Ethan was shot with a .308 deer rifle in the lower left leg. He has been in critical condition though he is much more stable now. He has now received more than 8 units of blood.
Last night the doctor said that blood flow is still good. There are 3 arteries that serve the leg. Ethan only has two arteries from birth. So he only has two arteries one is bad and is good. Blood flow keeps the antibiotics to the tissue and fights infection.
They are waiting to see the doctor to see the results of the angiogram. This is an xray of the vascular system in his leg.
His leg is still super serious and we do not know if they will be able to save it or not.
Tony Howeth is having to cancel most of his meetings. He will try to preach local meetings but cannot travel normally. The only meetings he will be able to do are those on Sundays and Wednesdays.
I again ask you to consider a special offering for him. You can get info on this here.
I am in Northern Ireland and so cannot keep up with everything like I should but thank you for praying.
I should be getting some more information soon and will let you know. Be sure and read the comments because that is where I will put whatever else I hear today.
I am hearing from Mark Coffey and John Pearson now. They are discussing Ethan.
Ethan has lost a four inch section of his bone from the knee to the ankle. It blew out a round section.
They will have to cut the bone. His leg would be about 2 inches shorter.
The family has not made a decision and they do not have to make a decision yet.
They will have to transfer muscle and artery from other parts of the body.
His leg would be two inches shorter but they would do things to try and grow it.
He will probably never be able to pick up his toes.
He will have to pick up foot higher or sling leg when he walks.
they have to consider that he will go through all of this and maybe still have to amputate it.
His life is no longer in danger. He is stable right now and not in critical condition.
He is groggy from the drugs etc. Mark and others have talked to Ethan.
they have two hard decisions to make or choose from. Sometimes what they do will not work and you have taken muscles from abdomen and back.
So the solution could end up causing other trouble and still lose the leg.
The surgeon will come and talk tonight. This will be a plastic surgeon is coming. He is more detailed and will be able to help them know more about what might be best.
Another problem that can be caused is getting staff infections.
I still ask you to be praying for the Howeth’s financial situation and I will be keeping you posted on what you need to know to help them.
They talked to Ethan about the fact that he might lose his leg. It hit him hard as to the reality of it.
Ethan is on a roller coaster as is all the family.
Seth needs prayer as well. He seems to be doing well but is really hurting. Seeing Ethan really hurts him obviously.
We are praying for the Howeth family.
We talked to the plastic surgeon and he said he won’t be able to really tell us either way until he does some exploratory surgery tomorrow. The surgery will be around 4pm.
Mark Coffey The ICU people just asked me to go in the waiting room for shift change until 8am. All went well last night. Ethan was able to get on the computer and now his new ipod touch is connected to the Internet so I believe he is happy.
Ethan posted this on facebook
Ethan posted something on your Wall and wrote:
“hey bro trent if u can please bring all the teens up i want to have a prayer meetin up here?”
First of all I want to thank all of you for your kindness, love and
prayers. I was telling Ethan about people praying for him from all
over the world. He just cried and said, “Dad I don’t deserve that.”
Needless to say we were both bawling.
He is in a test to tell blood flow in the leg affected. They are
trying to see if they can reconstruct the bone, muscle. There was
about a 4″ section literally blown away.
He has come so far and I believe is out of the life threatening stage
but the leg is not. There is still a great possibility he could have
it amputated below the knee.
God’s grace has been overwhelming. I thank you all again for your
kindness and am not able right now to communicate individually.
Please, please forgive me.
Our family is so grateful for the each of you.
Thank you.
Bro. Tony
We just talked to the doctors. Tony, Stacey, and Ethan have a very difficult decision to make. They have to decide by Sunday whether to try and keep the leg or amputate.
The doctor did say he believes there is a good chance that the initial surgery would be successful- 75%. He presented the pros and cons of both sides.
Pray for the Howeth family please. This is a very difficult decision to make as a parent that will effect the rest of their son’s life.
The family has decided to go toward trying to save the leg after talking to the doctors last night and after talking to a previous patient who went through the same procedure.
The plans right now are for them to do surgery on Monday. It will be an 8 hour surgery where they will take a muscle from Ethan’s back and use it to fill in the hole and protect the bone on his leg.
It looks like he will be in the hospital for around 6 weeks if everything goes well. We do not know how much of the bone they will have to take out. It could be anywhere from 2 to 5 inches.
Good Morning Preacher,
I trust all is going well for you today. As you probably know, Bro. Tony Howeth, Deputation Director for Macedonia World Baptist Mission, and his family have been through a great trial this week. Many of you have been updated by others yet some may not know. Bro. Howeth’s youngest son, Ethan, was accidentally shot earlier this week in his left leg below his knee. They are at the Atlanta Medical Center and facing a major decision by tomorrow.
Last night the plastic surgeon told them that reconstruction was possible without removing the leg but that it would take 2 to 3 years of several operations, rehab, and pain. They also have the option to go ahead and remove the leg and fit for a prosthesis. They need us to pray for God to give them wisdom for the right decision as it will affect Ethan for the remainder of his life. Today they will meet with people who have been faced with the same options and learn from their decisions before making their own decision tomorrow.
Please have your church family to lift them up in the matter.
Thank You,
Bro. Gary Ledford
You may send cards of encouragement to
Ethan Howeth
303 Parkway Drive NE
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-265-4000
Room 263 (ICU)
Just talked to Bro. Dean Hamby and I ask him to set up a medical fund so you can send your gifts to help with the medical expenses for Missionary Tony Howeth’s family for Ethan. The contributions can be mailed to: Macedonia World Baptist Mission P.O.B. 519 Braselton, Ga 30517 Disignation: ” Tony Howeth Medical” #181-020. Members of Whitfield Baptist we will receive an offering Sunday!
Ethan is now having a very critical test to see if they can find some veins to rebuilt the muscles and tissue in his lower leg. Please pray.
Thank you
Bro. Wayne
Stacey Johnson Howeth is excited that Ethan has moved out of sicu to a room on the 5th floor.
We are praying for Ethan at Immanuel Baptist in Cabbagetown. We are confident in God for Ethan.
Bill Mickler