Next Sunday, March 8th, we would love for everyone to come back to the Oak's Baptist Church at 4PM for another time of celebration. The band from yesterday will be leading us in some music and then the rest of the time will be open-mic share time. Be thinking about what God has done or is doing in your life through this right now. Originally, we had wanted to have a big celebration when Phil came home from the hospital to sit around and sing praises to God and tell Phil all that God did in our lives while he was going through all of this. We still want to sit around and praise God and build the body up by sharing with one another how God has used this in our lives. Please be open and honest as God may want to use what you have learned in someone else's life.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Thank You!!!!
Wow, we continue to be overwhelmed and blown away by all of you and God's grace. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for our family. We have been very blessed. We have loved and cherish all of the stories you have shared with us about how God touched your life through Phil. We thank God for allowing us to be apart of such a wonderful celebration service yesterday and graveside service today. What a great time it was of praising God's name through word and song. We also thank Him for the gorgeous weather both days and for how He has been using this in all of our lives. This afternoon Vicki, the florist, came over and we reworked some of the flower arrangements and are headed over to the hospital this evening for shift change. We have an arrangement for the day nurses, night nurses, and chaplain's office. They became like family to us. Many of you were able to meet them as well. Right now everyone is zonked and taking naps before we go tonight.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Celebration/Share Time
I just wanted to let everyone know that next Sunday, March 8th, at 4:00PM, we will be gathering together at the Oaks Baptist Church for a time of worship and sharing. It will be a laid back time of worship through song and open mic time. We want for everyone to have an opportunity to share how God is working in your lives through this or what He has been teaching you. Also, we would love for you to share your favorite memories of Phil. Please plan on joining us for this time of praising God for the life of Phil.
Friday, February 27, 2009
All the Details....
We are truly honored by the letter from the staff on the Oaks Website. Please take time to read it as it truly reveals our hearts in all of this.
http://discovertheoaks.com/wewillmissphil.html
Visitation: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 6-9PM at Jaynes Memorial Chapel in Duncanville. Here is a link to Phil's obituary and the funeral home website.
http://www.jaynesmemorialchapel.com/obituaries.php?PHPSESSID=caa5e9709bfeaf72f99590ee3b19dbaf
Celebration Service: Sunday, March 1, 2009, 3PM at The Oaks Baptist Church, Grand Prairie.
http://discovertheoaks.com/index.html Following the service, we will be staying around to talk with friends and family and enjoy some refreshments together.
Graveside Burial Service: Monday, March 2, 2009, 10AM at Little Bethel Cemetary, Duncanville. All are invited to come, but we understand many have to work.
All are also invited to attend the Oak's worship services Sunday morning. Classic service is at 9AM and Contemporary is 10:45AM.
http://discovertheoaks.com/wewillmissphil.html
Visitation: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 6-9PM at Jaynes Memorial Chapel in Duncanville. Here is a link to Phil's obituary and the funeral home website.
http://www.jaynesmemorialchapel.com/obituaries.php?PHPSESSID=caa5e9709bfeaf72f99590ee3b19dbaf
Celebration Service: Sunday, March 1, 2009, 3PM at The Oaks Baptist Church, Grand Prairie.
http://discovertheoaks.com/index.html Following the service, we will be staying around to talk with friends and family and enjoy some refreshments together.
Graveside Burial Service: Monday, March 2, 2009, 10AM at Little Bethel Cemetary, Duncanville. All are invited to come, but we understand many have to work.
All are also invited to attend the Oak's worship services Sunday morning. Classic service is at 9AM and Contemporary is 10:45AM.
His Grace is Sufficient
Hello Everyone. I just wanted to thank everyone again for their continued prayers and support. Thank you for being there for us. Last night could not have gone better- surrounded by our brothers and sisters in Christ. It was such a peaceful time. I have to be honest with everyone, I had alway feared having to watch someone close to me dying, and thought it would be a horrible experience, but last night went very peacefully. All of us knew that Phil was not there, and that he had gone on to be with the Lord. Thank you Phil for taking me through this and teaching me more than I could have every learned in medical school- how to be there for families when they go through this same experience with their loved ones. Now when I have to talk with families about making the decisions we had to make, I can speak from experience and can share with them the hope I have because of Jesus Christ. What an awesome time we had the hours before he passed. Many friends and family gathered and we sung around his bed. The nurses closed our door and we worshipped together. God is really working in the lives of the nurses. I looked out the window while we were singing and Tammy and Kendra were crying. You could tell Dr. Ruiz and Dr. Koje were having a hard time with everything as well. I was able to thank them for all they did, and Dr. Ruiz told us about losing his dad to liver cancer. Then Byron came on for the night shift and he did an amazing job of making Phil look so nice and then called us all back in to see him. Dr. Levy even came by and spoke with us. Justin was able to boldly tell him that we have hope in Christ. As they left for the evening, Kendra and Tammy came out crying and hugged our family bye. Then Robert didn't even know what was happening and he walked over from working in another part of the hospital and came and hugged us. He couldn't understand why all of us were thanking him, because he said they lost. That broke our hearts. Continue to pray for the nurses as we are going to be inviting them to the services and celebration time. I told Bryon that he should come and meet the real Phil Childress. Phil wanted us to donate his organs, but they were unable to use them because of his low oxygen state. However, they approached us about doing an autopsy so that they could learn more about Hepatopulmonary Syndrome. We were honored to and know that Phil would hope they could learn from him. It was so awesome to come out of the room and there were around 50 people waiting there. Thank you for being there.
It was hard coming home. Kristin slept with Beth, and Justin and I stayed at the house too with Grandma. It was crazy how so many memories starting popping up one after another. The temporary, earthly things started popping up. Pray that the eternal will be heavy on our hearts, and the temporary things of this world would not be our focus. We all sleeped so, so. Pray that as memories swarm our minds, we would not be filled with bitterness and anger, but with love, praise, and gratitude to God for allowing us to have the gift and blessing of Phil. Justin is really stuggling with this so please pray that Satan will not rob the joy during this time, but that it would be a time of praise to our Father.
This morning we went to the funeral home. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The worst part was the coffin room. Just as Kristin doesn't like hospitals, I don't like the funeral stuff you have to go through. It seems so weird to place so much emphasis on preserving the flesh, when we know He is really in heaven. We then had to go to the cemetary and pick out plots, and the lady was like a used car salesman. We then went to Kitchen's Deli, a family favorite, and were treated by our friends. This was such a blessing to our family. Phil used to always take Grandma there when she would come to visit. We then went to meet with our friend, Vicki, to talk about the flowers. This was the best meeting all day. This is her gift from God, and we are so excited she is worshiping the Lord as she designs the flowers. She is taking off work on Monday and she is going to rework some of the arrangements and we are going to take flowers to the nurses at the hospital.
We then came home and a few friends came by, and we have started to plan the celebration of Phil's life. Sunday is going to be a great day!
Continue to pray that God would be our stronghold through this time, and that He would be our comfort. Pray especially for Beth- that God would overwhelm her with his presence and comfort during this time. Pray for Justin that God would allow all memories with his dad to stir up affections for the Lord and would not stir up anger and bitterness. Please pray that we would remain in communion with the Lord and sensitive to him speaking to us. Pray for Justin and what God would have for him to share at the celebration. Continue to pray that God's name would be made great through this and that the gospel will go out through this- that people will come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ through this.
Please continue to pray and journal and ask the Lord what he wants you to learn or teach you through this journey or anything He has done during this time. Please bare your soul and be vulnerable and honest. We would love it if you would email this to phil@discovertheoaks.com
We want to compile a book to share just a glimpse of what God is doing and has done through this.
It was hard coming home. Kristin slept with Beth, and Justin and I stayed at the house too with Grandma. It was crazy how so many memories starting popping up one after another. The temporary, earthly things started popping up. Pray that the eternal will be heavy on our hearts, and the temporary things of this world would not be our focus. We all sleeped so, so. Pray that as memories swarm our minds, we would not be filled with bitterness and anger, but with love, praise, and gratitude to God for allowing us to have the gift and blessing of Phil. Justin is really stuggling with this so please pray that Satan will not rob the joy during this time, but that it would be a time of praise to our Father.
This morning we went to the funeral home. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The worst part was the coffin room. Just as Kristin doesn't like hospitals, I don't like the funeral stuff you have to go through. It seems so weird to place so much emphasis on preserving the flesh, when we know He is really in heaven. We then had to go to the cemetary and pick out plots, and the lady was like a used car salesman. We then went to Kitchen's Deli, a family favorite, and were treated by our friends. This was such a blessing to our family. Phil used to always take Grandma there when she would come to visit. We then went to meet with our friend, Vicki, to talk about the flowers. This was the best meeting all day. This is her gift from God, and we are so excited she is worshiping the Lord as she designs the flowers. She is taking off work on Monday and she is going to rework some of the arrangements and we are going to take flowers to the nurses at the hospital.
We then came home and a few friends came by, and we have started to plan the celebration of Phil's life. Sunday is going to be a great day!
Continue to pray that God would be our stronghold through this time, and that He would be our comfort. Pray especially for Beth- that God would overwhelm her with his presence and comfort during this time. Pray for Justin that God would allow all memories with his dad to stir up affections for the Lord and would not stir up anger and bitterness. Please pray that we would remain in communion with the Lord and sensitive to him speaking to us. Pray for Justin and what God would have for him to share at the celebration. Continue to pray that God's name would be made great through this and that the gospel will go out through this- that people will come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ through this.
Please continue to pray and journal and ask the Lord what he wants you to learn or teach you through this journey or anything He has done during this time. Please bare your soul and be vulnerable and honest. We would love it if you would email this to phil@discovertheoaks.com
We want to compile a book to share just a glimpse of what God is doing and has done through this.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Phil is Home!
Psalm 116:15 - "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."
Phil went Home around 8:00pm this evening. He was surrounded by family and many friends in his final moments. God was gracious and took him Home very peacefully.
A Celebration Service is scheduled for Sunday, at 3:00pm at The Oaks Baptist Church in Grand Praire. A graveside service will be held sometime Monday - final arrangements will be posted as soon as they are made. If you would like to give a gift in Phil's memory, you can give in one of the following ways:
-Phil's passion was to do mission work in Kenya. One of his driving forces for receiving a new liver was for his health to be such that it would allow him to travel to Kenya. To give to Buckner Kenya in his memory, please make your check payable to The Oaks Baptist Church and notate Buckner Kenya in the memo line. You can give your check at the church, personally, or mail it to 801 E-I-20, Grand Prairie, TX 75052.
-If you would like to give to the liver fund, please do so as posted in a previous blog. These funds will be used towards any outstanding medical bills, funeral expenses, or flights for family.
-If you would like to give flowers, please contact Special Occasions by Vicki at (972) 296-5587.
Above all, may God's name continue to be made great - continue to seek Him fervently as He continues His work in us. The thing that will honor Phil's memory the most is for all of us to draw closer to God and recognize His work in all of this. We would love to hear from you as to how God is moving and working in you - we ask you to share deep from your heart and to not be afraid to empty yourself before Him and allow Him to stir you deeply. If you are willing to share, please send it in an email to phil@discovertheoaks.com.
In closing, please pray over this verse and remember Phil in a prayer of celebration, as He is now Home with his Heavenly Father and wholly healed.
I Thess 4:13-18- "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words."
Phil went Home around 8:00pm this evening. He was surrounded by family and many friends in his final moments. God was gracious and took him Home very peacefully.
A Celebration Service is scheduled for Sunday, at 3:00pm at The Oaks Baptist Church in Grand Praire. A graveside service will be held sometime Monday - final arrangements will be posted as soon as they are made. If you would like to give a gift in Phil's memory, you can give in one of the following ways:
-Phil's passion was to do mission work in Kenya. One of his driving forces for receiving a new liver was for his health to be such that it would allow him to travel to Kenya. To give to Buckner Kenya in his memory, please make your check payable to The Oaks Baptist Church and notate Buckner Kenya in the memo line. You can give your check at the church, personally, or mail it to 801 E-I-20, Grand Prairie, TX 75052.
-If you would like to give to the liver fund, please do so as posted in a previous blog. These funds will be used towards any outstanding medical bills, funeral expenses, or flights for family.
-If you would like to give flowers, please contact Special Occasions by Vicki at (972) 296-5587.
Above all, may God's name continue to be made great - continue to seek Him fervently as He continues His work in us. The thing that will honor Phil's memory the most is for all of us to draw closer to God and recognize His work in all of this. We would love to hear from you as to how God is moving and working in you - we ask you to share deep from your heart and to not be afraid to empty yourself before Him and allow Him to stir you deeply. If you are willing to share, please send it in an email to phil@discovertheoaks.com.
In closing, please pray over this verse and remember Phil in a prayer of celebration, as He is now Home with his Heavenly Father and wholly healed.
I Thess 4:13-18- "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words."
Apart from God's intervention, Phil is headed Home...
There's not much medical news at this point, but we wanted to keep everyone updated and so that you are able to pray specifically. Phil's PA02 has continued to decrease and they are keeping his blood pressure stable with medicine. The doctors have not been encouraging at this point, so we are just waiting.
Justin is driving back from Houston and Kristin is flying in from Nashville. Please pray for safe trips as they head home to see their dad.
Thanks to everyone for your faithfulness in prayers and just seeking God's face - we trust God's sovereignty and am thankful for His peace that passes all understanding in the hearts and minds of those who love Him.
Is 55:8-9 - "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Continue to seek God as you feel led and may His name be glorified in everything.
Justin is driving back from Houston and Kristin is flying in from Nashville. Please pray for safe trips as they head home to see their dad.
Thanks to everyone for your faithfulness in prayers and just seeking God's face - we trust God's sovereignty and am thankful for His peace that passes all understanding in the hearts and minds of those who love Him.
Is 55:8-9 - "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Continue to seek God as you feel led and may His name be glorified in everything.
"You are on our side"
Kristin, Phil's daughter, just sent me this and I wanted to share with everyone.
