Arrangements

There will be a Memorial service for Ezekiel Thomas Hines at Christ Covenant Church, 800 Fullwood Lane, Matthews, NC at 1 PM, Saturday December 16.

Visitation will be at Gordon Funeral Home, 1904 Lancaster Ave, Monroe, NC 28112,(704) 283-8141 from 6 PM to 8 PM on Friday December 15.

There will be a private graveside service prior to the memorial service on Saturday.

In lieu of flowers, Brian and Melissa have asked that donations be made to the Church of the Redeemer, Benevolence Fund (Post Office Box 3365, Monroe, NC 28111).

Our Ezekiel

Zeke went to be with Jesus this afternoon. We were there with him holding him and it was very fast. We are so incredibly grateful for the year we had to spend with him--we feel so honored to have been chosen as his parents if even for such a short time. We will let everyone know arrangements as soon as we know anything.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Update

Hi everyone,

I pray that no one is reading this email for the first time without already knowing what's going on with Zeke. We've tried to have everyone called--if not, we appologize. Zeke took a turn for the worse and had a pretty bad brain bleed. He is stable now, but the doctors have said that his brain is severly damaged. Right now, we just ask for prayer. We need a miracle for Zeke. We ask that you pray for God's will to be done. If it is His will to take Zeke, we want him to go quickly and without suffering, but again--it is God's will--not ours. Please pray for His will to be done. His ways are not our ways--we may not understand, but God is in control. Zeke has touched so many lives this year--we are so grateful for the time we've had with him.

In HIMBrian and Melissa

Tuesday Morning Update

Hi guys!

Just a quick update on Zeke. He had a good night last night and the doctors had good things to say this morning. He will be in the PICU a little longer than we had originally anticipated due to all of the blood loss. He had to have a blood transfusion--his entire volume of blood was replaced three times--and was still receiving some blood until this morning. Now he's only receiving saline and the drainage from his head is getting much better. He is still on the ventilator and there is some debate about when to remove him. Dr. Matthews (the plastic surgeon) asked that it be removed today but the attending PICU doctor feels like that may be too soon due to the large amount of blood loss--so we will see what happens. They are beginning to take him off of sedation so he should start slowly waking up.

The CT scan results came back and things looked good. We got to talk to the neurosurgeon today who said that the concern was the large amount of space left in his head after the reconstruction. He said his hope is that his brain will begin to fill that area.

Thank you all again for all of your prayers yesterday. The surgery ended up taking 7 1/2 hours and both doctors agreed it was very complicated. We were so grateful for such a fabulous team of doctors, nurses, and prayer warriors.


Because Zeke will be in the PICU longer than originally anticipated, there is a good possibility we will be staying in a hotel close by at night. There isn't really a place for us to stay here other than the waiting room and even that was so crowded last night that there were parents sleeping in chairs at the table. As long as Zeke is doing well, we'd like to try to get some sleep tonight and give up our space in the waiting room to someone who may have a child in more critical condition.

Again, thank you all for your prayers. We will try to update the websites regularly. We love you guys!


Melissa

Zeke's Surgery

Thanks to everyone for their prayers. Zeke is out of surgery and getting set up in the PICU(Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). The plastic surgeon said Zeke did well; however, there were complications from the neurosurgeon's stand point. He had alot of bleeding so they will leave him sedated with a breathing tube tonight. The neurosurgeon is coming to speak to us after he finishes another appointment and we will give you more details of his concerns. Zeke is at CMC-Main.

Thanks again,
In HIM
Brian and Melissa

Tomorrow's the big day...

Hi guys,

Well, tomorrow is the big day. It's amazing to think that this time tomorrow Zeke's surgery will be finished and he will have a "normal" shaped head. We will be arriving at the hospital in the morning at 5:30 AM so Zeke went to bed early tonight in preparation for his big day tomorrow. After the surgery is complete, we will try to get to a computer to put up a post letting everyone know how things are going. He will be in the ICU tomorrow night so cell phones may be our only form of communication for a little while, but we will try to post often with updates. The last time we were in the hospital we were unable to access our blogspot so we had to put posts on the Caringbridge page.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/ezekielhines

Remember to check both sites in case this should happen again. I just want to thank everyone for everything you've done. Most importantly, the prayers--it is very humbling to think that people literally all over the world are praying for Zeke and our family. We cannot begin to thank you for your faithfulness in prayer and fasting. We've also been just so incredibly humbled by the generosity of our friends in preparation for this surgery--the financial gifts, frozen meals, cards, and simply calling to check on us and let us know you're praying. It's like God is constantly speaking to us through His people who are putting their faith into action. It's been such a blessing and such a humbling experience to be where we are. I'm nervous about tomorrow, but I do have a peace that passes understanding. I can honestly say that I have felt your prayers.

