Hosanna

First night in the Government Hospital

As most of you know, our little guy, Hosanna got Dengue Fever last week.  The first night Hosanna was checked into a government hospital near Mederametla, his CCH home.  We sent one of our staff members, Ravi Teja, to visit him and ask some questions of the doctors and to give him a stuffed animal to keep him company.  Hosanna's fever spiked again so we decided to take him to a private hospital the larger city of Guntur. 

We moved him to a Private Hospital the next day

Because Dengue Fever is viral, there is not cure.  We can only treat the symptoms.  Treatment is replacing lost platelets, keeping the fever down, and keeping white blood cell count up.  

The blood bank

We sent ICM staff, students from our different programs, and church members from Mederametla church, his church home, up to Guntur to give blood.  There have been nearly 20 people who have donated blood for Hosanna.  We need good, strong the blood for the platelets.  Hosanna's platelet count was not going up using platelets from people with different blood types.  So, we needed to find people with the same blood type.

Danny

This is called a single blood donor and it is a very expensive procedure.  We had to do this procedure with three different donors.  It is a 2 hour process where the donors blood is taken out, the platelets are separated, and then the blood is put back into the donors body.  Danny was one of the three who donated his blood as a single blood donor!  Thank you, Danny!

My visit

I got to visit Hosanna in the hospital yesterday.  And there was a very positive blood report.  His platelet count was up to 85,000 and his white blood cell count was up to 4,100 from 1,800!  The doctor called me into his office and said that the first 9 days, they were trying to help him survive.  But he said that this day was the first day of recovery!

Reading together

The hospital can be boring...so I brought colored pencils, markers, paper, and a little book that teaches you how to draw animals.  He drew a dog, a turtle, a ladybug, and a horse!  He had such a good time!  I left the supplies with him.  I also brought a couple story books with me to read with him, but he ended up reading to me!  It was great to hear him read and see him understand the story!

It was a special time with Hosanna.  Today his platelet count is up to 91,000.  They will discharge him once he is up to 150,000!  Praise the Lord for this little guy!  Thank all of you for praying!  There were so many people contending for Hosanna and he is so thankful.  He said thank you so many times when we were together!  Thank you, Jesus, for the miracle in this little ones life!