November 3, 2006

Friends and Family,

Thank you for praying for Danny and his surgery today. We checked in at the surgery center this morning at 6:30 and arrived back home around 1:00. The doctor said Danny’s surgery went well. On the way home, Danny said he already felt like he could breathe better than he has in a very long time. Danny is resting in bed right now. He’s having some pain, nausea, and bleeding but is otherwise doing well. Please continue to pray for a quick recovery.

Also please continue to remember Evi in your prayers. Danny and I are concerned about the shin area. The area had almost completely healed up. There were 3 spots about the size of nickels that were still open wounds. For some reason these areas have stopped healing and started getting worse. Now the three spots have grown and merged into one large open wound. Please pray that Evi’s leg would heal completely and quickly.

I would also like to ask you to life me up in prayer as well. The last two months have definitely taken their toll on me physically and emotionally. To say that I’m exhausted would be an understatement. I’m currently battling a bad cold while trying to care for Evi, Caleb, and Danny. Please pray that God would give me the strength to carry on and take care of my family and also that He would comfort my anxious heart as I struggle emotionally to handle Evi’s traumatic injury and difficult recovery.

Thank you for your prayers,

Leslie
www.flickr.com/photos/hulls

October 24, 2006

Friends and Family,

Evi celebrated her third birthday on Friday with a fun princess party. We had princess plates, napkins, decorations, and of course a princess cake. Evi dressed up as Cinderella complete with a new diamond tiara and earrings. She had a lot of fun playing with the Vennell girls. It was great to have a visit from their family. We all enjoyed seeing some faces from back home in Africa. Thank you to everyone who sent cards and gifts for Evi. She really enjoyed them.

Today Evi went in for a check-up. Her orthopedic surgeon said she is doing so well that he doesn’t have to see her again for 2 to 3 weeks. If her leg has healed enough during that time, we may be able to begin fitting her for a prosthetic! We are a little concerned about Evi’s weight though. When we left the hospital last Tuesday Evi’s weight was up from 11.4 kg to 11.8. Today she was back down to 11.2 kg. The dietician is not extremely worried, but we really need to pray that Evi will eat very well and gain weight.

Overall, Evi is doing great. She’s playing, laughing, and even singing again. She is also scooting all over the house on her bottom. We are still praying that she will find the courage and motivation to use a walker, but are overjoyed to see her getting around independently. We are changing Evi’s bandage and giving her a bath daily. It is the worst part of all of our day. Evi cries all through the bath, begging us to stop. She says that it doesn’t hurt but it scares her to be in the water with her leg uncovered and unprotected.

We also ask you to pray for Danny. He went to an ear, nose and throat specialist today because he was having another sinus infection. The ENT said his nasal polyps had grown back and along with his deviated septum (crooked nose) the problem has become severe enough to require minor surgery. Danny has a CATscan scheduled for this Thursday and surgery scheduled on November 3rd. Please pray that the surgery goes well and that Danny recovers quickly. We are happy that this surgery will correct or at least help with Danny’s chronic sinus and asthma problems, but obviously this adds more stress to our already stressed out family. Please pray for our family.

God bless,

Leslie for the Hulls Family

October 17, 2006

Good news. Today we went back to the hospital to have the doctor check Evi’s leg and to check in with PT and dietary. The doctor said Evi’s leg is looking great, and as of now Evi doesn’t need another skin graft. Evi has also gained a pound since last Friday! In fact Evi is doing so well that they officially discharged her from the hospital today. Even though she’s been home from the hospital on pass for a week now, it’s great to make it official. After 6 weeks it felt great to tear off the hospital ID band on Evi’s ankle.

We will be taking Evi back to the hospital once a week for check-ups. Our main challenges now are continuing to get Evi to eat well and getting her to move independently. Evi is fully capable of scooting, crawling, or even hopping but refuses to do so. Overcoming Evi’s stubbornness and motivating her to channel her strong-willed determination towards her recovery remains our biggest challenges.

Tim and Tonya Vennell (our fellow MAF missionaries from Lesotho) and their four little girls will be visiting tomorrow. We are hoping Evi’s friends will motivate her to move around by herself (maybe even use her walker). We are also excited to have the Vennells here for Evi’s birthday on Friday.

Thank you for all of your support and prayers. Please keep praying!