As I was thinking and praying this morning, I was listening to this Bethany Dillon song called
"You are On Our Side" Here are the lyrics:
The orphan clings to Your hand
Singing the song of how he was found
The widow rejoices
For her oppressors are silenced now
You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor
You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore
When You could just be silent and leave us here to die
Still, You sent Your Son for us
You are on our side
The runaway falls at Your feet
You are what he has searched for
The rich man is broken
When he stands beneath a sky full of stars
You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor
You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore
When You could just be silent and leave us here to die
Still, You sent Your Son for us
You are on our side
You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor
You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore
When You could just be silent and leave us here to die
Still, You sent Your Son for us
You are on our side
Still, You sent Your Son for us
You are on our side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alRVFA_IrMA
Last night, God just reminded me how this is all such a supernatural battle. And just now, in thinking how much we have prayed and pleaded with the Lord, I just felt God say, "Kristin, I am fighting for him. I love him so much more than you do. I am fighting for him!"
Just wanted to share that will yall. -Kristin
Psalm 57:1-3 "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge;in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me."
I also wanted to share a comment with everyone from Jana Vick,
We can agree in prayer from Psalm 41:1-3, as we lift up Phil: How blessed is he who considers the helpless;The Lord will deliver him (Phil) in a day of trouble.The Lord will protect him (Phil) and keep him alive.And he (Phil) shall be called blessed upon the earth;The Lord will sustain him (Phil) upon his sickbed;In his (Phil's) illness, You will restore him (Phil) to health.Joining many others in focused prayer for each blood cell in Phil's body to open and receive the gift of LIFE - oxygen.
As I was thinking and praying this morning, I was listening to this Bethany Dillon song called
"You are On Our Side" Here are the lyrics:
The orphan clings to Your hand
Singing the song of how he was found
The widow rejoices
For her oppressors are silenced now
You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor
You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore
When You could just be silent and leave us here to die
Still, You sent Your Son for us
You are on our side
The runaway falls at Your feet
You are what he has searched for
The rich man is broken
When he stands beneath a sky full of stars
You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor
You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore
When You could just be silent and leave us here to die
Still, You sent Your Son for us
You are on our side
You sit at the table with the wounded and the poor
You laugh and share stories with the thief and the whore
When You could just be silent and leave us here to die
Still, You sent Your Son for us
You are on our side
Still, You sent Your Son for us
You are on our side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alRVFA_IrMA
Last night, God just reminded me how this is all such a supernatural battle. And just now, in thinking how much we have prayed and pleaded with the Lord, I just felt God say, "Kristin, I am fighting for him. I love him so much more than you do. I am fighting for him!"
Just wanted to share that will yall. -Kristin
Psalm 57:1-3 "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge;in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me."
I also wanted to share a comment with everyone from Jana Vick,
We can agree in prayer from Psalm 41:1-3, as we lift up Phil: How blessed is he who considers the helpless;The Lord will deliver him (Phil) in a day of trouble.The Lord will protect him (Phil) and keep him alive.And he (Phil) shall be called blessed upon the earth;The Lord will sustain him (Phil) upon his sickbed;In his (Phil's) illness, You will restore him (Phil) to health.Joining many others in focused prayer for each blood cell in Phil's body to open and receive the gift of LIFE - oxygen.
God's not finished...
Not much has changed at this point - Phil is hanging in there to progressively getting worse and we are waiting to see if this new medication will kick in and help his lungs work better. However, it must be a God thing. These medications have not been proven to work and when they do work it is after weeks to months, but at this point they are like why not. These doctors want to fix things, but they can't. Only God can turn this situation around if it is His will. His saturation is still in the 60's and his PA02 is at 48 again. The doctors have said there is not much left that they can do - it is now completely in God's hands. They keep saying that he is out of the box. We have been praying for this so here we are. Thank goodness our sovereign God already knows what the plan is and how He is working in this. The nurses and doctors have been amazing - they have been so caring and are doing all that they can. Pray for Byron, his night nurse from last night. Byron was almost crying at the end of Phil's bed this morning and said, "I am so sorry, I don't what else to do." I told him that he can't worry about it. There is nothing he can do, and that all we can do is trust God. He ended up staying an hour past his shift and had such difficulty leaving this morning. He came and hugged Beth and I lost it. Then this nurse Kendra who we have never had but who has been watching what has been going on for the past 2 weeks, came up to me and hugged me and started crying and said that she is praying. Her nurse, Tammy, who is amazing keeps asking us how we are doing and I was able to share with her some, and she said for me to stop or she was going to start crying. All of the doctors don't know what is going on. Everyone is watching and we so desperately want HIS NAME TO BE MADE GREAT whether through life of death. Pray for these medical staff to come to know Jesus through this. Pray that Phil's room and this waiting room would continue to echo HIS WORTH. We don't know what God is up to but trust that He is in control, and pray that He will allow us to accept His perfect plan.
We'll try to keep constant updates as we go through the day. They will check his PA02 again this afternoon. It kind of makes you nervous because his saturation on the monitor is blinking red and is in the 60's, but Dr. Osofu has told us just to disregard this number and wait to see what his blood gas is this afternoon. Please pray that God would decide for them what needs to happen as they are just guessing at this point.
Continue to pray that God's name will be made great through this. Pray for Justin as God has told him to stay in Houston and share with his co-workers through this. He wants to be with his dad, but knows that he needs to remain obedient to God. Pray for his co-workers, that they will come to know Jesus through this. We know that God is faithful and continues to give us His peace as we continue this journey.
Continue to pray for Rhea who had the brain bleed. Her granddaughter, Tonya, said she is less responsive today. Also pray for Randy, whose wife Sharon was in here a week ago and is back again today with liver and kidney failure. He just came up to me and I told him we would pray for him.
A friend reminded me today of the story in Ezekial 37, in which God breathed life into a valley of dry bones - this same mighty God can breathe breath into Phil's lungs
Ezekiel 37
"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me,"Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD." So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me,"Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD."
Is 41:10 - "...so do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righeous right hand."
Ps 139:1-17 - "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord, you hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, to lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me", even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!"
Praise be to God who holds Phil in His mighty hand and knows what is to come!
We'll try to keep constant updates as we go through the day. They will check his PA02 again this afternoon. It kind of makes you nervous because his saturation on the monitor is blinking red and is in the 60's, but Dr. Osofu has told us just to disregard this number and wait to see what his blood gas is this afternoon. Please pray that God would decide for them what needs to happen as they are just guessing at this point.
Continue to pray that God's name will be made great through this. Pray for Justin as God has told him to stay in Houston and share with his co-workers through this. He wants to be with his dad, but knows that he needs to remain obedient to God. Pray for his co-workers, that they will come to know Jesus through this. We know that God is faithful and continues to give us His peace as we continue this journey.
Continue to pray for Rhea who had the brain bleed. Her granddaughter, Tonya, said she is less responsive today. Also pray for Randy, whose wife Sharon was in here a week ago and is back again today with liver and kidney failure. He just came up to me and I told him we would pray for him.
A friend reminded me today of the story in Ezekial 37, in which God breathed life into a valley of dry bones - this same mighty God can breathe breath into Phil's lungs
Ezekiel 37
"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me,"Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD." So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me,"Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD."
Is 41:10 - "...so do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righeous right hand."
Ps 139:1-17 - "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord, you hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, to lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me", even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!"
Praise be to God who holds Phil in His mighty hand and knows what is to come!
Please Pray!!!
Phil is not good at all. His PaO2 again this AM was 48. They have even been bagging him again and it is not working. The nurses are telling us sorry, they don't know what to do. We are telling them it is OK, all we can do is trust God. We need GOD to INTERVENE in a way that only HE can. Pray that he would do a miracle in Phil right now- that He would touch him. I am about to go back there but wanted to ask for everyone's prayers. Will update as I can.
Another Difficult Night
As you can tell by my posting at 2AM, it is a rough night. About 9PM Phil's oxygenation started to go down. All afternoon the sensor on his ear was reading 100% which we thought was good until they did a blood gas and his PaO2 was 48 which did not correspond to the ear reading. They thought this couldn't be right so they rechecked a blood gas and did a chest x-ray, and it confirmed that indeed his PaO2 was 48. This is very low and earlier they had told us they don't ever like it to be below 55 because then you may have trouble getting oxygen to your organs (like your brain). They couldn't figure out what was going on. His chest x-ray was clear and looked better than before. At one point his PaO2 dropped down to 40. They had to squeeze this bag to help get his saturations back up. He has been maxed out on the ventilator for several days now so all we could do is pray. Beth and I just stood there and started singing "You are God Alone" and "Bring Restoration" as they bagged him. His saturations came up some. The lung doctor came in and talked to us for a while and said that it would be a rocky night. He seemed to think that he got too much sedation during his trach procedure today that was hanging around in his body. He left and then his saturations continued to drop. Steve, his respiratory therapist, and Byron, his night nurse, worked at changing some more settings on the ventilator, like respiration rate and volume. Then Byron decided to lay him flat and that really seemed to help. They rechecked his PaO2 and it was 52 and then later it was 54. Not great, but better than 40. Will check another blood gas in the AM. His blood pressure also started to drop and they have him back up on one of his medications. His kidneys haven't been making much urine all day either. They are continuing on dialysis. Continue to pray as in the morning they are going to decide about some of these experimental therapies. Honestly, the doctors are so confused and this is what we have prayed for. Pray that God would intervene in a way only He can.
In between some of this, I was able to have a good talk with Byron about my medical knowledge and faith colliding on Saturday night, and how I have to trust that God is greater than all of the medical knowledge I have (or don't have) and have seen in the past. It gets hard though, don't get me wrong. This is something that I struggle with.
Today, God told Beth that He still isn't finished yet, and He told me that things are going to get worse before they get better. We have given him over to the Lord and don't know what He is up to and what this means but whatever it is, He is not done yet.
We thank everyone for continuing to intercede on Phil's behalf and for God's greater purpose in this. As I shared earlier, at times I don't know what to pray or how to pray, but it is comforting to know that the Holy Spirit is groaning with words I can't express. It is also comforting to know that as I am tired, there are fellow saints who are battling in prayer. We love you all. Beth and I are staying in the waiting room tonight and will keep you posted. Continue to pray as in the morning they are going to decide about some of these experimental therapies. Honestly, the doctors are so confused and this is what we have prayed for. Pray that God would intervene in a way only He can.
In between some of this, I was able to have a good talk with Byron about my medical knowledge and faith colliding on Saturday night, and how I have to trust that God is greater than all of the medical knowledge I have (or don't have) and have seen in the past. It gets hard though, don't get me wrong. This is something that I struggle with.
Today, God told Beth that He still isn't finished yet, and He told me that things are going to get worse before they get better. We have given him over to the Lord and don't know what He is up to and what this means but whatever it is, He is not done yet.
We thank everyone for continuing to intercede on Phil's behalf and for God's greater purpose in this. As I shared earlier, at times I don't know what to pray or how to pray, but it is comforting to know that the Holy Spirit is groaning with words I can't express. It is also comforting to know that as I am tired, there are fellow saints who are battling in prayer. We love you all. Beth and I are staying in the waiting room tonight and will keep you posted. Continue to pray as in the morning they are going to decide about some of these experimental therapies. Honestly, the doctors are so confused and this is what we have prayed for. Pray that God would intervene in a way only He can.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Waiting Room Update
We are having turnover of the waiting room families so I thought I would give everyone an update of who you have been praying for.
We saw Ruth today, and her sister is upstairs on the transplant floor. Ruth is hoping to go home this weekend. Her sister may be getting a pacemaker on Friday at 10AM if she doesn't have an infection. Her sister's husband may be coming. We noticed that every morning Ruth would come down here to get a 2 cokes out of the coke machine. She said they only had RC upstairs. One day someone brought us a 12 pack of coke so Justin took them to Ruth. She appreciated them so much. What ya'll do for us is providing for others too.
Irma whose husband James has throat cancer, and we sat with her during his surgery came down yesterday to tell us they were being discharged to a rehab hospital. She came to tell us bye.
Brad came to tell us bye today too. His dad is doing better and they moved him to a regular room.
It is sad about Demetra's family. We saw her mom leaving and so we told her congratulations because we thought they were moving to a regular room. She said that her son-in-law told her that he didn't want her up here anymore. She has been up here forever day and night. We hurt for her.
Joe Michael, the 19 year old whose trachea closed on him, went home today. Praise God for this!!!
Some new families to pray for...
Judy is here with her mother, Rhea, pronounced Ray. Rhea is 88 and was on coumadin, a blood thinner, and has had a headache for a few days. The doctors just thought it was a virus, but when it progressed they brought her to the ER and the CT scan showed that she had a bleed in her head. They also have family troubles too. Her brother has not spoken to her mom in 8 months so that has been hard for her. Beth and I had a great conversation with her. We praise God for this opportunity. Continue to pray for her brother and her relationship. Also pray for Judy as she doesn't want to put her mom in a nursing home.
Another man is here with his 2 week old baby. His wife became short of breath last night and he brought her here at 4AM and she went into shock. They found that she has pneumonia. Please pray for her and that God would heal her infection.
Phil has remained stable this afternoon. His feeding tube came out of place so they may have to take him to interventional radiology in the morning to put it back in place. He is almost off of his blood pressure medication. His saturations on the monitor have been 100% this afternoon. This is good because they were at 93% this morning. These numbers they have found do not correspond very well to the actual blood gas numbers which have been low (in the 60's). They only check his blood gas in the morning. Please pray for his lungs to be healed. It is not good for his lungs to be on 100% oxygen. Pray that his blood can take up the oxygen. Please pray for us as tomorrow the doctors are going to be talking about experimental treatments for this lung shunting. I have reveived some input from a doctor at my medical school. Please pray for wisdom/discernment/patience for the doctors as they try to decide what and if to try any medical therapy. The drugs they are talking about using have not been proven to be effective, but they don't know what else to do. When I say experimental medications, I don't mean new drugs. These drugs are approved by the FDA but not necessarily for this purpose. We really need God to touch Phil's lungs tonight in a way only He can. Please pray for God to intervene in a mighty way.
We praise Him that He continues to sustain us and that his grace is sufficient for each day. We are thankful that we have HOPE because of him. We can't imagine what it would be like if we didn't have hope because of Jesus. We continue to praise him for the larger work He is doing and for allowing us to see glimpses of it.