We love you all and thank God for you!

December Update

"From the mouths of infants you have established strength." Psalm 8:1

Hi guys!

We have a few Zeke updates we wanted to share. First of all, everything is looking good for his upcoming surgery. We had our pre-op appointments with both the surgeon and the hospital and everything went smoothly. The surgery is scheduled for next Monday at 7:30 AM. We will have to be at the hospital at 5:30 AM. We ask that you keep Zeke in your prayers--pray for the wisdom of the doctors, peace for us as his parents (we're both really nervous), and we ask that you pray that Zeke will stay healthy between now and the surgery. If he gets so much as a common cold, the surgery will have to be postponed as the risk of infection and pneumonia would be too high.


Zeke also had an appointment with the opthamologist and as you can see from the above picture, we have started patching his eye. The opthamologist was very pleased with the visual progress Zeke has made so that was a major praise report. He isn't blinking any more than he was the last time we were in, but we've been successful with keeping his eyes lubricated with artificial tears so that was also a praise.

We also had an appointment with Zeke's urologist and he had a test run to see if his bladder is still refluxing at it is. One option we have is for the urologist to do the corrective surgery again right before Zeke's cranial surgery under the same anesthesia. We are prayerfully considering this option and plan on talking with the plastic surgeon and neurosurgeon about any risks this could bring about. We are currently treating the reflux with an antibiotic.

Zeke's feedings are going fairly well. He seems to be tolerating larger amounts at one time without wretching so that is definitely a good thing. But night feeds have been a struggle lately. He's been waking up during the middle of the night so we've had to unhook him from the pump and he's been missing a large portion of his feeds. It's turned into many times a night here lately so we've decided to temporarily take him off of the pump to get him of the habit (which we believe it's become) of waking up during the night--then we'll start to reintroduce the pump again. It may cause him to loose a couple of ounces, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. His oral feeds have also improved some. He's taking several ounces by mouth during the day and even doing some really good sucking. And if you'll notice in the above picture, he even ate a cookie! We always offer Zeke whatever we are eating (tortilla chips, pretzels, even a pickle!) but he never has much of an interest in putting anything in his mouth mostly due to his oral aversion. But Friday we were eating Chinese food and offered Zeke a fortune cookie which he put right into his mouth!! I replaced it with a Gerber biter biscuit and he at about half of it! I tell you, we were so excited that night you would have thought we'd potty trained him! :-P

Zeke had an in-home evaluation for CAP-C (which would give us nursing and Medicaid) and it's looking like we will qualify! I should hear something more this week--I'll keep everyone updated as we gain new information.

We also have another praise report--Brian got a new job which he will be starting after Zeke's surgery. I'm going to finish out the school year, but then I will be at home full time with Zeke. Although I'm going to be a little sad about not having Brian home as much, I'm excited about staying home full time with Zeke and being more involved with his therapies, etc.

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and friendship.

Brian, Melissa, and Baby Zeke

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

11 Months!

Zeke is 11 months old and we have nothing but good things to report--he's comando crawling, prop-sitting, and babbling up a storm. Thank you all for your continued prayers! We serve a faithful God!

November Update

Hey guys!

I just wanted to post a quick update on Zeke. He's completely recovered from his kidney infection and is doing well. He had an appointment with his urologist who has scheduled more tests--but it is looking like his bladder is still refluxing. That means having to have the reflux repair surgery again--but the good thing is it is a simple outpatient procedure. Right now he's on an antibiotic to prevent future infections.

We have several appointments coming up with various specialists so we will keep you updated as we gain new information.

Zeke is doing VERY well developmentally. He's trying SO hard (as you can see from the pictures) to both sit up and crawl. He's very close to doing both. We're so excited for him!

Thank you all for your prayers!

Kidney Infection

Hi guys....

Please pray for Zeke as he is fighting off a kidney infection. He woke up Saturday morning not feeling well and with a fever and by Saturday night his fever was pretty high so we took him to the ER where they diagnosed him with a kidney infection. They gave him intravenous antibiotics and seemed to be feeling a little better last night, but then his fever got very high again last night so we took him back. They gave him another round of intravenous antibiotics. He's acting better today and so far no incredibly high fevers so hopefully this means we're on the road to recovery. He has a follow up appointment with his pediatrician today and I'm guessing they will send us to the urologist as this is a sign that his bladder reflux repair procedure last month wasn't successful. We ask that you please pray for Zeke's recovery and that he will stay healthy and strong from now until his surgery.