God bless,

The Hulls Family

October 10, 2006

Friends and Family,

Evi continues to make progress everyday. It’s great to see her smiling, talking, and laughing again. She seems to be doing better with taking her medicine, combing her hair, and getting dressed. Yesterday we got some great news. Evi’s doctors allowed us to bring her home on pass till Friday morning! We are very excited to have a break from the hospital and spend time together as a family. Evi was allowed to come home in hopes that she will eat better here than in the hospital. Her appetite has been very poor, and her nutrition levels low. Things were further complicated when Evi pulled out the central line in her chest on Sunday. Without the central line Evi cannot receive the nutritional supplements. Please pray that Evi will do well here at home, especially with eating. If she doesn’t’ lose anymore weight over the next few days and her nutrition labs look okay on Friday, we may be able to bring her home to stay. But if things don’t improve, she will have to return to the hospital for a while longer and the OR to have another central line put in.

Here are some specific prayers and praises:

1. Praise that Evi was allowed to come home for a while
2. Praise for a vehicle (A member of Parks Cities Baptist Church is allowing us to borrow a vehicle while we’re in the States)
3. Praise for Parks Cities Baptist Church who has provided housing, meals, and lots of loving support
4. Pray for Evi’s nutrition and that she will eat well. We are really hoping we don’t have to return to the hospital.
5. Pray for Evi’s skin graft (still looks like she will need some additional skin graft procedures. We are praying that this will not be necessary)
6. Prayer as Leslie and I change Evi’s dressing every day and as Evi observes her leg and missing foot while we do this.
7. Pray that Evi will be able to sleep better at night. She seems to wake up almost every hour crying.
8. Pray that Evi will meet her physical therapy goals by learning to move around on her own. She needs to be able to pull herself to a stand, hop around while holding on to furniture, and possibly crawl or scoot on her bottom. The therapist believes she is physically capable of each of these tasks, but Evi is understandably scared to attempt any of these things. That means that PT sessions (no matter how fun we make them) usually turn into screaming sessions.
9. Pray that God would give Evi courage and comfort.

Thank you to all of you for your prayers, gift and financial support. You have truly been a blessing to us during the last month and a half. Here is our contact information for us at the church.

3917 Villanova
Dallas, Texas 75225

October 3, 2006

Hello – Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Evi and our entire family. Evi is doing well and is slowly starting to feel better. After four weeks in the hospital, Evi’s nutritional levels are very poor. The last five days she has been on a constant nutritional IV and taking multiple supplements. On Monday she had her thirteenth visit to the O.R., and today they did her first daily dressing change in her hospital room. We are so excited that we will be able to do this in the hospital room from now on. Evi did great and tomorrow we are going to try and do it without any medicine. Please pray for her skin graft. There is one spot on her shin that does not appear to be healing like the rest of her leg. There is a possibility that she will have to have a second skin graft surgery in about 4 to 6 weeks. One of our biggest prayer requests for Evi is that she would be able to accomplish basic things like take medicine, brush her hair, get dressed, brush her teeth and those types of items. These basic tasks that used to be everyday items now are surrounded by crying and screaming. She has been touched for so long by everybody and wants nothing to do with these items. She has new combs, toothbrush that lights up and all sorts of cool things that do not help at all.

Evi’s started physical therapy last week and it is going fairly well. She has regained some strength in her “trunk” and can now sit up again. We have a little wheelchair and she loves to have daddy push her around the hospital. This week we are helping her to sit on a bench and working towards putting weight and standing on her good foot. There are a lot of milestones that we have to meet in PT before we can leave the hospital. So please pray for Evi and us as parents as we work hard to reach these goals. (Doctors say it will be at least two more weeks)

Thank you so much for your calls and e-mails. It is so encouraging to know that you are standing behind us during this journey.

I have also updated our photo web site at www.flickr.com/photos/hulls there is a section of photos of Evi’s journey this last month.

Love,

The Hulls Family

Sep 27, 2006

Thank you all very much for your prayers. Evi is recovering from her 11th surgery this morning. They changed her dressing again and also put in a buried central line (her original line has been leaking). Hopefully now she will be able to get some IV nutrition. She has already lost a lot of weight and is not eating very well. We go back to the operating room on Friday for another bandage change. We will probably be in the hospital part if not most of next week, until Evi heals enough to have her bandages changed without sedation. We began physical therapy on Monday. Right now we are mostly playing games that get Evi moving and trying to get Evi comfortable with her leg. She wants her bandaged leg covered by a blanket at all times. We also need to get Evi able to sit up on her own. She has lost much of her trunk strength and balance. Evi’s also still in a lot of pain from the skin graft donor sites on her upper leg and especially her bottom.