We love everyone and thank you again for all you are doing for us, most importantly your prayers. At one time today, I was in Phil's room and didn't even know what to pray for, but God told me to just be still and know that He is God. I was also reminded of Romans 8:26-28,
"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
We saw Ruth today, and her sister is upstairs on the transplant floor. Ruth is hoping to go home this weekend. Her sister may be getting a pacemaker on Friday at 10AM if she doesn't have an infection. Her sister's husband may be coming. We noticed that every morning Ruth would come down here to get a 2 cokes out of the coke machine. She said they only had RC upstairs. One day someone brought us a 12 pack of coke so Justin took them to Ruth. She appreciated them so much. What ya'll do for us is providing for others too.
Irma whose husband James has throat cancer, and we sat with her during his surgery came down yesterday to tell us they were being discharged to a rehab hospital. She came to tell us bye.
Brad came to tell us bye today too. His dad is doing better and they moved him to a regular room.
It is sad about Demetra's family. We saw her mom leaving and so we told her congratulations because we thought they were moving to a regular room. She said that her son-in-law told her that he didn't want her up here anymore. She has been up here forever day and night. We hurt for her.
Joe Michael, the 19 year old whose trachea closed on him, went home today. Praise God for this!!!
Some new families to pray for...
Judy is here with her mother, Rhea, pronounced Ray. Rhea is 88 and was on coumadin, a blood thinner, and has had a headache for a few days. The doctors just thought it was a virus, but when it progressed they brought her to the ER and the CT scan showed that she had a bleed in her head. They also have family troubles too. Her brother has not spoken to her mom in 8 months so that has been hard for her. Beth and I had a great conversation with her. We praise God for this opportunity. Continue to pray for her brother and her relationship. Also pray for Judy as she doesn't want to put her mom in a nursing home.
Another man is here with his 2 week old baby. His wife became short of breath last night and he brought her here at 4AM and she went into shock. They found that she has pneumonia. Please pray for her and that God would heal her infection.
Phil has remained stable this afternoon. His feeding tube came out of place so they may have to take him to interventional radiology in the morning to put it back in place. He is almost off of his blood pressure medication. His saturations on the monitor have been 100% this afternoon. This is good because they were at 93% this morning. These numbers they have found do not correspond very well to the actual blood gas numbers which have been low (in the 60's). They only check his blood gas in the morning. Please pray for his lungs to be healed. It is not good for his lungs to be on 100% oxygen. Pray that his blood can take up the oxygen. Please pray for us as tomorrow the doctors are going to be talking about experimental treatments for this lung shunting. I have reveived some input from a doctor at my medical school. Please pray for wisdom/discernment/patience for the doctors as they try to decide what and if to try any medical therapy. The drugs they are talking about using have not been proven to be effective, but they don't know what else to do. When I say experimental medications, I don't mean new drugs. These drugs are approved by the FDA but not necessarily for this purpose. We really need God to touch Phil's lungs tonight in a way only He can. Please pray for God to intervene in a mighty way.
We praise Him that He continues to sustain us and that his grace is sufficient for each day. We are thankful that we have HOPE because of him. We can't imagine what it would be like if we didn't have hope because of Jesus. We continue to praise him for the larger work He is doing and for allowing us to see glimpses of it.
We love everyone and thank you again for all you are doing for us, most importantly your prayers. At one time today, I was in Phil's room and didn't even know what to pray for, but God told me to just be still and know that He is God. I was also reminded of Romans 8:26-28,
"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
Tracheotomy Complete
Good Morning. You can thank Justin for changing the layout of the blog. He is in Houston, and when I got on this morning I was wondering who changed the blog, it was him. I must admit, it makes it easier to read.
I was just about to tell everyone that they were in the middle of placing the trach, but the ENT just came out and all went well with the trach. They ended up doing it at the bedside because it would take an army to wheel all of his accessories to the OR. The ENT said he is breathing as well or better than before the procedure. We don't know when they are going to start making changes to his ventilator settings. They are going to start weaning off of his sedation a little. Please pray that he will not be agitated and that God would give him His peace that passes all understanding- that he would not be fearful or afraid, but would breath comfortably.
He had a slight rough night. They didn't call us, but his blood pressure became low again, and they had to restart him on the blood pressure medicine- only 1 drug this time. They have been able to wean it a little this morning. Also, his saturations were lower last night. His paO2 that had risen to 77 yesterday went back to 66 this morning. Dr. Ruiz thinks it is the antirejection medicine they are giving him because this is what happened Saturday night on top of the infection. The past 2 nights have been relatively good nights, and then they gave the medicine again yesterday afternoon. They don't really have any other options with the antirejection medicine because the other one they would use is harsh on the kidneys. They will continue this one every third day. After 3-4 doses, the side effects are supposed to lessen.
His liver enzymes went up a little bit, but they think it is also the medication. His INR is still at 1.3 so his liver continues to hang in there. They are drawing some blood to send for fungal cultures today, just to make sure there isn't any fungus lurking around. These can take a week before they grow.
Please continue to pray that God would touch Phil's body today in a way that only He can. God doesn't need doctors, nurses, medications, machines- He only needs to think it to heal Phil.
I was just about to tell everyone that they were in the middle of placing the trach, but the ENT just came out and all went well with the trach. They ended up doing it at the bedside because it would take an army to wheel all of his accessories to the OR. The ENT said he is breathing as well or better than before the procedure. We don't know when they are going to start making changes to his ventilator settings. They are going to start weaning off of his sedation a little. Please pray that he will not be agitated and that God would give him His peace that passes all understanding- that he would not be fearful or afraid, but would breath comfortably.
He had a slight rough night. They didn't call us, but his blood pressure became low again, and they had to restart him on the blood pressure medicine- only 1 drug this time. They have been able to wean it a little this morning. Also, his saturations were lower last night. His paO2 that had risen to 77 yesterday went back to 66 this morning. Dr. Ruiz thinks it is the antirejection medicine they are giving him because this is what happened Saturday night on top of the infection. The past 2 nights have been relatively good nights, and then they gave the medicine again yesterday afternoon. They don't really have any other options with the antirejection medicine because the other one they would use is harsh on the kidneys. They will continue this one every third day. After 3-4 doses, the side effects are supposed to lessen.
His liver enzymes went up a little bit, but they think it is also the medication. His INR is still at 1.3 so his liver continues to hang in there. They are drawing some blood to send for fungal cultures today, just to make sure there isn't any fungus lurking around. These can take a week before they grow.
Please continue to pray that God would touch Phil's body today in a way that only He can. God doesn't need doctors, nurses, medications, machines- He only needs to think it to heal Phil.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Evening Report
We just went in to see Phil before closing time. He is doing well. They have given him about 2 hours worth of his antirejection medication. So far, so good. No severe side effects thus far. Pray that this continues as he has 4 more hours to go. His blood pressure is still doing good without medication. They woke him up this afternoon but only for a little bit because he was kind of agitated today with the ventilator and started breathing too hard. Please pray that he would rest well tonight and that God would continue to heal his lungs in a way that only He can. Beth and I are going to the motor home now to try and get some sleep because we have to be at the hospital a little early in the morning. This is the first night we aren't coming back at 9PM, but we both are exhausted and need rest. We have the nurse's number and will be calling to check on him before we go to bed. We will be meeting with the trach surgeon in the morning at 8:30AM. The procedure is scheduled for 10AM. They are flipping back and forth as to whether it will be in his room or in the OR. Please pray for the procedure and that it would be beneficial to Phil's body and cause less anxiety when he awakens. They would like to decrease his sedation once he has a trach, but will only be able to keep him like this if he is not agitated and breathes normally. Pray that when he awakens with a trach, he would not be anxious, but would feel God holding him in His Hands. Will post again in the morning.
Grandma Vera is doing well!
Grandma just wanted me to let everyone in South Carolina know that she is doing well. She appreciates all of your prayers and says to continue praying. Yesterday it was such a happy, rejoicing time for her to see Phil open his eyes and squeeze her hand. He has done this 2 days in a row now for 15 minutes. Grandma is enjoying singing and praying over him. She changed her flight and is planning on returning Thursday, so don't worry when she is not home today. She is having a great time and the people at Phil's church have been so great to let her stay with them and bring her back and forth to the hospital. She also went to Phil's church on Sunday, and they loved on her and prayed for her. Thank you for caring for her!!
Don't hold your breath
I am posting 2 times before lunch today. Beth and I just spoke with the liver surgeons and kidney doctor. His liver is still hanging in there...it is about the same. His INR today is 1.3 and bilirubin is 3.9. They said the slight increase in bilirubin is probably because of the blood they gave him yesterday. Praise God today for his liver. Thank him for this!!! I am still overwhelmed at how God has turned this liver around. His platelets are 90,000 which is the highest they have been in 2 years. Today he will be receiving the antirejection drip that can have some crazy side effects, low blood pressure and increased heart rate. Please pray that his body would not react to this medicine. Dr. Ruiz said that they will probably do another liver biopsy in a week. Beth and I just laughed at how they were like, oh yea, in a week we'll do that.
Dr. Ruiz and Dr. Koje will be rotating back to Baylor Dallas on Sunday, March 1st. They will be handing him off to the surgeons coming on from Baylor Dallas. We asked if potentially they could transfer Phil to Baylor Dallas because Justin and I live next door and Beth could live with us, and the pulmonologists there have more experience with Hepatopulmonary Syndrome just because they have more patient volume. They said that he is too unstable to transport to Dallas right now, but potentially in the future. The liver surgeons also mentioned those experimental medications after the trach, but all of the doctors are like maybe the trach will help and we won't have to go there. Pray that God would reverse this shunt in a miraculous way, and he wouldn't need any of these drugs. He is completely off of all blood pressure medications now. Praise God for this!! Praise God for the increase in the pressure of oxygen in his blood today!!! Like I said earlier, it was 77 today, up from 62. This is the highest it has been in over a week. I just wanted to thank God for this again!!! He is answering our prayers!!
His kidneys are doing better. They are having mechanical issues with his dialysis machines. They are now on the third one today. His poor nurse, Tammy, has had her hands full with these machines today. His is continuing to have good urine output. Thank God for this!!
Will keep you posted if anything changes today. We can't thank you enough for your continued prayers, and all that everyone is doing for us- wow! what a blessing. We are so grateful to God for being so faithful and giving us grace for each day, and sustaining us moment by moment.
Dr. Ruiz and Dr. Koje will be rotating back to Baylor Dallas on Sunday, March 1st. They will be handing him off to the surgeons coming on from Baylor Dallas. We asked if potentially they could transfer Phil to Baylor Dallas because Justin and I live next door and Beth could live with us, and the pulmonologists there have more experience with Hepatopulmonary Syndrome just because they have more patient volume. They said that he is too unstable to transport to Dallas right now, but potentially in the future. The liver surgeons also mentioned those experimental medications after the trach, but all of the doctors are like maybe the trach will help and we won't have to go there. Pray that God would reverse this shunt in a miraculous way, and he wouldn't need any of these drugs. He is completely off of all blood pressure medications now. Praise God for this!! Praise God for the increase in the pressure of oxygen in his blood today!!! Like I said earlier, it was 77 today, up from 62. This is the highest it has been in over a week. I just wanted to thank God for this again!!! He is answering our prayers!!
His kidneys are doing better. They are having mechanical issues with his dialysis machines. They are now on the third one today. His poor nurse, Tammy, has had her hands full with these machines today. His is continuing to have good urine output. Thank God for this!!
Will keep you posted if anything changes today. We can't thank you enough for your continued prayers, and all that everyone is doing for us- wow! what a blessing. We are so grateful to God for being so faithful and giving us grace for each day, and sustaining us moment by moment.
Stable/Slight Improvement Overnight
Good Morning. I made a promise to myself to post by 10AM even if I didn't have any news. So here it is.
Phil did well overnight. They were able to get his one blood pressure medication down to essentially nothing. Also, his PaO2 which was 62 yesterday, was 77 today. Praise God!! This is improved and in the right direction. They are leaving him where he is at today on his ventilator settings until after his tracheotomy placement tomorrow. They decided they are going to do that at the bedside at 10AM tomorrow morning. Dr. Osafu, lung doctor, said he wasn't going to make any changes or add new treatments until after the trach. He is looking at 2 experimental drugs and one therapy that they use in the neonatal intensive care unit in newborns. I am in the process of talking with a couple of other people trying to get their opinion. Praise God for how he is healing Phil's lungs. Continue praying that God would touch his lungs today. We thank him so much for the improvement since yestserday. Pray also for guidance/wisdom/discernment for the doctors as to if we should try these experimental medications/treatments.
Tammy shaved him this morning. He is clean shaven now!! She said it will be better for the trach. I will post more about the liver and such after we talk with the transplant surgeons. They usually round about 10:30ish.
Phil did well overnight. They were able to get his one blood pressure medication down to essentially nothing. Also, his PaO2 which was 62 yesterday, was 77 today. Praise God!! This is improved and in the right direction. They are leaving him where he is at today on his ventilator settings until after his tracheotomy placement tomorrow. They decided they are going to do that at the bedside at 10AM tomorrow morning. Dr. Osafu, lung doctor, said he wasn't going to make any changes or add new treatments until after the trach. He is looking at 2 experimental drugs and one therapy that they use in the neonatal intensive care unit in newborns. I am in the process of talking with a couple of other people trying to get their opinion. Praise God for how he is healing Phil's lungs. Continue praying that God would touch his lungs today. We thank him so much for the improvement since yestserday. Pray also for guidance/wisdom/discernment for the doctors as to if we should try these experimental medications/treatments.
Tammy shaved him this morning. He is clean shaven now!! She said it will be better for the trach. I will post more about the liver and such after we talk with the transplant surgeons. They usually round about 10:30ish.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Doctors Report- Sorry So Late!!!
Sorry this has taken me so long. I know I let everyone down :) I literally started at like 11AM this morning, and stuff has come up off and on throughout the day. Phil was stable last night. I was in his room all morning talking with various doctors. Here is the scoop for today. Sorry it has taken me a little while (OK long while) to get around to posting.
