uvageek

My cousin, Anna, and sister-in-law, Heather, have been attending to tidying up my parents house this weekend and in doing so came across a few things of note.  One of which was a prayer that had me quite choked up.  My grandmother (mom’s mom) had bypass heart surgery at the age of 80 (I think?) last year.  My mom tends to write her thoughts out so as to be able to meditate upon them.  She wrote out a prayer for her own mother that was pretty touching that I think is pretty applicable that we pray for her as well.  The reference to Pegs is to her sister.

From July 6, 2007

O Lord, surely I am standing on holy ground as I write to you about Mama. Your will be done of course but definitely I’m not ready to let go … so I ask you to incline your ear and consider helping her heart continue beating, you know it so well as you knit her together in her mother’s womb. Please warm her body to the perfect temperature Lord and allow her lungs to do what they need to do - O Lord, protect her from infection. Lord let the meds be just right for the pain, hold her body in your hands Lord, gently and lovingly just as she would hold us ….
Thank you Lord that you are there with her. Thank you for holding her, thank you for loving her and understanding her … for being her all in and all and her perfect husband. Lord, even as Mama is resting in your arms, hold my Pegs too. Give her rest tonight. Refresh her naturally. Refresh her Lord … thanks. You are high exalted and worthy of praise dear Lord. There is none like you for you are the one true God. Lord I pray Mama understands that. If not, let her understand that now.

“It was raining like stink,” Sammy Jenkins concerning the rain that was pounding down yesterday on his way down to Statesboro, GA.

Yes, I realize that it might be one of those things where you’re scratching your head going, “Say what?”  But that’s it, it grabs your attention and is one of those word replacements where you’re like, “Say what?”

Maybe it’s just the stress and being tired here in the ICU waiting room…

As we sit here, waiting, praying, encouraging one another in the waiting room here at the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center we smile and chuckle every so often at the medical droids passing through the hallway just off to the side that allows for foot traffic to the different areas of the hospital.

Tugs is a little medical droid that moves around the hospital, picking up and delivering lab results to and from various parts of the hospital.  From what I’ve gathered through hours of observation, Tugs scans the floor for foot traffic, analyzing where obstructions are and navigating around them.  I’m not quite sure if he uses lasers or infrared or optical analysis, but I have to say that I’m impressed - he hasn’t run into anyone or fall over yet.

So the worst part of being here in the neuro ICU waiting area to me is probably hearing family walk in and out checking on one another and relaying news from a distance, only to keep looking up and wondering when mom is going to walk in to check on everyone and convey news - only to then realize, wait, she’s the one that we’re pulling for and praying for… the joys of trying times.

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and well wishes for my mom and the rest of the family. I can’t tell you how encouraging it is to have my blackberry chirping and buzzing throughout the day with facebook updates, twitters and e-mails and texts of love, concern and prayer. I do declare we’ve got the best friends and family this side of the known universe! What a blessing you all are to us, and I mean that most sincerely.

Okay so the update for things as I know them…

Mom received another CAT scan yesterday morning and from what we can tell the swelling in her brain has gone down quite a bit (a good sign). The doctor said that he was encouraged by what he saw, but did caution that we are not out of the woods yet.  Every day will have its battles, some will be won, some will be lost - we will persevere.

The next step if everything continues to go well, is for a small surgery to take place to put in a drain (AKA stent). This will help to remove the excess fluid in her brain and decrease the pressure against the brain.  Mind it’s brain surgery which is something that even the most minor of surgeries is pretty serious - we covet your prayers.  Once this has been accomplished, the neurosurgeons will best understand how to proceed and what their plan shall be.

Yesterday when we went in to visit her in the ICU she continued to move her right foot and arm. The newest development is that she now has a little bit of movement on her left side as well.  When Dad leaned over and whispered in her ear last night, she started moving around considerably - I’m not buying the automatic reflex of the trauma, to me that’s a bright indiciation that she hears us pretty clearly. It was an encouragement for us all to see her respond as she did to dad’s voice.

We’re not out of the woods yet as the surgeon said, we’re still in watch and wait.  There are several uncertainties, unknown factors and as my aunt who is a nurse practitioner and research at Emory says, several land mines still must be navigated around.

We remain hopeful and are encouraged by the latest news.  Thank you all for your prayers and concerns, it’s evident to me the Holy Spirit here surrounding us and holding us up, giving us strength.

On 10 October, my parents were involved in a car accident on their way to Spartanburg, SC.  My mom is currently in ICU, dad is physically okay, but emotionally exhausted.  We covet your prayers and thoughts that mom will make a full recovery - if it be the Lord’s will.

As for me, I’m more or less speechless and dumbfounded.  Trust in the Lord, in all things I have to remind myself, as hard as it is.

First of all I want to thank each and everyone of you for your well wishes and prayers for our family. I’m sorry that I am not able to respond to each of your individual e-mails, twitters, facebook comments, phone calls or text messages at the present time.  I’m reading them and doing my best to respond, each one has been a lift me up to myself and family here with us in Spartanburg, SC.

We’ve been showered with messages and are constantly reassuring one another with your thoughts, hugs, prayers and everything to the rest of the family.

Mom’s injuries at the present time are as follows:

- Fractured skull on the right side
- Subarachnoid hemorrhage
- Right rib fracture with punctured lung
- Open fracture on her right wrist
- The right side of her pelvis also has a fracture
- Compression fracture on her lumbar vertebra
- Hematoma (large bruise) on her right eye

The first two on the list are what is of most concern right now. Brain injuries are tricky things, the first 24-72 hours are the most vital. For now we are in a watch and wait mode.

We remain vigilant, hoping and praying for the best, relying on the Lord, knowing that it’s His will, and not our own that will be done.

We’ve been able to go in and spend time with mom.  Although she cannot talk, or open her eyes, she is able to move her right leg, in addition to her right arm when we talked to her.  We’re not quite certain as to if this is an automatic reflex as a result of the head trauma, but we’re choosing to think that this is her only way to let us know that we hear her.  Her pulse seems to kick up when ever we’re talking to her which I can only say brings tears to her sons eyes knowing she hears us.

We’ll be updating everyone through various means of text messages, e-mails, twitters and blog postings as we learn more.

As always we continue to covet your prayers for our family, and for the amazing doctors and nursing staff at the hospital here in Spartanburg SC.