Here are some things that you can be specifically praying for:

Please pray that Evi’s skin graft heals quickly and that her pain will be as minimal as possible. There is one spot on the shin where the skin graft isn’t taking very well, so pray specifically that this will improve so that we don’t have to do another skin graft.

Pray for Evi’s appetite, that she will eat well, and gain weight quickly.

Pray for Evi emotionally and spiritually. She is scared to have her leg uncovered, and becomes frightened when she tries to sit up. Pray that physical therapy will go well and be fun for Evi. Also please pray that will feel God’s peace and comfort throughout this time.

Pray that Evi will take her medicine and allow us to wash and comb her hair. Evi screams and cries and thrashes about the entire time we are doing these essential things. It literally takes 3 people to perform these tasks because it takes 2 people to hold her down. It’s heartbreaking and exhausting for me.

Pray for Caleb that he will continue to be such a pleasant and easy baby. He really is such a blessing. I just pray that he will soon learn to sleep through the night. Oh, and that he will stop spitting up so much.

Pray for Danny and I, that we will continue to experience God’s comforting presence. We continue to need His strength during the long and difficult road of recovery that lies ahead. Pray that Danny and I will remain close and united. We are apart every night and much of the day with Danny staying with Evi at night while I go to the mission house with the baby.

Pray for a semi-permanent vehicle for us to use while here in the States. We have a car to use for the next few weeks, but we are hoping to find a larger vehicle to use for the next six months. We need a vehicle large enough for a family of four to travel back and forth during the next several months that can carry all of our luggage, the baby’s bed and stroller, and Evi’s wheel chair and her walker.

Thank all of you for your gifts, words of encouragement, and especially for your prayers.

Sep 21, 2006

Hello, once again thank you so much for your constant prayers for little Evi and our family. Evi went through the skin graft surgery great!! We were fully expecting her right leg to end up bandaged just like her left leg in order to get enough skin to cover the left leg. We specifically prayed that God would give wisdom for the doctors and provide enough skin on her left leg and her butt to cover the entire damaged area. He did just that, so her right leg is without bandage. So now Evi has been confined to her bed for a full three days and has four days to go. She is being a little trooper even though she is obviously in pain. We were hoping to delay her next surgery for next Monday, giving her skin a full week to develop a good graft. She has had excessive seeping from the wound so it was decided that tomorrow morning she will go into the OR for a dressing change to replace the wet dressing with new. Pray that Evi will recover quickly from this short procedure. You can also pray for Evi’s little body. On Monday morning she had lost over 6 pounds from the time we checked into the hospital, and she hasn’t eaten anything until Wednesday night. Pray that she would eat and get the nourishment that she desperately needs. We are looking forward to next week as we will get to see Evi out of her bed again. She will also be starting physical therapy on Monday or Tuesday.

Thank you so much for your calls, e-mails, letters and prayers. Our family greatly appreciates everything that you have done for us.



Love,

Hulls family

Sep 11, 2006 Amputation

Leslie and I want to thank you all for your fervent prayers for Evi and our family the last week and a half. We have had many emotional, physical and spiritual high and lows since this has happened, and it has made a huge difference that you are covering us with prayer. Sorry for the delay in updates as it has been difficult to find internet access here at the hospital in Dallas. I hope to be able to send regular updates more often as things slow down.

We arrived Friday afternoon and were met by two vehicles from the hospital waiting to pick us up. This was a welcome relief after over 40 hours of traveling from Maseru to Texas. Leslie never even had the chance to go home and pack, so I am held responsible for forgotten items =). We also had the privilege of having Sarah, a pediatrician with the Baylor clinic in Lesotho travel with us to help make sure Evi was OK while we traveled. This was an incredible blessing as the trip would have been impossible without her loving and caring help. We never even met her until we picked her up to take her with us. The trip was hard for Evi as it was difficult for her to move at all and she could never get comfortable. As a result it was very difficult for her to take her pain medication, and get any sleep.

We Arrived at the hospital, and was met by a young lady named Heather that has spent the last three days sorting out dozens of phone calls and e-mails regarding our arrival in Dallas. We had over 40 offers of places to stay all around the Dallas area. She narrowed down the search to about 4 places that were a reasonable driving distance from the hospital. We are going to be staying at Park City Baptist Church’s missionary guest house. This is a huge blessing and we are thankful to have a great place to stay. We will be moving into this house tomorrow. We are currently staying in a Doctor’s room that is located in the hospital.