Acutely, he is doing better. They are pretty sure he had an infection over the weekend, and that is what made him septic (bacteria in blood that makes your blood pressure drop and cause other issues). They still have not localized the infection. So far, the cultures are negative, but sometimes it can take a few days for bacteria to grow. They are continuing the antibiotic they started yesterday. His white blood cell count went down which indicates the infection is improving. They think the bump in his liver tests yesterday was because of the infection. They changed out all of his lines yesterday, and think they may have been the source of infection. He is now off of one blood pressure medication, and remains on one blood pressure medication. We would like for him to be off of this medication and be able to keep his blood pressure stable on his own. Pray that his body would be able to maintain his blood pressure on its own.
Long term, we still have issues with his lungs. I spoke extensively with Dr. Osafu, lung doctor, this morning. They have pretty much ruled out all other causes of what is going on with his lungs, and are confident that his lungs issues are all caused by the shunting in his lungs from the liver disease that he had prior to his transplant. This is known as Hepatopulmonary Syndrome. It occurs in 10-30% of patients with cirrhosis, and the only cure usually is liver transplant, and it is variable how long after a transplant it takes for the shunting to reverse, one month to several months. We weren't even aware that Phil had officially been diagnosed with this because they just started working him up for it in January.
Bare with me as I try to explain Hepatopulmonary Syndrome again. Some people with cirrhosis develop this syndrome and it is still not known fully by medical experts what causes it, but this is the proposed theory. In your lungs, you have these air sacks called alveoli. When you take a breath, this is where the oxygen goes to. Around the alveloli, you have fingers around them which are little blood vessels. Blood usually passes by the alveoli, and oxygen diffuses across the wall of the alveoli into the blood stream. From here, the blood carries oxygen to the rest of your body (other organs, etc). In cirrhosis, it is proposed that in some people a substance is produced in excess that causes the blood vessels around the alveoli to dilate (get bigger). When this happens blood passes by the alveoli without picking up oxygen. The reason they know this is happening to Phil is because of his blood gas that they measure 1-2 times a day. Usually when there is not shunting and you give someone 100% oxygen, their paO2 is 300. When there is shunting like there is in Phil, even with the most oxygen, his paO2 is only 62 today. They will not go down on his amount of oxygen until his paO2 starts to improve. We are supposed to see an ENT doctor (Ear, Nose, and Throat) this afternoon because they want to put a trach in Phil probably on Wednesday. They will decide if they will take him to the OR for this or if they will do it at the bedside. There are no medications proven to help reverse the shunting. There have been several studies done on rats and people prior to transplantation, and the doctors are studying these to see if they want to try any of these medicines on Phil. I will also be talking to some physicians at Baylor Dallas and at my medical school to see if they have any additional input. No one really knows what to do or how long it could take to reverse. Once again, as we have prayed Phil is outside of their medical box, and they do not know what to do. They aren't convinced that even a new liver would help him as the one he has now is functioning pretty well. Also, they can't take him to surgery anyways because of his lungs. Please pray that God would reverse the shunt in his lungs. We need desperately for God to touch his lungs so that they can properly carry the oxygen to the rest of his body while breathing room air. Pray that the blood vessels in his lungs would shrink back to normal size. Pray for wisdom/discernment/direction for the doctors as to if they should give him some of these experimental medications.
His liver is still doing well. Praise God for continuing to heal his liver. His INR is back down to 1.3 today and his bilirubin is back down to 3.6. This is very encouraging. They think the increase in his liver tests over the weekend was due to the infection. This is a miracle in itself that his liver is functioning like it is. Praise God for answering our prayers. Continue to pray for the clotting function of the liver to normalize. Normal INR is 1.0 or less and normal bilirubin is 1.9 or less. We must not overlook what God has done with this liver. It was on its way to being completely dead, and God intervened and is healing it.
His kidneys are still hanging in there and making some urine. They are going to keep him on the dialysis so that his body can focus all of its energy on the lungs. Pray for continued healing of his kidneys and that they can filter the blood.
They have started something new today which is exciting. They are going to be waking him up every afternoon for 15 minutes or so (then back to sleep). One challenge is to not stimulate him too much. Today was so great. He responded to Beth, Grandma, and Justin. I was gone. He was nodding his head, opening his eyes wide, laughing (yes that is right, he was laughing at Justin), and squeezing their hands. It was so awesome for them to see. Justin shared with his dad all the great things God is doing in peoples' lives through this journey, and Phil opened his eyes wide and nodded yes. You could see the excitement in him. Justin talked about their matching beards and showed Phil the picture of the kids with the robot crate that was dedicated to him. His eyes got real big. We thank God for this ray of sunshine again today.
We just heard from the nurse that he will be having his trach surgery Wednesday morning at 10:00AM. Tammy will be back again tomorrow. She is awesome. She asked us to go and get Phil an electric razor because she wants to shave him before his surgery. She said hair gets in the way of the trach. She said really she is just OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).
Tomorrow they wil be giving him another round of the antirejection drip. Pray that he won't have a reaction to it. It can cause low blood pressure as well as flu-like symptoms. Pray that the medication will do its job without causing side effects.
Please pray for Jesse who had part of his leg amputated today. Beth and Grandma spoke to his family.
Demetra, the 37 year old with a stroke, is responding better and they hope to take her off the ventilator by Wednesday. She still can't speak and has residual paralysis. Continue to pray for her continued recovery.
We continue to thank you for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement. As we all know there is something greater going on through this, pray for the greater purpose in all of this and what God wants to show you individually. Let's really press into God and ask Him if there is anything He want to show us or break us of. Spend some time writing down what God is teaching you or has shown you through this and eventually we would like to share it with Phil- maybe compile a book of letters from people or have a big celebration time where people share. Will be better tomorrow about my posting!!!
Acutely, he is doing better. They are pretty sure he had an infection over the weekend, and that is what made him septic (bacteria in blood that makes your blood pressure drop and cause other issues). They still have not localized the infection. So far, the cultures are negative, but sometimes it can take a few days for bacteria to grow. They are continuing the antibiotic they started yesterday. His white blood cell count went down which indicates the infection is improving. They think the bump in his liver tests yesterday was because of the infection. They changed out all of his lines yesterday, and think they may have been the source of infection. He is now off of one blood pressure medication, and remains on one blood pressure medication. We would like for him to be off of this medication and be able to keep his blood pressure stable on his own. Pray that his body would be able to maintain his blood pressure on its own.
Long term, we still have issues with his lungs. I spoke extensively with Dr. Osafu, lung doctor, this morning. They have pretty much ruled out all other causes of what is going on with his lungs, and are confident that his lungs issues are all caused by the shunting in his lungs from the liver disease that he had prior to his transplant. This is known as Hepatopulmonary Syndrome. It occurs in 10-30% of patients with cirrhosis, and the only cure usually is liver transplant, and it is variable how long after a transplant it takes for the shunting to reverse, one month to several months. We weren't even aware that Phil had officially been diagnosed with this because they just started working him up for it in January.
Bare with me as I try to explain Hepatopulmonary Syndrome again. Some people with cirrhosis develop this syndrome and it is still not known fully by medical experts what causes it, but this is the proposed theory. In your lungs, you have these air sacks called alveoli. When you take a breath, this is where the oxygen goes to. Around the alveloli, you have fingers around them which are little blood vessels. Blood usually passes by the alveoli, and oxygen diffuses across the wall of the alveoli into the blood stream. From here, the blood carries oxygen to the rest of your body (other organs, etc). In cirrhosis, it is proposed that in some people a substance is produced in excess that causes the blood vessels around the alveoli to dilate (get bigger). When this happens blood passes by the alveoli without picking up oxygen. The reason they know this is happening to Phil is because of his blood gas that they measure 1-2 times a day. Usually when there is not shunting and you give someone 100% oxygen, their paO2 is 300. When there is shunting like there is in Phil, even with the most oxygen, his paO2 is only 62 today. They will not go down on his amount of oxygen until his paO2 starts to improve. We are supposed to see an ENT doctor (Ear, Nose, and Throat) this afternoon because they want to put a trach in Phil probably on Wednesday. They will decide if they will take him to the OR for this or if they will do it at the bedside. There are no medications proven to help reverse the shunting. There have been several studies done on rats and people prior to transplantation, and the doctors are studying these to see if they want to try any of these medicines on Phil. I will also be talking to some physicians at Baylor Dallas and at my medical school to see if they have any additional input. No one really knows what to do or how long it could take to reverse. Once again, as we have prayed Phil is outside of their medical box, and they do not know what to do. They aren't convinced that even a new liver would help him as the one he has now is functioning pretty well. Also, they can't take him to surgery anyways because of his lungs. Please pray that God would reverse the shunt in his lungs. We need desperately for God to touch his lungs so that they can properly carry the oxygen to the rest of his body while breathing room air. Pray that the blood vessels in his lungs would shrink back to normal size. Pray for wisdom/discernment/direction for the doctors as to if they should give him some of these experimental medications.
His liver is still doing well. Praise God for continuing to heal his liver. His INR is back down to 1.3 today and his bilirubin is back down to 3.6. This is very encouraging. They think the increase in his liver tests over the weekend was due to the infection. This is a miracle in itself that his liver is functioning like it is. Praise God for answering our prayers. Continue to pray for the clotting function of the liver to normalize. Normal INR is 1.0 or less and normal bilirubin is 1.9 or less. We must not overlook what God has done with this liver. It was on its way to being completely dead, and God intervened and is healing it.
His kidneys are still hanging in there and making some urine. They are going to keep him on the dialysis so that his body can focus all of its energy on the lungs. Pray for continued healing of his kidneys and that they can filter the blood.
They have started something new today which is exciting. They are going to be waking him up every afternoon for 15 minutes or so (then back to sleep). One challenge is to not stimulate him too much. Today was so great. He responded to Beth, Grandma, and Justin. I was gone. He was nodding his head, opening his eyes wide, laughing (yes that is right, he was laughing at Justin), and squeezing their hands. It was so awesome for them to see. Justin shared with his dad all the great things God is doing in peoples' lives through this journey, and Phil opened his eyes wide and nodded yes. You could see the excitement in him. Justin talked about their matching beards and showed Phil the picture of the kids with the robot crate that was dedicated to him. His eyes got real big. We thank God for this ray of sunshine again today.
We just heard from the nurse that he will be having his trach surgery Wednesday morning at 10:00AM. Tammy will be back again tomorrow. She is awesome. She asked us to go and get Phil an electric razor because she wants to shave him before his surgery. She said hair gets in the way of the trach. She said really she is just OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).
Tomorrow they wil be giving him another round of the antirejection drip. Pray that he won't have a reaction to it. It can cause low blood pressure as well as flu-like symptoms. Pray that the medication will do its job without causing side effects.
Please pray for Jesse who had part of his leg amputated today. Beth and Grandma spoke to his family.
Demetra, the 37 year old with a stroke, is responding better and they hope to take her off the ventilator by Wednesday. She still can't speak and has residual paralysis. Continue to pray for her continued recovery.
We continue to thank you for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement. As we all know there is something greater going on through this, pray for the greater purpose in all of this and what God wants to show you individually. Let's really press into God and ask Him if there is anything He want to show us or break us of. Spend some time writing down what God is teaching you or has shown you through this and eventually we would like to share it with Phil- maybe compile a book of letters from people or have a big celebration time where people share. Will be better tomorrow about my posting!!!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Game Plan: Stability
Sorry for the late night post. I was able to catch up on some much needed rest this afternoon and evening. It was awesome! Praise God for a great day today. He provided a ray of sunshine today. This afteroon they were changing Phil's central line and arterial line so that they may send the tips of these lines to the lab for culture. Well in order to do this, they had to decide which medicines were really important for Phil to have because they only had one line left while they were changing them out. They decided they had to keep his blood pressure medication on, and they stopped his sedation, pain medication, and paralyzing medication not knowing how he would do. In the past when they would do this, he would awake agitated and breathing really fast, but this time he awoke more than he ever has and he remained calm!!! He opened his eyes and was nodding his head and squeezing hands. Beth and Grandma were in there and he responded to both of them. Beth called Kristin on the phone, and she talked to Phil over the phone. He responded to what she said over the phone. It was funny. Kristin was at this coffee shop in Nashville, and it was pretty noisy. She said she had to talk loud, and people started staring at her because she was like, "Hi Dad, It's Kristin, can you blink your eyes for me?" Grandma called Phil's sister, Phyllis, in South Carolina, and he responded to her too.
Justin and I were asleep in the motor home, and his nurse, Tammy, told Beth that we needed to see Phil like this so she called us. We went over to the hospital and saw him right before the sedation started to kick in again. It was so great. He responded to Justin by opening his eyes and nodding his head. We thank God for allowing up this opportunity today. It was such a fun blessing. Justin couldn't go to sleep again because he was so excited. Praise God for this!!!
Since Phil was being still and not breathing too fast, they decided to try leaving him off of the pain medication and paralyzing medication. Pray that he will continue to remain calm, and breath comfortably.
We spoke to the kidney doctor today. She definitely gets the award for best bedside manners. Maybe it was because she was female :) or the news she told us. She had encouraging words to say. She said that they were going to keep his dialysis the same. She also said that he had a good chance of recovering his kidney function as he continued to make urine while being on blood vessel constrictors. They are going to keep him on dialysis as to not rock the boat. Pray that God would continue to heal his kidneys- that they would be able to filter his blood.
We didn't speak to Dr. Ruiz today, but Dr. Koje, the Transplant fellow, said that his blood cultures did start to grow something, but they have to wait a little longer in order to completely identify the bug. He said they are covering for it with the new antibiotic. Continue to pray for the infection to be gone, and that Phil's body will fight the infection, but won't attack is liver. We didn't talk much about the liver today. Continue to pray that God would continue to heal this liver for His glory, and that it would blow the doctors and nurses out of the water. From a recovery side of things, it would be great for Phil because he has slept through 2 weeks of incision pain and had Fentanyl to help.
They haven't made any changes to the ventilator. He is still maxed out at 100%, but he was stable on it today. Please pray that his paO2 (pressure of oxygen in blood) would increase. Pray that God would continue to heal his lungs and allow him to breathe on his own. Pray that the shunting would reverse. We are getting to the point this week of maybe having to place a trach in him because they don't like to leave the tube in his throat longer than 2-3 weeksish. Pray that his blood would pick up the oxygen and take it to the rest of his body.