Thank you,

Brian and Melissa

Zeke's 10 months old!

10 Months Old!

Zeke just turned 10 months old and we have SO much to be thankful for. He's done more than anyone (I have to admit even myself) thought he would do at this point and he's continuing to develop and do new things everyday. His head control is improving SO much. I know that he is going to be able to do so much after he has the reconstructive surgery on his head. God has been so faithful to us--even through the times that we haven't been faithful. There are so many things we could be facing with Zeke that God has spared us from facing. I constantly think of something another mom of a special need's child said--she said that when the days are difficult and there seems to be no progress the Lord gently reminds her of how this day could have been a day of grief rather than celebration. Those words ring true in my heart when days are tough and I have fear in my heart rather than faith. This journey with Zeke has made me have to depend on God. It's made me have to use my faith like never before. It's brought me face to face with may tough questions--why do I believe what I believe? Where is God? Is there really even a God up there? But then I remember sitting on my bed the day that I found out about Zeke's brain abnormality and reading in the Bible and seeing that Ezekiel means "the strength of God" and God speaking to my heart that my son would be Ezekiel and that He would give him the strength he needed. And now my biggest challenge his putting Zeke in God's hands--as if he were ever really mine to begin with.

The past 10 months have both tested and strengthened my faith like nothing else in my life. There have been wildnerness experiences and mountain-top experiences--through it all, God is good.

The words to the praise and worship song "Blessed be Your Name" has really had a special place in my heart throughout our whole journey with Zeke. The words are as follows:

"Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful--where your streams of abundance flower, blessed be your name.

And blessed be Your name when I'm found in the desert place--though I walk through the wilderness, blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out, I'll turn back to praise--And when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name when the sun's shining down on me--When the world's all as it should be--Blessed be Your name

And blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering--Though there's pain in the offering--Blessed be Your name

You give and take away, You give and take away, My heart will choose to say--Lord, blessed be Your name."

--Matt Redman

We love you all and thank God for you!

Surgery Date

Hi guys!

We just wanted to send out a quick update on Zeke. He's doing VERY well--doing new things everyday. We have a date for his cranial reconstructive surgery--December 11. We had originally said we didn't want to do the surgery in December because of his birthday and Christmas, but they are not even scheduling for the first of the year yet, so we decided it would be best to take the December date. He will be in the hospital for his birthday, but if there are no complications he will be home for Christmas.

We just ask that you begin to pray now for Zeke and this surgery. This will be his fourth surgery this year (and two of them have been double/triple surgeries) but will be by far the most complicated. The surgery will be performed at CMC-Main. After surgery he will spend a few nights in the ICU and then he should spend the rest of the time on the children's floor. We ask that you pray for the wisdom of the surgeons, the healing of Zeke, and peace for our family. Help us to trust that Zeke is in God's hands.

We will send out another email update after we go in for Zeke's pre-op appointment in November. There are more updates and pictures on our Zeke pages:
http://zekehines.blogspot.com/
www.caringbridge.org/visit/ezekielhines

As always, thank you for your faithfulness in prayer.

The Hines Family

Packin' on the Pounds!

We took Zeke to the doctor because he had a cold and he weighed a whoppin' 15lbs 10 oz! We were very excited! His ideal weight is 20 lbs, but when he reaches the point of at least being on the growth curve, we can start thinking about weaning him off of the pump at night. Right now he's getting a good deal more than the average 9 month old to help him to catch up so he doesn't have a lot of motivation to eat. His desire is improving, however. Yesterday he took two 4 oz bottles by mouth and today he's had two GOOD solid food feedings by mouth. As you can see from the pictures, he does have an interest in at least PLAYING with the food. :-) Even though it's slow, we are making progress. Please pray for Zeke's continued weight gain and desire to eat.

Zeke's 15lbs!

Zeke has FINALLY hit 15lbs! We are VERY excited. He had an appointment with his nutrionist today and then a weight check and he has gained a pound in a week! The nurse and I didn't believe it so we weighed him again, but sure enough, he's put on a good bit of weight. We increased his feeds during the day and at night which has obviously helped. Thank everyone for praying for Zeke's feeds.

Zeke is making progress in every area. He's eating better, sleeping better, and he's got great things going with his development--he's moving objects from hand to hand with ease, reaching more, and he's trying SO hard to crawl. As you can see from the picture of Zeke in his jumper, his head control is REALLY improving. He's also babbling more and more. Thank you all for your prayers regarding Zeke's development.

