On Thursday Caleb complained of pain below the belly button, and became feverish. We watched him close to see if the pain moved or remained localized.
That evening he seemed to improve and his tummy pain lessened. His fever broke and it looked like it was just some passing virus.
Friday came and though he appeared better, he still had no appetite and didn't want to walk. As I prayed for him that day, I felt that God was dealing with me that Caleb had appendicitis.
Two of our friends here in Lima are Roger Falcón & Marco Aroni. Bro. Roger is a medical doctor. When I called him, he came to our house with Bro. Marco and performed an initial examination and was 90% sure it was appenditis.
Brother Roger called a friend of his, one of the best pediatric surgeons in the entire nation of Peru! She agreed to see Caleb at her home immediately at almost 11 PM Friday night. What a blessing!!! After examining Caleb, she determined that his appendix had ruptured. She arranged everything for us and we were admitted into a private clinic of the children's hospital in Lima. Roger, Marco and the surgeon stayed up with us until about 2 AM Saturday morning to get us settled and to get Caleb stabilized for surgery.
After a few hours of sleep, we were up at about 5 AM to get Caleb ready for surgery. The surgeon greeted me at 6 AM and took Caleb into the surgery room. Bro. Marco showed up shortly thereafter and stayed with me that day to help Caleb and me. By 8 AM the surgery was over and Caleb was moved to recovery, and then on to his own room in the clinic where we have camped out since. The hospital and private clinic staff have so helpful, and Caleb has been a real trooper!
This morning (Sunday morning), Caleb is up walking a bit and was able to eat his first meal (chicken broth soup) last night. He's eager to get the IV out! Other than that he has faced every challenge bravely.
We thank God for all of His help, how he provided practical help through the brethren here, and how He provided perhaps the best pediatric surgeon in the nation for Caleb!
And we thank you for your prayers as well. Please continue to pray that Caleb will recuperate well. He wants to eat pizza and play again just as soon as he can. :-)