Beth asked Tammy, the nurse, what the plan was for the night, and she said stability. They weren't making any changes. They just want for him to stay stable. Thank you God for allowing us to make it through another weekend. Tonight we have Mike again who is great, and Tammy will be back tomorrow. Please continue to pray for them as they are exhausted.
I am trying to get Beth to sleep late tomorrow, and I will be there at 9AM. I will post as soon as I see him and let you know how the night went. We are praying for no events!!
As I type all of these specific things to pray for, I am reminded that all Jesus has to do is touch him to heal him. He knows exactly what is needed- all He has to do is touch Him to heal him. Pray that God would touch Phil today. I have overwhelmed to be apart of all that God is doing through this right now. Let us continue to thank God for allowing each one of us to take part in all He is doing-something so much greater , and ask Him what He is wanting to teach us or break us of during this time.
Mark 5:25-29
"And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease."
Justin and I were asleep in the motor home, and his nurse, Tammy, told Beth that we needed to see Phil like this so she called us. We went over to the hospital and saw him right before the sedation started to kick in again. It was so great. He responded to Justin by opening his eyes and nodding his head. We thank God for allowing up this opportunity today. It was such a fun blessing. Justin couldn't go to sleep again because he was so excited. Praise God for this!!!
Since Phil was being still and not breathing too fast, they decided to try leaving him off of the pain medication and paralyzing medication. Pray that he will continue to remain calm, and breath comfortably.
We spoke to the kidney doctor today. She definitely gets the award for best bedside manners. Maybe it was because she was female :) or the news she told us. She had encouraging words to say. She said that they were going to keep his dialysis the same. She also said that he had a good chance of recovering his kidney function as he continued to make urine while being on blood vessel constrictors. They are going to keep him on dialysis as to not rock the boat. Pray that God would continue to heal his kidneys- that they would be able to filter his blood.
We didn't speak to Dr. Ruiz today, but Dr. Koje, the Transplant fellow, said that his blood cultures did start to grow something, but they have to wait a little longer in order to completely identify the bug. He said they are covering for it with the new antibiotic. Continue to pray for the infection to be gone, and that Phil's body will fight the infection, but won't attack is liver. We didn't talk much about the liver today. Continue to pray that God would continue to heal this liver for His glory, and that it would blow the doctors and nurses out of the water. From a recovery side of things, it would be great for Phil because he has slept through 2 weeks of incision pain and had Fentanyl to help.
They haven't made any changes to the ventilator. He is still maxed out at 100%, but he was stable on it today. Please pray that his paO2 (pressure of oxygen in blood) would increase. Pray that God would continue to heal his lungs and allow him to breathe on his own. Pray that the shunting would reverse. We are getting to the point this week of maybe having to place a trach in him because they don't like to leave the tube in his throat longer than 2-3 weeksish. Pray that his blood would pick up the oxygen and take it to the rest of his body.
Beth asked Tammy, the nurse, what the plan was for the night, and she said stability. They weren't making any changes. They just want for him to stay stable. Thank you God for allowing us to make it through another weekend. Tonight we have Mike again who is great, and Tammy will be back tomorrow. Please continue to pray for them as they are exhausted.
I am trying to get Beth to sleep late tomorrow, and I will be there at 9AM. I will post as soon as I see him and let you know how the night went. We are praying for no events!!
As I type all of these specific things to pray for, I am reminded that all Jesus has to do is touch him to heal him. He knows exactly what is needed- all He has to do is touch Him to heal him. Pray that God would touch Phil today. I have overwhelmed to be apart of all that God is doing through this right now. Let us continue to thank God for allowing each one of us to take part in all He is doing-something so much greater , and ask Him what He is wanting to teach us or break us of during this time.
Mark 5:25-29
"And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease."
Worth it All
Good Morning. "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24. What a beautiful day God has made today. We praise God this morning that Phil is still stable. They have been able to decrease his blood pressure medication a little. He felt a little cooler this morning, and his heart was not having as many funky beats. The Infectious Disease doctor came by and added another antibiotic this morning. They haven't identified the source of the infection yet. They are also going to change all of his lines today- his arterial line and his central line. His oxygen is still maxed out and he is still in the 60's on his oxygen pressure which is stable but would be better if it was higher. His nurse is Tammy today. Please pray for her. She said his INR was 1.7 today which is up from 1.3 yesterday. Continue to pray for this liver. We haven't seen any doctors yet this morning. Beth and I had a good time in the waiting room singing "You are God Alone" that I posted earlier this morning and talked more about how God is the same in the good times and bad, our wedding and now this. He is always on his throne.
Please pray for a man we met this morning, Phil, and his wife Alma. She has had 16 surgeries in 2 years for cancer. They keep taking bone from her arms and legs and putting it in her jaw, but her skin is so skin it tears.
God continues to speak to me through song. One of my friends reminded me last night of the following song, and I wanted to share it with everyone.
Worth It All by Rita Springer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQVmR0jV52A
I don't understand Your ways
Oh but I will give You my song
Give You all of my praise
You hold on to all my pain
With it You are pulling me closer
And pulling me into Your ways
Now around every corner
And up every mountain
I'm not looking for crowns
Or the water from fountains
I'm desperate in seeking, frantic believing
That the sight of Your face
Is all that I need
I will say to You
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it all
I believe this
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it all
I believe this
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it all
I believe this
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it all
I believe this
The sight of His face is all that we need and will be worth it all.
Another song this morning that came to mind.
Overwhelm Me by Michael Bleecker
http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/resource_files/audio/20070102AB01M_MichaelBleecker_OverwhelmMe.mp3
Take not Thy presence from me for I desire to know You more
For you are worthy of all, You’re worthy of all I am and more
I need to set my mind on things above,
In the heavens and in my heart
Who created a mountain
And Who set a spark that grew into a flame that burns deeply for You
Overwhelm me Take me from this place and
put me in the place where You are
Overwhelm me Shake the ground I stand on
I want to be dependant on You…on only You.
I stand before You King, filthy, unworthy
You still wash me clean, and say to me, "My child you're worthy"
Psalm 51:10-12 - Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit
within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit
from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.
Mark 7:37 - People were overwhelmed with amazement, “He has done everything
well…He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Psalm 62:7-8 - My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock,
my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God
is our refuge.
Mighty to Save by Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR8rlTIU8_Y
Everyone needs compassion,
Love that's never failing;
Let mercy fall on me.
Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a Saviour;
The Hope of nations.
Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
Shine your light and let the whole world see,
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
My Saviour, you can move the mountains,
You are mighty to save,
You are mighty to save.
Forever, Author of Salvation,
You rose and conquered the grave,
Yes you conquered the grave
Jesus is mighty to save- no matter where we are at or the situation. Our prayer is that those around us would see that we are singing for the glory of the king- Jesus.
God just keeps telling us that He is not finished yet and that He is working in greater ways. May He restore to all of us the JOY of our salvation.
Please pray for a man we met this morning, Phil, and his wife Alma. She has had 16 surgeries in 2 years for cancer. They keep taking bone from her arms and legs and putting it in her jaw, but her skin is so skin it tears.
God continues to speak to me through song. One of my friends reminded me last night of the following song, and I wanted to share it with everyone.
Worth It All by Rita Springer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQVmR0jV52A
I don't understand Your ways
Oh but I will give You my song
Give You all of my praise
You hold on to all my pain
With it You are pulling me closer
And pulling me into Your ways
Now around every corner
And up every mountain
I'm not looking for crowns
Or the water from fountains
I'm desperate in seeking, frantic believing
That the sight of Your face
Is all that I need
I will say to You
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it all
I believe this
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it all
I believe this
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it all
I believe this
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it all
I believe this
The sight of His face is all that we need and will be worth it all.
Another song this morning that came to mind.
Overwhelm Me by Michael Bleecker
http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/resource_files/audio/20070102AB01M_MichaelBleecker_OverwhelmMe.mp3
Take not Thy presence from me for I desire to know You more
For you are worthy of all, You’re worthy of all I am and more
I need to set my mind on things above,
In the heavens and in my heart
Who created a mountain
And Who set a spark that grew into a flame that burns deeply for You
Overwhelm me Take me from this place and
put me in the place where You are
Overwhelm me Shake the ground I stand on
I want to be dependant on You…on only You.
I stand before You King, filthy, unworthy
You still wash me clean, and say to me, "My child you're worthy"
Psalm 51:10-12 - Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit
within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit
from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.
Mark 7:37 - People were overwhelmed with amazement, “He has done everything
well…He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Psalm 62:7-8 - My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock,
my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God
is our refuge.
Mighty to Save by Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR8rlTIU8_Y
Everyone needs compassion,
Love that's never failing;
Let mercy fall on me.
Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a Saviour;
The Hope of nations.
Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
Shine your light and let the whole world see,
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
My Saviour, you can move the mountains,
You are mighty to save,
You are mighty to save.
Forever, Author of Salvation,
You rose and conquered the grave,
Yes you conquered the grave
Jesus is mighty to save- no matter where we are at or the situation. Our prayer is that those around us would see that we are singing for the glory of the king- Jesus.
God just keeps telling us that He is not finished yet and that He is working in greater ways. May He restore to all of us the JOY of our salvation.
Rough Night- Please Pray
Be prepared. This is a novel. God told me to put a lot of things on here this morning.
Phil is very sick. Around 11PM last night, Phil's blood pressure dropped significantly to where they had to start two blood pressure medications in order to raise it and keep it up. Also, his heart was beating very fast and doing these funky premature beats. He had a temperature of 99.7, and his urine output decreased to almost nothing. This is considered a fever in a transplant patient on antirejection medications. The funny thing was that the oxygenation of his lungs was stable and in the 90's. The doctors couldn't figure out what was going on- they tried to give him some albumin to pull some fluid into his blood vessels, and then they gave him a small amount of fluids. This didn't work. His white blood cell count increased significantly. All of this points to an infection, and Phil is what they call septic. This means that the infection most likely has spread to his blood. They repeated blood cultures to see if anything grows. Right now they are treating him for all of the organisms they already know about. They haven't added any new antibiotics. They are waiting to identify the source of infection. Mike, his nurse, said it was good that he is on dialysis because it filters out some of the toxins from the bacteria as well. In this moment, we stopped and prayed and God told us that we were to call people and join together in prayer. Several people came to the hospital and many prayed at home once again praising God for who He is and thanking him for all He is doing that is much greater than we can see, also pleading on behalf of Phil. I wanted to share with you some songs that God has laid on me and we sang last night.
You Are God Alone (Not a god)by Billy Foote
http://www.myspace.com/billyfooteband- click on Featured playlist and then scroll down to artist mix and select You Are God Alone
You are not a god created by human hands.
You are not a god dependent on any mortal man.
You are not a god in need of anything we can give.
By Your plan, that’s just the way it is.
You are God alone, from before time began,
You are on Your throne, You are God alone.
And right now, in the good times and bad,
You are on Your throne, You are God alone.
Unshakeable, unchangeable, unstoppable,That’s what You are.
Unshakeable, unchangeable, unstoppable,That’s what You are.
You’re the only God whose power none can contend.
You’re the only God whose name and praise will never end.
You’re the only God who’s worthy of everything we can give.
You are God, that’s just the way it is.
This song has always meant so much to me. It was sung at our wedding, and it became real to me that God was on His throne at our wedding and is on the throne now through all of this. He does not change. I also love the part that God is not dependent on any mortal man- nurses or doctors. He doesn't need any of us. None can contend with his power.
Hallelujah God is Here by Michael Bleecker
http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/resource_files/audio/200811231700HWC01AWABA_MichaelBleecker_HallelujahGodIsHere.mp3
He has shown His mercy
Pouring out His fury
Laid on Christ our victory Lord God Almighty
He has shown His grace to me
Dying on that wretched tree,
Bore for me my penalty
You get the glory, We sing
Hallelujah, God is here! Hallelujah, God is here!
Open up your eyes and see the splendor of His majesty
Open up your eyes and see the beauty of The Mighty King
Covered in Your blood , we sing
All for You, our God and King
Humbled at Your feet we sing….we sing
Hallelujah, God is here! Hallelujah, God is here!
Open up your eyes and see the splendor of His majesty
Open up your eyes and see the beauty of The Mighty King
Let this place, echo Your worth
Let this place, echo Your worth
Isaiah 53:8-10- He was oppressed, and He was afflicted…like a lamb that is led to the
slaughter…By oppression and judgment He was taken away…stricken for the transgression of
my people. It was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief.
2 Cor. 5:21- For our sake He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might
become the righteousness of God.
Galatians 3:13- Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…
1 Peter 2:24- He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and
live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.
Romans 5:9- …we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by
him from the wrath of God.
The last part of this song was our prayer tonight- that this hospital would echo His worth. We also praise Him that He is here! We prayed that the halls, rooms, and waiting rooms of the ICU would echo His worth.
Here I Am by Michael Bleecker
http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/resource_files/audio/20051112AB01M_MichaelBleecker_HereIAm.mp3
Take me far away from here
Save me from this world of fear
Break me from the things I hold so near
they’re so far from You
Reveal to me what You want me to do
Place me where Your will draws me to
Lord be pleased with the worship I bring to You
I sing to You, I shout to You!
Here I am, send me out let me shine for Your glory
I will read, I’ll live out and proclaim Your Word
Take me now show me how I need to live not for me
But for You and Your glory.
Isaiah 6:8- I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will
go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Philippians 2:14-16- Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you
may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and
depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold
out the word of life.
God has reminded Justin of this song lately. Last night, we prayed and asked God about what He is wanting to show us during this time. We encourage everyone to ask God what He wants to show each of you through this, as He has told us multiple times that He is up to something much greater than just healing Phil's liver.
Some scripture a friend shared with us. Zecahriah 13:6-9 "And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will say, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My associate," Declares the LORD of hosts "Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones. "It will come about in all the land," Declares the LORD, "That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. "And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, 'They are My people,' And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"
Our prayer is to be the third part of the tribe.
Another scripture that came to mind last night as we prayed and sang was Acts 16:25-34 when Paul and Silas were in prison
"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family."
This is our prayer that whatever chains bind Phil's body or us or anyone reading this would be loosened and that people will come to know Jesus and be saved through this.
I have some new families to ask you to pray for:
Last night as we were in the room with Phil, a man named Jim, died. Please pray for God to draw this family near to him during this time. They had to code him in front of his family.
