waiting, praying and wondering...

Grandpa and Grandma with Courtney and Jerry - October 2014

As we enter this final week of Advent, Jerry and I once again find ourselves praying for a loved ones health and healing. Jerry's Dad, Don, had been feeling unwell about ten days ago and after trying to work through a few things at home, my mother-in-law Eleanor made the command decision to head to the hospital. At 85 my father-in-law has a complicated medical picture and she wasn't taking any chances.

Once they arrived they discovered that Don had an irregular heartbeat and his blood pressure was out of whack. Over the course of the next three days they seemed to get everything under control. They did a heart cath and found a very minor blockage that they started to treat medically. They did an ablation and got him back into to regular sinus rhythm by Tuesday of this past week.

Then Wednesday morning around 4 am he went into cardiac arrest. It was a Code Blue, CPR administered event that has left our family quit shaken. It took six tries to intubate my father-in-law and they did CPR for a full 20 minutes in the process. Since then he has had numerous tests to try and figure out what caused this to happen. During a CAT scan of his chest, the Docs found a hematoma outside the esophageal area. During a later CAT scan of the brain they have found a very small anomaly in the right occipital lobe of the brain indicating a possible brain bleed or evidence of a small stroke.

He is still intubated and sedated. The hematoma has subsided somewhat over the last five days which means the body is doing t's job and healing itself. As far as the little blip in the brain, they will take more film tomorrow to see what's up there. Even under sedation Don has responded to simple commands to open his eyes, squeeze a hand, and wiggle his toes. Although yesterday my mother-in-law felt he was weaker than he had been in the previous days which is a cause for some concern.

Due to financial constraints, Jerry and I have remained in Virginia while Jerry's mother and sister sit at beside Don's bedside in Oklahoma. We hope to be able to leave later this week to spend Christmas in Oklahoma with the family, wether it's in the hospital or not. Please send up prayers of healing for Don, if that be God's will. Also prayers for my mother-in-law Eleanor and Jerry's siblings as they all make their way through this situation. We know all too well that our plans may not be the ones God has in store for us. So we pray for the courage to want what He wants, no matter the outcome.

Waiting, praying and wondering what will be.

This seems to be our cross to bear in Advent ever since our daughter Courtney went home to God two years ago. The second Anniversary of her death is next Tuesday, December 27. The irony of the timing of these two events is not lost on Jerry or I. I don't hazard a guess as to what God's plan is with all of this, but I know my Courtney is encouraging her Grandpa from the other side of the veil. I know that if God does call my father-in-law home to him in the next few days/weeks, my daughter will be right behind Jesus to welcome her Grandpa home.

Happy Advent my dear friends and thank you for your prayers. As always, they are what sustains us in the joys and the sorrows of life.

Labels: ,