Pray for Sawyer

Our dear friends the Lair family is in desperate need of prayer. Please join me.

Below is the most recent update from Stephen (aka the dad). Prior to this update, Sawyer has been in the hospital for 2 days complete with a transfer via ambulance. His first symptoms were a bug similar to hand, foot, and mouth, but has turned into much more as you will read below. Please lift up this family with me.


"Well I would love to report that everything was hunky-dory in Sawyerland but alas that is not the case. Previously on 24(month old)- The MRI took twice as long as we initially thought which was a delightful experience for a waiting mother not allowed in the room. WakeMed will undoubtedly spend thousands re-wallpapering the waiting room from the mother claw marks on every vertical surface. The big concern at the moment was that his temperature would not regulate itself and that the infection was in his bones. The good news is that the MRI showed that the infection is not in his bones. The bad news is that the MRI showed inflamation of the tissue surrounding the muscles in the left leg. This looked to the team of pediatric specialists most like fasciitis. Before you google it they do not at this point believe it is the popular flesh-eating form of the bacteria. Just your garden variety severe bacterial infection of the tissue of the left leg. Good times. This diagnosis would fit nicely with their previous declaration of the interovirus. They think that perhaps the bacteria got into his body through one of the sores around his mouth and headed south to the land of the rising bum. They started a third antibiotic cocktail with the hope that this would reverse the swelling in his leg before any serious nerve damage had been done. Our other concern is that he hasn't eaten anything in around a week. There was talk about a possible feeding tube if his appetite didn't pick up. So last night we went to bed, Cher in the hospital and me on the couch, with a prayer in our hearts and hope on the horizon for a dramatic change of course for our two year old son. Unfortunately, morning brought very little solace. The antibiotics were not effective in reducing the swelling in his leg and the temperature continues to dip down to 97 and slowly climb back up. With the swelling, more pain which brought morphine to help make him comfortable. The situation had rapidly turned from bad morning to horrible nightmare. The pediatric surgeon was consulted last night just in case and today we opened that case. Sawyer was treated to another ride in an ambulance from WakeMed in Raleigh to the Pediatric ICU at UNC in Chapel Hill. I have until this point felt it was important to maintain some semblance of normalcy for the boys at home. Today our priorities changed. My wife needs me. I am here at the hospital now with her at Sawyer's side. We are awaiting the surgical consult to determine our next course of action. As always, our church community has amazed us with their physical support on the ground. The body of believers has certainly embraced us in every conceivable way. The future is a complete enigma at this point. I will continue to keep everyone as up to date as possible. While this is the most terrified that either of us has ever been, we rest in our God who is larger than any situation that could possibly befall us. There is no diagnosis that evades him. There is no bacteria he cannot eliminate, no infection he cannot treat. We love our child more than we could possibly express. Our God loves him more. We cry because he suffers. Our God knows what it means to watch a son suffer. We are comforted by the knowledge that the God who has ordered every aspect of our lives is not a distant force or theory but a present savior who knows and cares for his children and grants us all that we need to endure the course laid before us. Your prayers have sustained us in ways that I am excited to tell you about once these days are past. However, we continue to be in desperate need of his Spirit and pray that he is glorified in us. Thank you for all you are doing. Stephen and Cher"

Sawyer has been taken in for surgery. Please pray for his doctors, family, and of course healing for him.