We made a quick trip to Oxford Sunday to see my brother. Considering everything that has happened over the last few days, he is improving. Although his heart is doing 100% of the work now, it is only working at 15% of a normal heart. He has alot of fluid around his heart and has been given medication to get the fluid off him. His heart beat is about 110 beats per minute and it needs to be below 100 beats per minute. It is slowly going down. Friday it was at 138 beats per minute, so we know that is an answer to prayer.
The doctor told us last night that although Doug has come a long way and is alive, he still has a long way to go. The doctor also told us he will never live the same type of life he used to (it was not uncommon for Doug to work 18 hours a day during harvesting and planting season). The doctor also said they are beginning to ween Doug off the medications that he is currently on which are helping his heart. If he does not get better or gets worse during this time, he will be put on a heart transplant list. As you can imagine, this was very upsetting especially since we have seen Doug make drastic improvements over the last couple of days.
From all indications, this heart surgeon is not optimist. He isn't the encouraging type. I'm sure he deals with death and dire situations on a daily basis. However, we don't believe he's ever seen such a case so full of hope, faith and prayer. So at this time, we have all decided to pray for Doug's heart to get back to working as a "normal" heart would, for Doug's heart to work perfectly although he is being taken off the meds so the next surgery can be performed, and for Doug to live an even better life than before!
So many things are taking place there which I hope to share with you in days to come. My parents are not wallowing in their sadness but are ministering to other families in the waiting room; Doug's wife, Avril (who is from Honduras), interpreted for a Mexican who's dad had surgery yesterday and didn't understand what the doctors were saying; and we prayed over a lady who was in ICU next to my brother; Doug also mentioned what it was like when he died in the helicopter. And the list goes on. God is at work in the lives of people around us and we still believe.
"May God, the source of hope, fill me with all joy and peace by means of my faith in Him, so that my hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13
3 comments:
barbie~
can't wait to hear the stories that will come from this situation. God uses everything for His purpose. like kenn kington said last night "my Daddy, your will...lead me". what an easy way to explain the Lord's prayer!
continuing to pray believing!
Barbie,
It is very unusal that I would be posting a comment on someone's web page or blog whatever you call it. I am also like you I am not up on all the technology of cell phones. I send and receive calls no texting. The reason that I sought out your site was because of an annoucement that was given in church yesterday. A lady in our church announced that you would be coming to our church to speak for a special event we are planning. She expressed that she had been reading your blog and was really encouraged by it and that you truly love the Lord. I also love the Lord and see him work in my life on a daily basis. I also have experienced praying about things and thinking that the Lord should answer immediately. Through experience I have realized that God is in control of everything and his timing is the right timing. The one thing he doesn't control is us because we have a free will and that is what usually causes us the most heartache in life because we want life to be about us and not about him(Jesus). Even a Christians we have to fight that on a daily basis but thank goodness we have a comforter and guide that we recieve when we except Jesus as our Savior. I know that the Lord will continue to direct you brother in the path that is meant for him and will continue to bring peace,comfort,love and healing to him in every aspect of his life and your families lives. Loved the comparison between cell phone and bible it speaks volumes.
Perhaps that is why it's called the "Family of God". We are here for you and on and on and on. God bless you and your family.
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