Yesterday afternoon we met Tony. His wife is Marilyn and she has had a rough life. She has lower bowel cancer and developed blood clots. Then while on the blood thinners developed a bleed. Most recently she has liver failure secondary to tylenol form her cancer pain. It is so sad as they have 8 kids. Some of the kids were up here yesterday afternoon. They all just moved here from out of state for better health care. The kids had to leave their friends. Please pray for God to comfort these children and her husband. Pray that God would continue to provide opportunities for us to love on them.
If you are still reading, congrats. When we went in and saw Phil when we left at 4:30AM he was still hanging in there with his blood pressure supported by medications currently. His respirations and oxygen is stable. His heart was having less funky beats. We came to the motorhome to catch a couple hours of sleep before we head back at 9AM. I wanted to update everyone so you can know how to be praying. Pray that God's name, first and foremost, would be made great through this. Please pray that God would touch Phil and heal him. Pray that he would heal this infection and sustain Phil's body as he endures it. Pray that the doctors can localize where the infection is and can treat it. Pray that his blood pressure would increase and he wouldn't have to be on medication. Ask and pray what God wants to show you during this time.
The liver is being healed!!! Mike tonight said that his liver was 25-40% dead where we originally only thought 15%, but that it was incredible how it is doing and regenerating. God intervened and answered our prayers and is healing Phil's liver. Please continue to pray against rejection and for the remainder of the liver function to be restored. Pray for the kidneys as well as I don't even know what to think of them right now. He is still on dialysis. Praise God for shocking the doctors and answering our prayers about this liver.
Phil is very sick. Around 11PM last night, Phil's blood pressure dropped significantly to where they had to start two blood pressure medications in order to raise it and keep it up. Also, his heart was beating very fast and doing these funky premature beats. He had a temperature of 99.7, and his urine output decreased to almost nothing. This is considered a fever in a transplant patient on antirejection medications. The funny thing was that the oxygenation of his lungs was stable and in the 90's. The doctors couldn't figure out what was going on- they tried to give him some albumin to pull some fluid into his blood vessels, and then they gave him a small amount of fluids. This didn't work. His white blood cell count increased significantly. All of this points to an infection, and Phil is what they call septic. This means that the infection most likely has spread to his blood. They repeated blood cultures to see if anything grows. Right now they are treating him for all of the organisms they already know about. They haven't added any new antibiotics. They are waiting to identify the source of infection. Mike, his nurse, said it was good that he is on dialysis because it filters out some of the toxins from the bacteria as well. In this moment, we stopped and prayed and God told us that we were to call people and join together in prayer. Several people came to the hospital and many prayed at home once again praising God for who He is and thanking him for all He is doing that is much greater than we can see, also pleading on behalf of Phil. I wanted to share with you some songs that God has laid on me and we sang last night.
You Are God Alone (Not a god)by Billy Foote
http://www.myspace.com/billyfooteband- click on Featured playlist and then scroll down to artist mix and select You Are God Alone
You are not a god created by human hands.
You are not a god dependent on any mortal man.
You are not a god in need of anything we can give.
By Your plan, that’s just the way it is.
You are God alone, from before time began,
You are on Your throne, You are God alone.
And right now, in the good times and bad,
You are on Your throne, You are God alone.
Unshakeable, unchangeable, unstoppable,That’s what You are.
Unshakeable, unchangeable, unstoppable,That’s what You are.
You’re the only God whose power none can contend.
You’re the only God whose name and praise will never end.
You’re the only God who’s worthy of everything we can give.
You are God, that’s just the way it is.
This song has always meant so much to me. It was sung at our wedding, and it became real to me that God was on His throne at our wedding and is on the throne now through all of this. He does not change. I also love the part that God is not dependent on any mortal man- nurses or doctors. He doesn't need any of us. None can contend with his power.
Hallelujah God is Here by Michael Bleecker
http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/resource_files/audio/200811231700HWC01AWABA_MichaelBleecker_HallelujahGodIsHere.mp3
He has shown His mercy
Pouring out His fury
Laid on Christ our victory Lord God Almighty
He has shown His grace to me
Dying on that wretched tree,
Bore for me my penalty
You get the glory, We sing
Hallelujah, God is here! Hallelujah, God is here!
Open up your eyes and see the splendor of His majesty
Open up your eyes and see the beauty of The Mighty King
Covered in Your blood , we sing
All for You, our God and King
Humbled at Your feet we sing….we sing
Hallelujah, God is here! Hallelujah, God is here!
Open up your eyes and see the splendor of His majesty
Open up your eyes and see the beauty of The Mighty King
Let this place, echo Your worth
Let this place, echo Your worth
Isaiah 53:8-10- He was oppressed, and He was afflicted…like a lamb that is led to the
slaughter…By oppression and judgment He was taken away…stricken for the transgression of
my people. It was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief.
2 Cor. 5:21- For our sake He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might
become the righteousness of God.
Galatians 3:13- Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…
1 Peter 2:24- He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and
live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.
Romans 5:9- …we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by
him from the wrath of God.
The last part of this song was our prayer tonight- that this hospital would echo His worth. We also praise Him that He is here! We prayed that the halls, rooms, and waiting rooms of the ICU would echo His worth.
Here I Am by Michael Bleecker
http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/resource_files/audio/20051112AB01M_MichaelBleecker_HereIAm.mp3
Take me far away from here
Save me from this world of fear
Break me from the things I hold so near
they’re so far from You
Reveal to me what You want me to do
Place me where Your will draws me to
Lord be pleased with the worship I bring to You
I sing to You, I shout to You!
Here I am, send me out let me shine for Your glory
I will read, I’ll live out and proclaim Your Word
Take me now show me how I need to live not for me
But for You and Your glory.
Isaiah 6:8- I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will
go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Philippians 2:14-16- Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you
may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and
depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold
out the word of life.
God has reminded Justin of this song lately. Last night, we prayed and asked God about what He is wanting to show us during this time. We encourage everyone to ask God what He wants to show each of you through this, as He has told us multiple times that He is up to something much greater than just healing Phil's liver.
Some scripture a friend shared with us. Zecahriah 13:6-9 "And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will say, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My associate," Declares the LORD of hosts "Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones. "It will come about in all the land," Declares the LORD, "That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. "And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, 'They are My people,' And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"
Our prayer is to be the third part of the tribe.
Another scripture that came to mind last night as we prayed and sang was Acts 16:25-34 when Paul and Silas were in prison
"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family."
This is our prayer that whatever chains bind Phil's body or us or anyone reading this would be loosened and that people will come to know Jesus and be saved through this.
I have some new families to ask you to pray for:
Last night as we were in the room with Phil, a man named Jim, died. Please pray for God to draw this family near to him during this time. They had to code him in front of his family.
Yesterday afternoon we met Tony. His wife is Marilyn and she has had a rough life. She has lower bowel cancer and developed blood clots. Then while on the blood thinners developed a bleed. Most recently she has liver failure secondary to tylenol form her cancer pain. It is so sad as they have 8 kids. Some of the kids were up here yesterday afternoon. They all just moved here from out of state for better health care. The kids had to leave their friends. Please pray for God to comfort these children and her husband. Pray that God would continue to provide opportunities for us to love on them.
If you are still reading, congrats. When we went in and saw Phil when we left at 4:30AM he was still hanging in there with his blood pressure supported by medications currently. His respirations and oxygen is stable. His heart was having less funky beats. We came to the motorhome to catch a couple hours of sleep before we head back at 9AM. I wanted to update everyone so you can know how to be praying. Pray that God's name, first and foremost, would be made great through this. Please pray that God would touch Phil and heal him. Pray that he would heal this infection and sustain Phil's body as he endures it. Pray that the doctors can localize where the infection is and can treat it. Pray that his blood pressure would increase and he wouldn't have to be on medication. Ask and pray what God wants to show you during this time.
The liver is being healed!!! Mike tonight said that his liver was 25-40% dead where we originally only thought 15%, but that it was incredible how it is doing and regenerating. God intervened and answered our prayers and is healing Phil's liver. Please continue to pray against rejection and for the remainder of the liver function to be restored. Pray for the kidneys as well as I don't even know what to think of them right now. He is still on dialysis. Praise God for shocking the doctors and answering our prayers about this liver.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Update from the docs
I just spoke with Dr. Ruiz and Dr. Koje and wanted to give everyone an update. God continues to heal Phil and we are so grateful!! Baby steps, but we are thankful. They reviewed the liver biopsy and it showed that regeneration is taking place. It did show some rejection, but they expected this to some degree since he has been off of the medications. Also, his INR was 1.3 today!!! This is the lowest it has been since his transplant. This indicates that some of the clotting function of the liver that we have been praying for is starting to work better. His bilirubin was down to 3.6 today from 4.4 yesterday which also indicates that the liver is doing better. They have inactivated him on the transplant list right now due to his lung function, but they can always reactivate him. Keep praying that he won't need another transplant, and God would continue to bring new life and regeneration to his liver and that his body won't reject it. They are going to start him on a new antirejection medication. This one can cause flu-like symptoms and after several doses you can get an allergic reaction to it. The have pretreated him with benadryl and tylenol and have medications to treat the side effects. They had to stop one of the other antirejection medicines because it can hurt the kidneys more. The steroids he is on for his lungs also helps with rejection of the liver as well. In all, he is on three antirejection medications.
His kidneys are back to the point of making urine but are still not filtering correctly. They are keeping his dialysis the same. They are no longer removing fluid but just filtering his blood. Contiune to pray for the kidneys to be able to filter the blood properly.
His lungs continue to hang in there. He is still at 100% FiO2 which is the most you can be on. In theory, his paO2 (pressure of oxygen in his blood) should be like 300, but his is only 65. They measure this when they do a blood gas. Ideally, they would like it in the 80-100 range. This morning it was 75, but this afternoon it went down to 65. They were going to turn down his oxygen to 90%, but when his paO2 came back at 65, they decided to keep him at 100% overnight. They will check his blood gas again in the morning. The oxygen saturation they measure on your finger is only an indirect measurement- his is still at 99-100% which is much better than yesterday, but they base everything on the blood gas. His chest x-ray still looks good and it is so confusing to the doctors and nurses as to what is going on. They keep saying, "This doesn't make sense." This is what we have prayed for. Dr. Ruiz told me that they don't really understand what is going on but there are several possibilites and they are covering for all of them. They are giving him the right antibiotics for infection. He also said it could have been bad "humors" that could have come from the dying parts of the liver that upset his lungs. I think he meant as parts of the liver were dying, toxins were released that aggravated things. Justin laughed when I told him this and said we should bring out some snake oil to go with this.
Continue to pray that God would breathe oxygen into Phil's body, and that He would heal his lungs. Specifically pray that his paO2 (pressure of oxygen in his blood) would increase while the FiO2 (percent of oxygen they give him) can decrease. Pray that God would touch Phil's lungs in a way that only He can.
Another encouraging thing is that his platelets were at 88,000. They haven't been this high in several years.
I met Robin, a security guard, in the waiting room. Pray for more opportunities to talk with her.
Phil's mom, Grandma, and I sang several songs over Phil. We sang "Blessed Assurance,"
"Amazing Grace," "Victory in Jesus," and "Because He Lives." It was a sweet time.
Continue to pray for God's name to be made great in this and for the greater work He is accomplishing during this time.
His kidneys are back to the point of making urine but are still not filtering correctly. They are keeping his dialysis the same. They are no longer removing fluid but just filtering his blood. Contiune to pray for the kidneys to be able to filter the blood properly.
His lungs continue to hang in there. He is still at 100% FiO2 which is the most you can be on. In theory, his paO2 (pressure of oxygen in his blood) should be like 300, but his is only 65. They measure this when they do a blood gas. Ideally, they would like it in the 80-100 range. This morning it was 75, but this afternoon it went down to 65. They were going to turn down his oxygen to 90%, but when his paO2 came back at 65, they decided to keep him at 100% overnight. They will check his blood gas again in the morning. The oxygen saturation they measure on your finger is only an indirect measurement- his is still at 99-100% which is much better than yesterday, but they base everything on the blood gas. His chest x-ray still looks good and it is so confusing to the doctors and nurses as to what is going on. They keep saying, "This doesn't make sense." This is what we have prayed for. Dr. Ruiz told me that they don't really understand what is going on but there are several possibilites and they are covering for all of them. They are giving him the right antibiotics for infection. He also said it could have been bad "humors" that could have come from the dying parts of the liver that upset his lungs. I think he meant as parts of the liver were dying, toxins were released that aggravated things. Justin laughed when I told him this and said we should bring out some snake oil to go with this.
Continue to pray that God would breathe oxygen into Phil's body, and that He would heal his lungs. Specifically pray that his paO2 (pressure of oxygen in his blood) would increase while the FiO2 (percent of oxygen they give him) can decrease. Pray that God would touch Phil's lungs in a way that only He can.
Another encouraging thing is that his platelets were at 88,000. They haven't been this high in several years.
I met Robin, a security guard, in the waiting room. Pray for more opportunities to talk with her.
Phil's mom, Grandma, and I sang several songs over Phil. We sang "Blessed Assurance,"
"Amazing Grace," "Victory in Jesus," and "Because He Lives." It was a sweet time.
Continue to pray for God's name to be made great in this and for the greater work He is accomplishing during this time.
Praise God for a good night!!!
Wow- we had a good night!!! Praise God!! This is the first night all week where there weren't issues overnight. This verse came to mind this morning.
"Remember my affliction and my wanderings,the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind,and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,“therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3:19-24
I am so grateful that we have hope because of Jesus, that He has made a way for each of us. I can't imagine going through all of this without the hope we have in Christ.
This morning Phil continues to saturate at 100% while being on 100% oxygen (FiO2 of 100%). This is improved from yesterday morning when he was at 100% oxygen and saturating only in the 70-80% range. They still aren't turning down the FiO2 because his blood gas still shows an oxygen pressure of 70's. You would expect this to be 300 or so on this much oxygen. His is much improved from yesterday when he had oxygen pressures in the 50's.
Praise God also for his blood pressure. He is now OFF all blood pressure medications and is maintaining his pressures in normal range. He is making better urine output now. They are no longer removing fluid with the dialysis, but are only filtering his blood.