Happy Grandparents' Day!

Happy Grandparents Day!!

2006

Hernia/Bladder Reflux Repair

Hi guys!

Sorry it's been so long since we've sent out an update on Zeke--things around here have been pretty crazy since I've gone back to work. Zeke has surgery yesterday and he's doing well--he's at home recovering. He had a hernia removed (we thought there were two--he explored the second area and found that there was only one) and his bladder reflux corrected. The surgery went very well and he will be able to discontinue his antibiotic for his reflux. Thank you for your prayers for this procedure--he was quite a trooper! Zeke went in for an MRI this week which will hopefully be the last step in preparation for his reconstructive surgery. We should find out more in a couple of weeks and hopefully even get a date for the surgery. We are hoping for the beginning of October since I have fall break at work but we don't know anything for sure. We will keep everyone updated as we find out more. Zeke is now pretty much fully recovered from the Nissen/G-tube surgery. He hasn't wanted to eat much at all by mouth since the surgery so most of his feedings have been via tube. He needs night feeds in order for him to get his daily caloric intake so right now we've been getting up at night to feed him. Home health is coming
tonight, however, to set us up with a pump so that we can all sleep through the night. This will be a blessing as we'll be able to give Zeke around half of his feedings through the night which may encourage him to eat more during the day. Zeke also saw the ophthalmologist this week and he has some concerns about his eyes. His vision is still improving which is definitely a blessing (when Zeke was born we were told there was the possibility that he was blind), but we are pretty sure that he doesn't have much feeling in his eyes. He's had two significant abrasions in the last couple of months and the ophthalmologist is worried about damage to his eyes. Please pray for his eyes in this regards. He also doesn't blink like a normal child should--he blinks less often and not a full blink. We've started putting drops in his eyes every two hours and gel in his eyes overnight so hopefully this will help them to stay moisturized. If not, there's a possibility he may have to have a procedure to sew the corners of his eyes shut to protect his cornea. We are hoping and praying that the drops will be enough--please pray with us about that. His left eye is also weaker than the right eye and tends to drift a little more. We All else medically is going well--we are quickly approaching Zeke's first birthday with ZERO shunt malfunctions or infections. If you all will remember, Zeke's neurologist told us that it is very rare for a child to make it through their first year with no shunt problems, but every once in awhile he'll see a child make it. So far, so good! This had surely been God answering prayers. :-) We saw the endocrinologist a couple of weeks ago and all was well. He's growing appropriately and finally putting on weight! As most of you know, Brian has quit his office job with Discount Tire Company to go back to the store part time in order for us to work out childcare. Because of this job change, Zeke is now on my insurance. Our new insurance will not cover any of Zeke's therapies so all of them will be changing soon. He will now be getting therapy through the CDSA and it will be free to us. Please pray that this therapy transition will be smooth and the therapists will work well for our family. We are very sad about saying an abrupt goodbye to our old therapists as they've worked with Zeke since birth, but we do feel very blessed to have a Plan B and the ability to receive free therapies. Oh! And we have some very exciting news and a HUGE prayer request. I contacted someone again about CAP-C which would give us in-home nursing as well as Medicaid for Zeke and they sounded hopeful that Zeke may qualify now that he has a diagnoses and more significant developmental delays (when I contacted the organization before they said we wouldn't qualify because Zeke's care wasn't much different than a typical newborn) so we are VERY excited about this possibility. PLEASE pray that this will work out for us. I have to say that God has provided for us in amazing ways financially. I constantly look at our bank account and know that God multiplies our money. But it would be a huge financial burden off of us to have Medicaid. Finally, we just humbly ask for prayers for our
family regarding my job situation. Work has been incredibly hard this year as I'm in a new grade level and having to put in A LOT more hours than last year as I adjust. This has really taken a toll on all of us and we just ask that you pray that God will see us through this difficult time. I humbly ask for your prayers physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I know God will see us through this challenging time. Thank you all again for all of your thoughts, prayers, and support. Have a great September!

Surgery Recovery

Well, we have many praise reports. Since Zeke's surgery, he's been like a different baby. He's slowly starting to sleep better, eat better, and just be more content. He's gaining some weight and we're taking him in for another weight check later this week so hopefully we'll find out he's gained even more.
We also have a prayer request. Since Zeke's surgery, he has developed "dumping syndrome" which is basically just bad diarrhea with each feeding. The surgeon said this is normal, but it's been hard on Zeke. Please pray that the dumping will stop and he will be able to eat without diarrhea again.
Thank you all for your prayers! When Zeke had his follow up with the surgeon he said that Zeke was doing better with his recovery than most children do and I'm sure this is due to all of the prayer.

