MARCH 11TH

We have a 9 am appointment with the chief of neuro-surgery Dr.Ruy Monteiro. Before seeing the doctor, Mike manages to sneak in a peek on Eman. As he walks in and Eman says "DAD, Last night I felt tingles in my legs and in my feet!!!!" - PRAYER IS CHANGING THINGS. The night before we had specifically prayed for some "tangible signs" to encourage Eman. This is SUCH good news. Our meeting with Dr.Ruy however is not! We see Eman's scans and he explains the situation to us in detail. We can see that Eman's spine is intact, perfectly aligned in fact. He explains that what Eman felt was an intense shock wave in his chest and that the actual HEAT and synergy of the bullet is what sent a searing wave over his spinal cord and literally seared a lesion on his spinal cord. The doctor adds, this injury is unusual, it's not "text book", we see a lot of spinal cord injuries from car accidents, sports etc.. but with this injury the damage has been caused by the burning heat the bullet emitted. In addition a piece of fragmented vertebra has lodged against his spinal cord. The lesion is such that he will be without motor skills and nerve sensation from his chest down. Medically, surgically there is nothing they can do! The damage has been caused and any attempted surgery could cause further or more extensive damage. We ask: "but Eman is feeling tingles and small sensations in his foot and leg" - doctor: "This could be psychological", we ask if they plan on doing further tests after the swelling in his thorax goes down. They are not. The only other test that might give a clearer picture is an MRI, but Eman still has the bullet in his body and so no doctor will authorize an MRI. You need to look into rehabilitation he says. We discuss catheters, wheelchairs and other aids. As we leave the doctor's study our hearts feel heavy. We were hoping for some overlooked information or some alternate medical or surgical possibilities and there are none! We make our way to Eman. A neuro-surgeon has just paid him a visit too and he looks discouraged, it seems we have exhausted the assistance these medical experts can give us. Their scans and scalpels and surgeries cannot fix this. We are not despairing! We are trusting in the miracle working power of prayer. We tell Eman "we are in this for the long haul". We are going to focus and fight and work together and trust God. We've smuggled him in some eggs and yogurt, his hospital lunch arrives and it's good. He is eating well. We are rubbing his legs and feet, he can FEEL it. I tell him to close his eyes and tell me where I'm touching him, I start tapping his right knee.................. he says "my right foot". This is FANTASTIC news, he feels more on his right than on his left it seems. When we leave although it has been a somber visit assimilating the doctor's "final word" on the situation, we're not dwelling on the negative facts, we're trying to face the future with faith and determination. Later that afternoon Arthur and Daniel, [a good friend of Eman] visit during the "official" visiting hour. Daniel says Eman's eyes have a "brilho" [shine] and that he cannot believe how WELL he looks considering the last 6 days. This is a miracle. This is YOUR miracle, you who are praying and fighting in spirit with us. We cannot tell you how much your prayers mean to us. I told Eman today, I said "I'm writing up a storm about this, if God's concerned about His reputation he'd better do something quick cuz there's a lot of people expecting something here". 5 days ago I didn't have the faintest idea in my mind about "starting a blog" and now this small space online is nearing 10,000 visits. None of us "planned" this, none of us know the final outcome, none of us know the "reasons" but I do know God is IN this, somehow He is going to work things out for His good.