A Decline, A Drain, A Drop and Financial Concerns

I was expecting Daniel to feel much better yesterday, but the afternoon was rough. He was really out of it again and couldn´t get comfortable all night and that darn fever wouldn´t go away. Dr. Bello came in this morning and had a look at Daniel´s back where the bullet was resting and decided Daniel needed an ultrasound to look for an abscess (a bunch of bacteria living in a little sack). The ultrasound revealed a significant abscess, which was the final culprit for Daniel´s persisting fever. In addition, his back was swollen and inflamed on the lower right side. The ultrasound revealed good news though, that his intestines had healed very well and were virtually back to normal. - Overall, A Decline.

So we packaged Daniel up for surgery again. The only way to get to the bacteria is with the blade. I scrubbed in and actually got to make the first cut in the procedure. When things got more technical, Dr. Bello took over and thoroughly cleaned out the rest of the abscess. Suffice it to say I would rather stick my head through the hole in a port-a-potty for an hour than spend five more minutes cleaning out abscesses (not really, they just smell that bad). For you science nerds out there, it´s because the bacteria were anaerobes from the colon displaced by the bullet. Oh, I forgot to mention that Dr. Bello had the bullet out in no time as well. The ultrasound lady told us it was in a different place, but Dr. Bello dominates. So Daniel now has a souveneir slug from a 9mm. - A Drain

Despite feeling the closing suture go into his back, Daniel felt great post-op. The cathartic moment for him came when I ran to grab a water for him to rinse with and Dr. Bello gave him to go ahead to drink a little. Afterwards, his face lit up like Christmas tree... or maybe the kid in front of the tree. But he was thrilled. After the decline of yesterday, he has since made a monumental recovery and is moving and speaking better than ever. He still has a small drain in his back (which still smells terrible), but it doesn´t seem to be holding him back. Just make sure he gets it changed... a lot. - A Drop (of water)

And everyone´s favorite subject: money. Everyone has been asking if there´s anything they can do to help. There is. Considering the cost of the surgeries ($4000), the medicine ($2000), the hospitalization ($1800), the lab work ($1000) and a new ticket home ($1000), Daniel´s bill is coming up to be around $10,000 plus his medical costs when he gets home (these numbers are rough guesses based on estimates from receipts and stuff, I´ll update them). He also got hit with a bill from Anchorage that we didn´t know about until today. This is in addition to his student loans. With as many people as have been praying for him, this sum does not seem insurmountable by any means and Daniel could definitely use your help. No amount is too small in truth and we will rejoice over any offering you feel led to share. Please email me at doctorbaldwin@gmail.com with how much you can share if you plan to help so we can start crunching numbers. - Financial Concerns

Our prayer for all of you is that this experience empowers you to stroll outside your comfort zone, to put yourself at risk, realizing that it is not in being safe that we find life, but in serving the Lord and obeying His calling. And to remember that the life we are called to as Christians is not one devoid of pain, but one filled with supreme comfort and fulfillment. We desire that this experience would stir things inside you and that you would embrace the calling of the unknown.