His nurse today is Stephanie. She is very nice. She told me that she had never taken care of Phil but she knows about him.
I came over this morning to check on Phil and told Justin and Beth to stay in bed. I called them and gave them the good report and they are still resting for which I am glad for.
Keep praying for Bryan, the 30 year old man whose kidney transplant failed. They went back to surgery yesterday to remove his kidney. While they were in surgery, he vomited and it went into his lungs which can possible cause pneumonia. They have left him on the ventilator.
We met a new man, Brad, whose father had a piece of bone from his scapula (shoulder blade) taken and put into his jaw. His dad must lay flat on his back and not move. Please pray for God's peace and comfort as his father is agitated and struggling to lay flat on his back.
Pray for Sandra and her husband Mearl. He had a liver transplant in December 2007 and it did well but he has dealt with one thing after another. He fell in the fall and broke his hip and had a hip replacement. He finished rehab and then developed MRSA infection in his hip and they removed it. They have been here all but 9 days this year.
I haven't spoken with the doctors yet today- they come in later on Saturday. Can you blame them? They work all the time. I will post more once I talk with them.
"Remember my affliction and my wanderings,the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind,and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,“therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3:19-24
I am so grateful that we have hope because of Jesus, that He has made a way for each of us. I can't imagine going through all of this without the hope we have in Christ.
This morning Phil continues to saturate at 100% while being on 100% oxygen (FiO2 of 100%). This is improved from yesterday morning when he was at 100% oxygen and saturating only in the 70-80% range. They still aren't turning down the FiO2 because his blood gas still shows an oxygen pressure of 70's. You would expect this to be 300 or so on this much oxygen. His is much improved from yesterday when he had oxygen pressures in the 50's.
Praise God also for his blood pressure. He is now OFF all blood pressure medications and is maintaining his pressures in normal range. He is making better urine output now. They are no longer removing fluid with the dialysis, but are only filtering his blood.
His nurse today is Stephanie. She is very nice. She told me that she had never taken care of Phil but she knows about him.
I came over this morning to check on Phil and told Justin and Beth to stay in bed. I called them and gave them the good report and they are still resting for which I am glad for.
Keep praying for Bryan, the 30 year old man whose kidney transplant failed. They went back to surgery yesterday to remove his kidney. While they were in surgery, he vomited and it went into his lungs which can possible cause pneumonia. They have left him on the ventilator.
We met a new man, Brad, whose father had a piece of bone from his scapula (shoulder blade) taken and put into his jaw. His dad must lay flat on his back and not move. Please pray for God's peace and comfort as his father is agitated and struggling to lay flat on his back.
Pray for Sandra and her husband Mearl. He had a liver transplant in December 2007 and it did well but he has dealt with one thing after another. He fell in the fall and broke his hip and had a hip replacement. He finished rehab and then developed MRSA infection in his hip and they removed it. They have been here all but 9 days this year.
I haven't spoken with the doctors yet today- they come in later on Saturday. Can you blame them? They work all the time. I will post more once I talk with them.
Friday, February 20, 2009
God is answering your prayers!!!
We came back at 9PM and Phil was saturating at 100%! We have never seen him at 100% this whole time in the hospital. He is still maxed out on the ventilator (at 100% FiO2) but we will take it- at least he is not at 70%. His nurse from last night, Mike, is back again tonight. We really like him. We told him many people were praying for him tonight, and he said, "Thanks, I will take whatever I can get." All of the nurses are scared to have Phil at night because his saturations go down for no apparent reason, and the day nurses keep asking the night nurses what they do to him. His blood pressure is also higher, and they have been able to decrease some of the blood pressure medicine.
Wow, what a day it has been. We are emotionally exhausted. We thank God for how He continues to work- many opportunities we have had today to talk and pray with people. Please continue to pray for Phil- that God would touch Him and heal his body. I have received many emails and texts of how God is working all around. The doctors are honestly stumped- this is outside of their medical box- which is what many have prayed for. Pray that God would break the hardest of hearts through this. Pray that God would continue to work in the doctors' lives. Pray for us that we would not be discouraged as the doctors can just tell us facts from the "Evidence" and from textbooks but they leave out the hope we have in Christ.
Justin is staying overnight in the waiting room tonight. Thanks again everyone for how you have joined with us in prayer today. It is so comforting to know that when we are at the end of ourselves and no longer know how to pray or what to pray for that people are praying and interceeding.
Wow, what a day it has been. We are emotionally exhausted. We thank God for how He continues to work- many opportunities we have had today to talk and pray with people. Please continue to pray for Phil- that God would touch Him and heal his body. I have received many emails and texts of how God is working all around. The doctors are honestly stumped- this is outside of their medical box- which is what many have prayed for. Pray that God would break the hardest of hearts through this. Pray that God would continue to work in the doctors' lives. Pray for us that we would not be discouraged as the doctors can just tell us facts from the "Evidence" and from textbooks but they leave out the hope we have in Christ.
Justin is staying overnight in the waiting room tonight. Thanks again everyone for how you have joined with us in prayer today. It is so comforting to know that when we are at the end of ourselves and no longer know how to pray or what to pray for that people are praying and interceeding.
Phil Stable Now
Just wanted to give everyone an update. It has been another crazy day here, but God is so faithful and is continuing to work in the midst of it all. Phil is still on the maximun amount of oxygen and the ventilator is maxed out, but now he is saturating at 97-98% which is a huge praise. He was maxed out earlier and saturating in the 70-80% range. They have now restarted his dialysis. They put his dialysis catheter in his neck. His blood pressure is staying up but he is requiring medications to keep it up. They just took blood to send off for culture to check and see if he has an infection in his blood. Dr. Levy came by and said the only thing he had to add to the current work up was to do a liver biopsy. He said he doesn't think he is having rejection, but they want to rule out everything because sometimes it can look like this picture. They did the liver biopsy at his bedside. They used ultrasound to localize the liver and did the biopsy. We won't have the results until maybe tomorrow. They talked with the cardiologist and his heart looks good. They don't think it is a blood clot in his lungs.
The lung doctor, Dr. Osafu, told us that Phil is the sickest person in this hospital and Dr. Ruiz said there are eyes watching Phil like a hawk. This is not necessarily the label we were going for. It seems like everyone knows about Phil. Our prayer in this is that God's name would continue to be made great through this- that God would continue to draw people to himself. As everyone is watching- may they see Christ and a miracle happen before their eyes. They keep trying to explain everything but they can't. Please pray for people to come to know Jesus through this.
Phil's mom, Vera, arrived today from South Carolina. Justin returned from Houston today.
We love everyone and continue to thank you for your prayers, support, food, text messages, emails, visits. Please keep praying and pleading for God to heal Phil's body and for His name to be made great through this-whatever that looks like. Pray for his lungs to heal and for oxygen to get into his blood. Pray for this liver to be healed if this is God's will. If not, pray for God's perfect timing in providing another liver and for Phil's body to be stable enough to endure surgery. Pray against infection. Pray for God to heal Phil's kidneys and that they can get rid of the acid in his blood and other chemicals they need to filter.
We are leaning on God's grace which continues to sustain us through this. 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness."
Will post more updates as they come.
The lung doctor, Dr. Osafu, told us that Phil is the sickest person in this hospital and Dr. Ruiz said there are eyes watching Phil like a hawk. This is not necessarily the label we were going for. It seems like everyone knows about Phil. Our prayer in this is that God's name would continue to be made great through this- that God would continue to draw people to himself. As everyone is watching- may they see Christ and a miracle happen before their eyes. They keep trying to explain everything but they can't. Please pray for people to come to know Jesus through this.
Phil's mom, Vera, arrived today from South Carolina. Justin returned from Houston today.
We love everyone and continue to thank you for your prayers, support, food, text messages, emails, visits. Please keep praying and pleading for God to heal Phil's body and for His name to be made great through this-whatever that looks like. Pray for his lungs to heal and for oxygen to get into his blood. Pray for this liver to be healed if this is God's will. If not, pray for God's perfect timing in providing another liver and for Phil's body to be stable enough to endure surgery. Pray against infection. Pray for God to heal Phil's kidneys and that they can get rid of the acid in his blood and other chemicals they need to filter.
We are leaning on God's grace which continues to sustain us through this. 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness."
Will post more updates as they come.
Please Pray- Phil Unstable
Please pray right now. Beth and I got a call this morning at 8:15ish from Phil's nurse, Tammy, telling us that he is unstable- his blood pressure was low and they have him on the most oxygen possible and his saturations were in the high 70-low 80 percent. We came up to the hospital. He was not coding or anything they just wanted to let us know that he wasn't doing well.
They have him on medications to keep his blood pressure up. He is maxed out on what they can do on the ventilator and he still isn't saturating well- only in the 80 percent range- and he is breathing very hard. They are trying to figure out what is going on. There are a couple possibilities: infection, blood clot that went to his lungs (pulmonary embolus), volume depletion, acid build-up from his kidneys. So now they are doing a lot of tests to try and figure out what is going on.
Infection: He ran a low grade fever overnight. They removed the catheter in his groin yesterday that they do dialysis through because it may be the source of the infection. They sent it to the lab so they can culture the tip.
Pulmonary Embolism: When they did an ultrasound to look for blood clots, they found a small one in his groin where the dialysis catheter had been. This is so unusual because Phil's blood is so thin already. This potentially could have broke off a piece and went to his lungs. They started him on Heparin injections for this. They can't do the studies you usually do to look for this because they can't take him down to radiology. They did a sonogram of his heart to look for major strain on it which the pulmonay embolus would do, and the sonogram looked good. So this is low on the list.
Volume Depletion: This could explain the low blood pressure and high heart rate but could not explain the poor oxygenation. They don't think he has too much fluid on his lungs anymore because his chest x-ray looks good, so they are going to give him a 500 mL fluid bolus.
Acid Build Up: His kidneys aren't working well and aren't able to get rid of the acid in his body. His potassium was also elevated which indicated this so they decided to restart him on dialysis. They are putting the new catheter in his neck to do dialysis through. They are putting that in now so they can start dialysis.
Beth just spoke with Dr. Ruiz and he said that they really don't think this in caused by infection or a blood clot but his underlyding lung shunting problems from the liver disease. Dr. Ruiz said they really want to give him a new liver that works well to help reverse this problem, but they need a window where he is stable in order to take him to the operating room. His liver continues to be stable today, no better, no worse. His INR was 1.5 and his bilirubin was 4.4.
In the midst of all of this, Beth felt the Lord telling her to go and talk with this lady, Mary, who was crying in the ICU waiting room. Her son, Brian, who is 30 had a kidney transplant 2 days ago and it is not working and they are starting him back on dialysis. Beth was able to pray with her. Pray for them during this time.
Last night when Beth and I were sitting in the waiting room, we met Cindy, whose husband got a liver transplant last night. They are from Austin and have been in the hospital 9 times in the past 4 months. He has been in the ICU at Baylor Dallas for 3 weeks and they have been living at the twiced bless house in dallas. They got a call for a liver in Ft. Worth and came over here. She is still staying in Dallas. Pray for continued opportunities to share with her.
They have him on medications to keep his blood pressure up. He is maxed out on what they can do on the ventilator and he still isn't saturating well- only in the 80 percent range- and he is breathing very hard. They are trying to figure out what is going on. There are a couple possibilities: infection, blood clot that went to his lungs (pulmonary embolus), volume depletion, acid build-up from his kidneys. So now they are doing a lot of tests to try and figure out what is going on.
Infection: He ran a low grade fever overnight. They removed the catheter in his groin yesterday that they do dialysis through because it may be the source of the infection. They sent it to the lab so they can culture the tip.
Pulmonary Embolism: When they did an ultrasound to look for blood clots, they found a small one in his groin where the dialysis catheter had been. This is so unusual because Phil's blood is so thin already. This potentially could have broke off a piece and went to his lungs. They started him on Heparin injections for this. They can't do the studies you usually do to look for this because they can't take him down to radiology. They did a sonogram of his heart to look for major strain on it which the pulmonay embolus would do, and the sonogram looked good. So this is low on the list.
Volume Depletion: This could explain the low blood pressure and high heart rate but could not explain the poor oxygenation. They don't think he has too much fluid on his lungs anymore because his chest x-ray looks good, so they are going to give him a 500 mL fluid bolus.
Acid Build Up: His kidneys aren't working well and aren't able to get rid of the acid in his body. His potassium was also elevated which indicated this so they decided to restart him on dialysis. They are putting the new catheter in his neck to do dialysis through. They are putting that in now so they can start dialysis.
Beth just spoke with Dr. Ruiz and he said that they really don't think this in caused by infection or a blood clot but his underlyding lung shunting problems from the liver disease. Dr. Ruiz said they really want to give him a new liver that works well to help reverse this problem, but they need a window where he is stable in order to take him to the operating room. His liver continues to be stable today, no better, no worse. His INR was 1.5 and his bilirubin was 4.4.
In the midst of all of this, Beth felt the Lord telling her to go and talk with this lady, Mary, who was crying in the ICU waiting room. Her son, Brian, who is 30 had a kidney transplant 2 days ago and it is not working and they are starting him back on dialysis. Beth was able to pray with her. Pray for them during this time.
Last night when Beth and I were sitting in the waiting room, we met Cindy, whose husband got a liver transplant last night. They are from Austin and have been in the hospital 9 times in the past 4 months. He has been in the ICU at Baylor Dallas for 3 weeks and they have been living at the twiced bless house in dallas. They got a call for a liver in Ft. Worth and came over here. She is still staying in Dallas. Pray for continued opportunities to share with her.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Night Report
Thought I would give you an update before we head off to bed. Phil is resting well and his FiO2 is now down to 70%. His nurse tonight is Mike. He is very nice. They are very short staffed and the nurses are working a lot. Our nurse tonight said he usually works 3 shifts but ended up working 7 days in a row. Pray for all of them as they are so tired. They gave Phil something to paralyze him so he can rest his lungs. It is working. Please pray tonight that Phil will rest well and that God will heal his lungs and that he will be able to get oxygen in his blood. Will update in the morning after 9AM when we see him and speak with doctor. Pray for his kidneys as they may have to put him back on dialysis.
