My heart has been heavy about baby Caleb and his chances of recovery. So to get this news this morning is wonderful beyond belief.

Hello praying friends and family!

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

We have some great news for everyone.  After nearly 8 weeks in the hospital, Caleb was discharged today!!!  He has remarkably improved over the last week and this great day has finally arrived!  It is so exciting to see him rolling over, sucking his finger, big eyes looking around and ears that hear us when we talk, etc.  He is learning to sit up again on his own (can’t do it without support yet) and starting to reach out for objects.  He smiles when his brother Ben plays with him and really looks at us when we call out to him.  Huge news is that he learned to suck from a bottle again so he is drinking all of his milk from his bottle so they removed his feeding tube on Tuesday.  What a joy to be able to hold him without any wires or tubes attached, in our own ‘home’!!!!!  At this stage I would say Caleb is acting like a 6-month old but even just a few days ago it was like a 2-month old so every few days he is really improving.  It gives us so much hope for the future!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday Caleb had a repeat hearing test and both ears passed (a few weeks ago he was not hearing from his right ear)!  He can not hear low bass sounds from his right ear but can hear normal and high range sounds without a problem.  We will repeat the ear test in about 6 months.  He has stopped the heart medicine and before we fly to the States he will have one more check-up with the cardiologist to make sure that his heart is working strong without any problems (his heart took quite a beating when he was so sick and was weakened from all the infections and medication; however the doctors do not think this will be a long-term problem).  His pediatrician has decided, with our approval, against doing the MRI.  He says that the MRIs are not always conclusive and can not be used to to diagnose, and that Caleb is doing so well we need to just proceed with helping him completely recover.

Also it would require Caleb to be completely sedated again which we are not crazy about since he finally seems to have all the heavy medications out of his system.  If in the next few years we have any problems or concerns then we can do an MRI at that time which would be more useful.  So just one more check-up with the doctor and we can be on our way!! It was fun to take Caleb back upstairs to the ICU ward (he had been moved to the pediatric ward a few days ago).  The nurses came and immediately grabbed him, carrying him around the ward saying good-bye to everyone.  They were all smiling and laughing and just as happy as we are I think to see him going home on the road to recovery!  We are so very thankful for all that the wonderful doctors and nurses have done for us, and as a small thank-you we are having a pizza party for the nurses this Saturday. So our plans are to spend another week or so in Johannesburg, getting more comfortable with Caleb being at home and getting everything in order for our trip to the States.  We will hopefully arrive in the US towards the end of the month, spending a few days in Denver seeing Shawn’s mom before heading over to Grand Junction, CO, where we will be living for the next few months while we consider what road to take in the near future.  Caleb will most likely receive regular physical therapy for the next few months as well.
How can we say thank-you to all of you?  Thousands and thousands of people, friends and ’strangers’, have been praying.  Wow!  Isn’t God so good??!!  We pleaded with Him to heal Caleb completely, and just look how far Caleb has come the last few weeks, against all odds!  We have so much hope that God will finish this good work and continue to heal Caleb in the months to come!!  We pleaded with Him to strengthen us during this whole ordeal, and the peace that He gave truly does surpass all understanding.  We say it again, WOW– ISN’T GOD SO GOOD!!!!!!!

Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you.  God has provided for our financial needs, emotional needs, physical needs– He does much of this through YOU!  Thanks again!

Oh, check out our website at www.gardnersforgod.org
<http://www.gardnersforgod.org>  for some pictures of Caleb in the hospital!!

Your grateful friends,
Shawn and Sarah Gardner
Benjamin, Olivia and Caleb!!