Did you know that today, May 1st is National Day of Prayer?

    Since my sister is overseas, they have their own way of updating Ellis’ condition through Whatsapp, and we can see how their friends and family are praying for them. One church in Malaysia did a prayer walk though Penang pouring their hearts to God for healing for both boys. Another group included 75 members of his uncle’s Nepali ministry fasting and praying. When Seth visited Malaysia, he attended one of their meetings.

    We are thankful for ALL of you that continually pray with us here in AZ, all over the states, and all over the world.

    Specific prayers on National Prayer Day:

    -Seth’s fever & BP to subside and be able to communicate with us.

    -That Ellis’ seizures will permanently stop so he can get a lumbar puncture done.

    -Healing for their brains- cell by cell AND neuron by neuron.

    -Healing and God’s comfort for Trey, Danita, Jesse Jr, Ranjini, Janelle, Caleb.

    -All the doctors, nurses, and teams involved in everyone’s care.

    For those that aren’t believers in Christ or think prayers are just words and can’t help, ask what is the alternative? Our short lives here on earth may not end up how we or our families want them, but God gives us hope of an everlasting peace that is beyond our human comprehension. He is our loving Father, Creator, and Sustainer, both on earth and in heaven.

    Phil 4: 6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

    -Darcy

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