Stable
Phil is still stable. They now have him on the lowest dose of the parylitic medicine and he is now calm and resting well. His saturations have increased to 100% with an FiO2 of 90%. We are going to go to my grandma's house from 6-9PM to eat her good roast. She lives 15 minutes away. We will be back to see Phil at 9PM and I will post an update then.
Wow, what a morning!
Phil is stable now, but its been a long morning. Early this morning he started coughing and his saturations went down. They had to increase his FiO2 to 90% again. They got a call for a liver, but due to his lungs they turned it down. We totally believe this was a God thing because he was doing well and then started coughing and his saturations went down. God didn't want him to get this liver. Earlier in the week we prayed that the surgeons wouldn't make the decisions, but that God would make the decision for them.
Beth and I were in the room and he started grimacing and his saturations went down into the 70's. They increased his FiO2 to 100% which is the most you can have and he was still desaturating to the 70's. Alarms were going off and not being dealt with, which was really frustrating. His nurse is the charge nurse today and they have a shortage of nurses so she is running around into other rooms and not able to pay as much attention to Phil. I had to go and tell them that he was desaturating and to give him more pain meds. The nurse just decided to increase his propofol(sedation which causes low blood pressure) from 40 to 200 (he has never been over 50) and she didn't see his blood pressure starting to drop. As soon as I told her, she turned it back to 40. Please pray for her, Lindy, as you can tell she is overwhelmed and stressed. God sent Dr. Koje by and he saw what was going on and he is now in the room with Phil. They paged the lung doctor again. Dr. Koje just said he happened to walk by. We know that is not the case. They have now called in another nurse to stay with Phil 1 on 1 today. Her name is Tammy.
Please pray for Phil's lungs. We had an extensive talk with the lung doctor today and they feel that all of this is due to his lung shunting from the liver disease (hepatopulmonary syndrome). This is where the blood vessels around the air sacks (alveoli) are expanded and blood passes by but cannot pick up the oxygen. They do not understand how this happens but they think there is something the liver makes or clears and the lack of it or excess of it causes the blood vessels in the lungs to dilate like this. The only thing that fixes it is a new liver and even with a good liver it takes time to reverse the shunting. They said his chest x-ray looks good today so they don't think pneumonia is the cause of all of this or fluid on his lungs. They are going to give him a higher dose of steroids to help his lungs which will also help with rejection of the liver. Pray against infection because steroids increase the risk of infection. They are also going to do a sonogram of his legs to check for blood clots they could have gone to his lungs. They just want to rule out all causes of what could be making his lungs have trouble. They don't think this is what happened because his blood is already so thin. They want to do a CT scan of his abdomen just to check and make sure no other infection is going on, but with his lungs like they are, they don't want to take him down stairs to radiology. They are going to do a sonogram instead which they can do in the room. The surgeons have now decided to paralyze Phil today so that he can't move in hopes of allowing his lungs to heal and recover. They will also be giving him sedation and pain medication. Please pray for God to heal Phil's lungs- that He would reverse this shunt and allow his blood to pick up the oxygen that it needs to.
Praise God that the liver function is improving. His INR is down to 1.5 on its own (with no added plasma) and his billirubin actually dropped to 4.4. Dr. Ruiz actually stated that can't tell the future but that this liver is kind of functioning and that "maybe he will actually walk out of here with this liver" - this is the first time he has admitted that this liver might work out. It gave us a chance to remind him that we have been asking God to heal this liver. Pray that God will use this to show Dr. Ruiz that He is real. We also praise God because maybe He is using these lung issues to keep the surgeons from taking Phil back to the operating room for a new liver when maybe God wants to heal this one.
They decided to take him off of dialysis today and they are going to remove the catheter they use to do the dialysis because it can cause infection. Continue to pray that God would heal his kidneys and that they would be able to clean the toxins out of his blood.
We had a neat moment with Phil. While they were waiting on the paralyzing medication to come from Pharmacy, they decreased his sedation. He was the most awake we had ever seen. He was blinking his eyes and he looked at Beth with open eyes for a prolonged time. We were able to tell him to relax and explained some of the tubes to him.
We are so thankful for all of your prayers. Please continue to pray for Phil. We praise God for how he continues to work out His purposes in all of this.
Beth and I were in the room and he started grimacing and his saturations went down into the 70's. They increased his FiO2 to 100% which is the most you can have and he was still desaturating to the 70's. Alarms were going off and not being dealt with, which was really frustrating. His nurse is the charge nurse today and they have a shortage of nurses so she is running around into other rooms and not able to pay as much attention to Phil. I had to go and tell them that he was desaturating and to give him more pain meds. The nurse just decided to increase his propofol(sedation which causes low blood pressure) from 40 to 200 (he has never been over 50) and she didn't see his blood pressure starting to drop. As soon as I told her, she turned it back to 40. Please pray for her, Lindy, as you can tell she is overwhelmed and stressed. God sent Dr. Koje by and he saw what was going on and he is now in the room with Phil. They paged the lung doctor again. Dr. Koje just said he happened to walk by. We know that is not the case. They have now called in another nurse to stay with Phil 1 on 1 today. Her name is Tammy.
Please pray for Phil's lungs. We had an extensive talk with the lung doctor today and they feel that all of this is due to his lung shunting from the liver disease (hepatopulmonary syndrome). This is where the blood vessels around the air sacks (alveoli) are expanded and blood passes by but cannot pick up the oxygen. They do not understand how this happens but they think there is something the liver makes or clears and the lack of it or excess of it causes the blood vessels in the lungs to dilate like this. The only thing that fixes it is a new liver and even with a good liver it takes time to reverse the shunting. They said his chest x-ray looks good today so they don't think pneumonia is the cause of all of this or fluid on his lungs. They are going to give him a higher dose of steroids to help his lungs which will also help with rejection of the liver. Pray against infection because steroids increase the risk of infection. They are also going to do a sonogram of his legs to check for blood clots they could have gone to his lungs. They just want to rule out all causes of what could be making his lungs have trouble. They don't think this is what happened because his blood is already so thin. They want to do a CT scan of his abdomen just to check and make sure no other infection is going on, but with his lungs like they are, they don't want to take him down stairs to radiology. They are going to do a sonogram instead which they can do in the room. The surgeons have now decided to paralyze Phil today so that he can't move in hopes of allowing his lungs to heal and recover. They will also be giving him sedation and pain medication. Please pray for God to heal Phil's lungs- that He would reverse this shunt and allow his blood to pick up the oxygen that it needs to.
Praise God that the liver function is improving. His INR is down to 1.5 on its own (with no added plasma) and his billirubin actually dropped to 4.4. Dr. Ruiz actually stated that can't tell the future but that this liver is kind of functioning and that "maybe he will actually walk out of here with this liver" - this is the first time he has admitted that this liver might work out. It gave us a chance to remind him that we have been asking God to heal this liver. Pray that God will use this to show Dr. Ruiz that He is real. We also praise God because maybe He is using these lung issues to keep the surgeons from taking Phil back to the operating room for a new liver when maybe God wants to heal this one.
They decided to take him off of dialysis today and they are going to remove the catheter they use to do the dialysis because it can cause infection. Continue to pray that God would heal his kidneys and that they would be able to clean the toxins out of his blood.
We had a neat moment with Phil. While they were waiting on the paralyzing medication to come from Pharmacy, they decreased his sedation. He was the most awake we had ever seen. He was blinking his eyes and he looked at Beth with open eyes for a prolonged time. We were able to tell him to relax and explained some of the tubes to him.
We are so thankful for all of your prayers. Please continue to pray for Phil. We praise God for how he continues to work out His purposes in all of this.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
How you can help...
Several people have been telling us that they would like to make a monetary contribution for Phil and the needs of the family. We don't currently know all of the needs, but people have already asked to help fly Kristin back and forth from Nashville as needed as well as help pay for Phil's antirejection medications. Today a special account was set up for this purpose, Liver Fund Account for Phil Childress. Mr. Ken Byrd will be managing the account. In order to make a contribution, make checks payable to:
Melanie Ann Childress
Memo Section: Liver Fund Acct for Phil Childress
You may drop your check off at the Oaks Baptist Church or mail it to:
Mr. Ken Byrd
914 Kings Court
Duncanville, TX 75137
Once again we can't thank everyone enough for your overwhelming prayers, love, support, encouragement, visits, emails, calls, etc. Thank you for being the body to us during this time. Thank you for showing us the love of Christ.
Melanie Ann Childress
Memo Section: Liver Fund Acct for Phil Childress
You may drop your check off at the Oaks Baptist Church or mail it to:
Mr. Ken Byrd
914 Kings Court
Duncanville, TX 75137
Once again we can't thank everyone enough for your overwhelming prayers, love, support, encouragement, visits, emails, calls, etc. Thank you for being the body to us during this time. Thank you for showing us the love of Christ.
First time home in 10 days
Beth and I ventured out today....it was the first time Beth left in 10 days. We went home to Duncanville and gathered and paid some bills. We feel better that we got some stuff taken care of. Tonight as people gather at the Oaks to pray, our home group is coming to the hospital to pray. We will see Phil at 9PM and I will post if anything has changed.
The scoop for the day....
We spoke with Dr. Ruiz and our goals for today are to keep decreasing the FiO2. He is now down to 55%. No other changes really. The cultures still aren't back yet which is a good thing. They are keeping him sedated as they continue to try to wean him off the ventilator. They are continuing the chest physical therapy. The machine looks like a car waxer. They put it on the front of his chest 4 times a day.
They are considering stopping dialysis today in order to see what his kidneys do on their own.
His liver coagulation improved today. His INR is 1.6 and this is without the plasma. Normal is less than 1.0. Praise God that his liver is still hanging in there. His bilirubin increased today to 5.2. Robert said this may be the liver starting to work a little and that usually the bilirubin is the last to go down. The surgeons are still waiting for the perfect liver, but please continue to pray for God to heal this one if it is His will.
We just want everyone to know that Beth and I are going to make a quick trip to the house today so that we can get and pay some bills. I just wanted to let everyone know in case anyone was planning on coming. We will be back probably by 7ish.
I know that some people are not able to view comments and I wanted to share this comment from our pastor with you.
"Everyone reading this please stop and say a prayer for Phil today. It seems to me that Phil's improvements have always come during times that God's people are praying for him. As a church body let's surround Phil and his entire family with prayer throughout the entire day. I also encourage you to write out your prayers, post them here, or send them to the family. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!" In His Name, Leighton Flowers"
They are considering stopping dialysis today in order to see what his kidneys do on their own.
His liver coagulation improved today. His INR is 1.6 and this is without the plasma. Normal is less than 1.0. Praise God that his liver is still hanging in there. His bilirubin increased today to 5.2. Robert said this may be the liver starting to work a little and that usually the bilirubin is the last to go down. The surgeons are still waiting for the perfect liver, but please continue to pray for God to heal this one if it is His will.
We just want everyone to know that Beth and I are going to make a quick trip to the house today so that we can get and pay some bills. I just wanted to let everyone know in case anyone was planning on coming. We will be back probably by 7ish.
I know that some people are not able to view comments and I wanted to share this comment from our pastor with you.
"Everyone reading this please stop and say a prayer for Phil today. It seems to me that Phil's improvements have always come during times that God's people are praying for him. As a church body let's surround Phil and his entire family with prayer throughout the entire day. I also encourage you to write out your prayers, post them here, or send them to the family. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!" In His Name, Leighton Flowers"
The lungs.....
The lungs continue to be an issue this morning. Overnight, they increased his FiO2 back to 70% but Robert has him back down to 60% already and he is tolerating it well. We want it down to 35%. They have kept him sedated and he is breathing more comfortably. Praise God that we are a little better this morning than we started off the day yesterday. Please continue to pray for God to heal Phil's lungs and that he would breath oxygen into him. They would really like for him to be off of the ventilator. In theory, he could be awake and off the ventilator and up on the transplant floor waiting for another liver. Continue to pray for God to heal this infection in his lungs and that it would not spread to the rest of his body.
They have continued him on dialysis today and his creatinine has come down to 2.6.
His INR today is 1.6 and that is without plasma so that is good. His bilirubin increased to 5.2. Unless God chooses to heal this liver, they still are waiting on a new liver.
I will post more of what the goals are for today once we speak with the surgeons.
They have continued him on dialysis today and his creatinine has come down to 2.6.
His INR today is 1.6 and that is without plasma so that is good. His bilirubin increased to 5.2. Unless God chooses to heal this liver, they still are waiting on a new liver.
I will post more of what the goals are for today once we speak with the surgeons.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Praise God for some more baby steps!!
We saw Phil at 6PM. Praise God for answered prayers today!!! His FiO2 is now down to 55% and his saturations were around 95-96%. Like I said earlier, they switched him to this new fancy ventilator. I found out the purpose of it. It is able to give percussions as it gives him respirations. They aren't using this feature yet, but Robert just got it in case the lung doctor wants to use it. They also started what they call CPT- chest physical therapy. They percuss and vibrate his chest in hopes of breaking up the mucous. Robert said it is like taking a back massager and rubbing it up and down your back. Then they put a suction down the tube in his throat to get the stuff out. They are doing this 4 times a day. They are going to keep Phil sedated again tonight to try to get his FiO2 down some more. That is the big goal for the rest of the night. Then maybe tomorrow if he can get down to 35%, they will try again to switch him just to the pressure support and see how he does- another breathing trial.
Robert said it is a good sign that his cultures didn't come back today because if something grew this fast, it indicates a very strong infection.
Please continue to pray for Phil's lungs and that God would breathe oxygen into his blood.
I won't lock the keys and computer in the motorhome in the morning so I will do a post probably around 10 or so after we see the doctors. If anything changes when we go back in at 9PM tonight I will let you know. Beth, Justin, and I plan to sleep in the motorhome tonight. Thank you God for some improvement today.
Robert said it is a good sign that his cultures didn't come back today because if something grew this fast, it indicates a very strong infection.
Please continue to pray for Phil's lungs and that God would breathe oxygen into his blood.
I won't lock the keys and computer in the motorhome in the morning so I will do a post probably around 10 or so after we see the doctors. If anything changes when we go back in at 9PM tonight I will let you know. Beth, Justin, and I plan to sleep in the motorhome tonight. Thank you God for some improvement today.
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