Thursday, April 23, Mom and I got to hear the good news together. I wrote in my e-mail:
Mom just called the nurse and Dad is resting comfortably. They put a feeding tube in this morning and it is working well, so that's another praise!! They are going to keep him sedated for a few more days because he's been trying to take the breathing tube out (which is not uncommon). The nurse said he's getting feisty, which we take as a good sign that he's actually feeling better. Most encouraging to us is that the ventilator (hooked up through the tracheostomy) is only needing to give him 40% of his oxygen. And they will try to keep getting his oxygen levels on the vent down until, Lord willing, he can breathe on his own.
So please keep praying! God is at work, and we are so grateful that Dad's life has been spared, and it feels like he's beginning to come back to us. Please pray that God will help Dad to need the ventilator less and less and the levels will keep going down until he won't need it at all! It would be amazing if God answered this prayer so quickly that Dad doesn't even need to go into rehab!!!
Thank you all for your continued prayers. Mom misses Dad so much, but we are encouraged to get good news two days in a row! God has been so gracious in sustaining us and holding us. He has shown us the Body of Christ at work through each one of you, and we cannot tell you how grateful we are. "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." ~ Ephesians 3:20-21
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Of course, good news two days in a row meant we would get bad news the next day and we did. Dad was too agitated, moving around in bed and kicking his legs. This meant the nurses needed to keep him sedated so that he wouldn’t hurt himself, and Mom wasn’t allowed to talk to him because the nurse said no family phone calls, afraid hearing our voices would make him worse. But the good news was that he was stable and his ventilator use was at 40%. And the feeding tube was providing him with much-needed nourishment.
God gave me Isaiah 63:9a “In all their distress He too was distressed, and the angel of His presence saved them…” I wrote, “God knows how much we long for Dad to be made well and whole. And to think that He weeps with us while He accomplishes His perfect will is such a comfort. Just like He waited 4 days for Mary and Martha, He won't make us wait any longer than necessary.”
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