Nissen and G-tube Surgery

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2006 03:17 PM, CDT
Hi guys! We just wanted to send out an update on Zeke. He was hospitalized a day early (yesterday) because he wad dehydrated and they wanted to give him fluids before surgery. He had his surgery this morning and it was successful. They did the Nissen Fundoplication, placed the g-tube, and did another little procedure that I'll have to do more research on, but basically it was to create a bigger opening out of his stomach. (His stomach emptying study Monday showed that he has a delay with stomach emptying.) Thank you all so much for your prayers! Zeke's blogspot is not an acceptable site from the hospital, so future updates will be posted on Zeke's Caringbridge page. Sorry for the inconvenience!
www.caringbridge.org/visit/ezekielhines
Brian and Melissa


THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2006 09:22 AM, CDT
Just a quick update! Zeke had a very good night last night and so far is having a good morning. They've been giving him plenty of pain medication so he is very comfortable and has been sleeping well. He's even been playing and smiling a little!
The doctor said that he's recovering VERY well and that he should be able to start eating first thing tomorrow morning! I just briefly spoke with a nutritionist who said that we would be feeding him by mouth and put the rest of the feeding in the feeding tube in order to meet his goal. We are very exciting anticipating his weight gain! We keep telling him he's going to be a fat baby soon!
We just wanted to think everyone for the thoughts, prayers, phone calls, and offers to help. At this time we don't really have any needs other than prayer, but we will keep everyone update on that as well. We feel so blessed to have such an awesome support group.
Brian and Melissa


SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2006 06:09 PM, CDT
Good news--Zeke began eating today! And he's doing very well with his feedings. The plan is to slowly increase his feedings until he is meeting his goal. We are going to offer it all to him by mouth and whatever he won't take will go into the g-tube. So far he has finished all of his feedings by mouth and is not fighting at all. We are hoping and praying that this pattern will continue and we will not even need to give him tube feedings. He did have a tube feeding to test the tube and it's working fine. Please pray that he will continue to eat well. We will be coming home Monday as tomorrow we will be spending the day progressing Zeke's feedings and learning how to do tube feedings.
Thank you all again for your prayers!

FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2006 04:10 PM, CDT
The doctor came in to see Zeke this afternoon and said that he agreed with the doctor this morning and we are going to wait until tomorrow to start feedings. He is going to be going very slowly--Pedilite first and then formula in very small amounts later tomorrow afternoon. They will increase the amounts as Zeke tolerates it. Please be in prayer that he will be able to eat and tolerate it and that we will get to go home soon. Right now it is looking more like we will be going home Monday--but I guess we will find out more tomorrow.
Thank you all again for your prayers and we will continue to keep you updated.

FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2006 09:56 AM, CDT
Zeke had another good night last night and is continuing to recover well from surgery. They decided, however, to postpone any food until tomorrow so he's getting hungry and is quite fussy as a result. He's not in too much pain--I think right now the hardest thing on him is waiting to eat. We are hoping and praying that he'll get to come home Sunday, but there's a possibility that it could be Monday or Tuesday.
Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and we will continue to keep everyone updated!
Brian and Melissa


MONDAY, JULY 31, 2006 08:59 PM, CDT
Zeke is home and doing well! He's taking about half of his bottle by mouth and the rest of the bottle in the feeding tube. The home health care nurse said this is because his esophagus is still healing. Thank you all for your prayers and please continue to pray for Zeke's eating.
Brian and Melissa

Nissen and G-tube

We just wanted to let everyone know that Zeke will be having a Nissen Fundoplication and a g-tube placement surgery next Wednesday, July 26th at 10:30AM (we will be arriving at the hospital at 8:30AM). Zeke will be in the hospital 3-5 days or until he is able to eat again. Please pray for Zeke's surgery and for our family as next week is the first week back to school for Melissa and the kids come back Friday (while Zeke is still in the hospital.)

We are excited about this procedure as this will enable Zeke to gain weight and develop properly. It will also help him to be healthy for his other upcoming surgeries. Please pray for Zeke's recovery after surgery and that he will begin eating quickly so that we can take him home.

Also, this will cause us to have to postpone his currently scheduled hernia and bladder reflux surgery. We will let everyone know as soon as we have that procedure rescheduled.

As always, thank you for all of your prayers for Zeke and our family!

Brian and Melissa
http://www.geocities.com/fundofamilies/description.html
http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/normap/gtube.htm