Dear Prayer Warriors. Thank you so much for your prayers. We are ever so grateful and are fully aware of the difference you are making. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to be online in a while to update you. Praise the Lord, I had an uneventful direct flight from
South Africa to the States and arrived in
Spartanburg on Saturday at 0945 am. I came straight to the hospital to be with my daddy. They held his chemo until I could arrive home safely and my sister could arrive from her in-laws in
Washington,
DC. The chemo sometimes gets him confused and gets him feeling bad and he wanted to remember his visit with us and be lucid during his visits.
We know God has His hand on our family and my daddy at this time. Right now his biggest struggle is his breathing. Sunday night Daddy almost went to be with Jesus. Daddy had a breathing episode and couldn’t catch his breath. They upped his oxygen to 15 liters and put the blue DNR-do not resuscitate bracelet on him. They drew blood from his artery on his hand and found that his oxygen was at 54%…the goal is 80%-100%. We called in the family and the preacher to be with him in case Jesus called him home. After about 3 hours his oxygen levels came back up into the 90’s -praise God! At 0400 am we sent everyone home to get some rest and my sister and I stayed the rest of the night with Dad. 15 liters is the maximum amount of oxygen they can put him on before using the bi-pap machine-forcing air into his lungs. He has expressed his wishes of nothing invasive and the bi-pap would be the last resort medically they can do to help him. He is receiving breathing treatments every 6 hours to help.
He knows Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior and knows he will spend eternity with Jesus in Heaven. He is ready and has a peace if the Lord calls him home. We also have a peace knowing where Daddy will spend eternity and that no matter what happens, those of us that have a personal relationship with Jesus will see Daddy again in heaven. We are praying for the Lord’s will to be done but also praying the Lord will get Daddy through this difficult time and provide complete healing for him.
Currently Dad is taking chemo and will receive chemo until Friday. His platelets are low and he has been coughing up blood for the past 2 nights and is receiving platelet transfusions for this. He has been confined to his bed since his breathing episode on Sun night except to use the toilet and must have the oxygen tank wheeled with him. He has a lot of fluid around his lungs from the capillaries leaking from his leukemia causing him the breathing difficulties-the episodes along with frequent wheezing. They are giving him medicine to pull the fluid from around his lungs. Just sitting up on the side of the bed and moving around overexerts him and he has breathing episodes. He had one yesterday where he couldn’t get his shirt off quick enough and couldn’t catch his breath. He no longer wears a shirt, feeling like he is constricted. This morning he had another breathing episode and almost collapsed in the floor. After these episodes he receives a breathing treatment, some anxiety medication and is not allowed to talk but to just concentrate on his breathing for a while. Usually after about 15 minutes his breathing settles down.
Praise the Lord, his kidneys are working well. His kidney function was elevated upon arrival and is almost back at normal. They checked him on Monday for a blood clot in his lungs and that came back negative. All of his infectious tests are also coming back negative. His blood sugar has been extremely elevated upwards of 200-300 and today over 500. So we are also working on getting his blood sugar back down less than 130. Yesterday he received a new medication that had him confused and will no longer receive that medication. Each day is a new day and we handle this journey one day at a time-as that is all we can do. We have a rotation of family members staying with him around the clock.
He has many struggles, but we know nothing is too difficult for the Lord. We don’t know why God chose to allow his leukemia to come back, but we know God will use it for His glory and to draw each of us closer to Him and even open the doors for others to come to a knowledge of God’s love for them and have a personal relationship with God through His son, Jesus Christ. Right now we are trusting God and resting in Him. The doctor mentioned a possibility of going to
Charleston,
SC 2nd week of August for consultation on a bone marrow transplant.
I miss being able to serve with my team in Africa right now, but know God has me where He wants me and will allow me to return in His timing. Again thank you for all your prayers and I will try and post another update next week.
PS on a funny note, God has a sense of humor and knows how much I miss being in
Africa and wanted me to feel at home this morning. As I was in the shower with my hair all lathered up, the water went completely out. I just laughed. Apparently a valve broke and they are working on fixing it this afternoon while I am here at the hospital.
