Pity party prayers

Sometimes when you're feeling weak in spirit and tired... you can start to dwell on the fact that you have problems. I have them. You have them. We all have them. The true test of your spirit is not the fact that you have them, but how you deal with them.

For instance, today, I'm severely lacking in sleep, good nutrition and suffering from a near migraine... and while I started my pity party, I was reminded how fortunate I am by my good friend JD Ross. His son, Garrett, who is the same age as Josh has undergone not ONE but TWO heart transplants. This weekend, his body started signs of severe rejection. They're at the hospital in Denver now. He's got a long road ahead... and the whole family needs our prayers.

JD has a blog he created for logging Garrett's Journey (which is what it's named) and you can check it out HERE. The email I received today isn't posted on his blog... but I wanted to record it here so that you could all see how serious this is and ask that you include Garrett and the entire Ross family in your prayers.

What a difference a week makes.

One week ago, Garrett was walking miles
through a broken creek bottom in Kansas looking for turkeys. Today, he's back in
Children's Hospital with a severe rejection.

He had been feeling great
until about a week ago, when he started complaining about not feeling well. His
stomach was upset and for the past several days, he's been off his feed a
little. He's been more lethargic and cranky, too. He's been tired and pretty
restless at night and just no himself. Then yesterday at baseball practice, he
definitely was not on his game. When the other kids were running, Garrett would
walk and said he just didn't feel good. Even still, he got a pretty good hit
during scrimmage and fielded a couple of good plays.

Last night I
checked his vitals and his heart rate was 135-140 bpm and his face seemed
fuller. We called the transplant coordinator and they wanted to see him 1st
thing today. It was a pretty rough night because Garrett was really restless.

To make a long story short, tests today confirm that Garrett has a
pretty severe rejection. They were pretty concerned but think we got to it in
time. He has fluid around his heart and lungs and his liver is distended. They
immediately admitted him and started him on a battery of medications aimed at
reversing the negative effects of the rejection. This will go on for about
another week and then, hopefully, we'll be able to move outside the hospital for
another week or so. There is a chance we'll have to re-locate to Denver again
for about 3 months.

We won't know a whole lot more for a few days, so
for now I just wanted to update everyone and ask for continued prayers of
healing. Again, we never saw this one coming and it snuck up pretty quick. Best
case scenario is that we'll be back home in a couple of weeks and have to return
at least 2x a week for 3 or 4 months for check ups and he'll now be on
additional medicine the rest of his life. But the steroids and other meds will
drive his immune system extremely low for most of the summer. His school year is
done again, and probably his baseball season too.

Don't want to startle
anyone, but wanted to let you know that our little cowboy warrior has another
fight on his hands. I'll update when I know more. Praise God for His mighty
hand, because we believe He'll carry us through this battle.

God bless,

JD

Please pray for the Ross family.