Tough Going for Karl Dear All, I write asking for deep prayers for Karl. The good news is that he is completely off of the seditives, making him more alert. The bad news is that there is still an enourmous amount of mucous in his lungs, and an inexplicable fever--very high. Both are expected aspects of withdrawl--in fact, the comparison has even been made to an addict's withdrawl from drugs. He is now alert enough to know that it is no fun to be suctioned, and his body reacts to it too, by making him vomit. It is horrible, painful, to watch. I beg for prayers for Karl, that this stage may pass by quickly, and get no worse. I need prayers for little girl Else, who wants to play and giggle rather than go to sleep, and wonders why Mama is not able to spend time with her like before. I need prayers for me, who wants to jump out of my skin when I see my little boy suffer so tortuously, and when I see my little girl cry when my sister takes her away from me for a late night walk through the hospital halls so that I can hold Karl's hand without distraction, and who simply needs to sleep but can't because of Karl's helplessness and Else's playfulness. On an up-note, however, Karl's day care let off hundreds of balloons today, all with strings attached to a beautiful picture of Karl, with wishes of "Gute Besserung" for him. The leader of the day care had read the "hochheben story," and decided to enact it with helium balloons. So they set the balloons off with a cry of "Drei, zwei, eins, HOCHHEBEN!" God is good. Anna