Fear Not

As I mentioned in the last post, Brad's dad, Frank, is in the hospital. He took an unexpected trip there on Carissa's birthday. It was a pretty scary day not knowing if Frank would be alright. Frank had open heart surgery in the beginning of December and he has slowly been recovering.

These are email updates Brad sent:

Friday,February 27th:
* Just before 4pm my dad was brought to the hospital, unconscious and unresponsive. My dad was being worked on in the ER for several hours.
* Somewhere before 6pm, my dad's heart stopped beating for a few minutes. He was dead for about 3-4 minutes and was resuscitated with CPR, electric shock and lots of help from the Great Physician. He was unresponsive until 11pm when my brother & mom left.
* I got to the hospital at midnight Friday night. When I touched his head, he briefly opened his eyes and turned his head. I talked with the nurse for a few minutes. A chaplain came in and prayed. After she prayed, the nurse started talking to my dad. His eyes opened a bit more. She asked him to show her his thumbs and he raised his hands as much as he could.

Saturday, February 28:
* When we arrived in the morning, my dad was very alert with his eyes opened and moving his head around. He still had breathing tubes from the ventilation machine strapped into his mouth. His grip was strong as he shook hands. He received some sedation for his MRI.
* Early to mid afternoon, a few doctors came by and cleared him to breathe on his own. Many of the tubes came out. The doctor said his MRI looked really good and that he probably had a mini-stroke (TIA).
* Shortly after that, he started talking although his vocal cords are still a bit strained from the tubes.
* His long-term memory has been really sharp. His short-term memory was pretty fuzzy.

Sunday, March 1st, AM:
* He's talking much more today and seems to be more alert. His short-term memory seems to be a little better today, but not yet back to normal.
* The doctor said that he was no longer in critical condition today and should move out of the ICU to a regular room sometime today. He said they'd like to continue to watch his heart rate over the next day or two.

As you can see, God's healing hands have been at work in answering prayers, restoring life and health to my dad. Here's a few things that we'd appreciate your prayers on. 1) Dad's short-term memory still has room for improvement. 2) His heart rate needs to become stable. 3) Finding a good dosage / Rx on his blood pressure medication. 4) His postural hypotension has been more pronounced after his heart surgery and even more-so after he got a new blood pressure medication last Tuesday. This condition causes him to faint at times when he gets up after sitting or laying still for a while.

Sunday, March 1st, PM:

A lot has happened in the 2nd half of the day. This afternoon, my dad was moved out of ICU. It looked like he was really starting to improve. When he got to his new room, he thought he was strong enough to move from the transport bed to the hospital room bed on his own. He tried and he really got winded and was struggling a bit with his breathing. He seemed to be doing fine a few minutes later. My brother needed to use a few vacation days so we decided he would stay Monday & Tuesday to be with mom & dad. I left for Houston at 5pm. Bruce called around 8:30 or 9 to say my dad had another episode and his heart had stopped again and after about a minute the doctors and staff were able to resuscitate him. He was moved back to ICU again, is heavily sedated and unresponsive now under sedation. The doctor told Bruce that patients in my dad's condition on Friday have a 5-15% chance of making it back to life. Apparently, it's a lower chance the second time around.

It sounds like he will be in the ICU under sedation and tests the next 1-2 days.

I have to believe in God's will, his timing and his goodness whatever happens going forward. I also believe that God still has plans & purposes for my dad here on earth, especially after he's been restored back to life twice under these circumstances and low odds. I ask that you would continue to pray for my dad's miraculous healing, but most of all that God would be glorified whatever happens.

Please also pray for my mom, brother, myself and our families. This has been an emotional roller coaster the past few days and we need God's strength during this time.

Frank had a pacemaker put in on Thursday, March 4th. Since that time he has had numerous tests run, had and recovered from pneumonia.

The recommendation now is that Frank have a second open heart surgery. His aortic valve replacement from the first surgery is leaking as well as the mitral valve, so those need to be replaced. This will give him the best chance to live a normal, active life. This surgery will probably take place as early as this Friday, but probably sometime early next week.

Brad has been gone for a total of 10 days. We miss him, but we know that's where he needs to be right now. We were able to go for a little visit last weekend. I know Brad is so thankful for the many sacrifices his parents have made for him over his lifetime and he is more than happy to be there for them in their time of need.

So far his work has been very understanding with him taking the time off. Compared to Frank's life, it seems that work just isn't as urgent as it normally is.

It's easy to wonder how all of the details are going to be worked out, but Frank's doctor told him yesterday "fear not." That is great advice. We have hope in God and His ability to work out all of the details. And because of Christ's work on the cross, "even if it's not going to be ok, it's going to be ok." (Another bit of great advice from our friend, Jerry.)