Evi went into surgery on Saturday morning, where the doctors determined the damage and helped to clean out the wound. We then scheduled surgery on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and the following Monday where we would determine if the foot was viable to save. Today Evi went into surgery at 1:30 PM and it wasn’t long afterwards when the doctor came out to talk to us. The foot’s damage was getting worse, and was continuing to die off. He made the decision today that he had to amputate the foot immediately. This came as a shock because we were not prepared in the least to expect a decision like that today. After the initial shock and tears God began to comfort us once again. There was an incredible team of Christian surgeons and nurses that were looking after Evi (Isn’t God good!!). One of the top surgeons in the world for Pediatric amputations scrubbed in for the surgery as well. Evi is continuing to sleep even now at 10 PM. This is still the beginning of Evi’s hospital stay in Texas. This week she will still go in for surgery on Wednesday and Friday in order to clean the wound and remove the rest of the dead soft tissue in her leg. On Monday the 18th we will begin her first and hopefully last skin graft.

We appreciate you continued prayers and e-mails of support. I have not even had time to read through all of the e-mails. Continue to pray for us as we determine our plans for the next several months. We have a temporary vehicle for the next 3 weeks, but are unsure about what vehicle we will have after that. But God has answered all of our needs, and has truly blessed us with friends and family in Dallas. The Christian community has greeted us with open arms.

Love,

The Hulls Family

Sep 9, 2006

We are just getting settled into the hospital and into life back in America. I have already had Taco Bell, and a cherry Limeade from Sonic, Yummy... the hospital is fantastic!!! check out www.tsrch.org for more info on the hospital. There are toys and wagons everywhere for the patients to play with. Their also is a doctor's room, that we are able to stay in for the first few days until we get settled into our house. I also spent about 3 hours this afternoon getting a large knot out of Evi's hair after the plane ride from Africa. My parents met us at the hospital and are a great help in taking care of baby while Leslie and myself take care of Evi. Please continue your prayers for our precious little girl.

Love,
Danny for the Family

September 6, 2006

Hello – Just a little update on little Evi. On the advice of many doctors we have prayerfully decided that the best thing for Evi and her future is to fly her to America for treatment. God has done some amazing things in this process. Lesotho has 10 doctors with the Baylor AIDS clinic in Lesotho, some of who are very close friends with Leslie and myself. Some of those doctors have connections with Texas Scottish Right Children’s Hospital in Dallas. They have been e-mailing and calling the doctors trying to get Evi accepted as it is open only to Texas residents. We are praying to have an answer before today’s operation at 1:30 Africa time so we can plan what has to be done to get her ready to fly. This hospital specialized in Pediatric Orthopedics, which is exactly what Evi needs!!!! This is the current plan but is open to change at any time for many reasons. Please pray for the following things that have to happen so we can fly to America:

1. Evi gets more stabilized
2. Evi’s diarrhea is gone (caused by trauma, medicines, etc)
3. Airline tickets home
4. Acceptance by Texas hospital
5. A place to stay for about 6 months or so in Texas
6. Transportation in Texas
7. Strength and energy for Leslie and I as we take care of a two year old and Evi
8. God’s wisdom as we continue to make decisions.

Your prayers now are just as important as last week and we have been encouraged by the thousands of people that are praying for us. I just got e-mail access today so I should be able to send additional updates as I know what is happening.

Thanks for your love and prayers

The Hulls Family

September 2, 2006

Hello – Leslie and I thank you for your fervent prayers. There are thousands of people praying for Evi all over the world before and after her surgery. Evelyn was with the two orthopedic surgeons and two plastic surgeons for 2 and a half hours. The doctor said that the change in her foot was amazing, it showed remarkable improvement. She still has blood flow to three of her toes and the only major dead tissue is on her heel. They removed the dead tissue and are giving it several days to heal. She is now scheduled for additional surgery on Wednesday afternoon here in Bloemfontein. Please continue to pray. We look forward to see what God is going to continue to do!!! During the surgery we had a lot of friends drive to Bloemfontain from Lesotho to pray for us and to encourage us. What a huge blessing that was. Thank you for your prayers and don’t stop!!

Love,

Danny, Leslie, Evi and Caleb