Saturday evening, Feb. 17, 2007

I wanted to give an update tonight since I am about to travel south back to Marion for the night. Dad has had an okay day today. Lynette talked to his nurse tonight for an update and she said Dad still has his fever of 102. They just put the cooling blanket back on him to try and get his fever down. They did sputum cultures today to see if he has pneumonia or infection in his lungs. They also changed out the ventilator to a less pressurized one since dad was fighting the other one so much. He appears to be resting a little more comfortably with the ventilator. The nurse said she will possibly do blood and urine cultures in teh morning if his temp remains elevated. They are going to do a chest x-ray in the morning as well.
We do have a praise report of God's faithfulness! One of my brother's freinds from his teenage days and his wife came up to visit this afternoon and said my dad means more to him than we would know. He said if it wasn't for my dad, he wouldn't have had his first car! He said he saw dad at the bank a couple of weeks ago and they stood outside and talked for over an hour. He told mom if she needed anything at all to call him. He kept asking mom about the hotel she was staying in, if she needed him to pay for her hotel. Of course mom was saying, "no, I am okay", but he kept on asking and found that tonight was the last night the hotel was paid for. My brother has paid for it all week. Anyway, mom got a call from Rich's wife Missy after they left and she told her that they went by the hotel and paid her room up until March 1st! What a blesssing! God provides in ways we would never even think! He is so faithful! We have seen his hand at work in every circumstance. There is a song we keep singing (my whole family sings!) and it has brought us such comfort! Here are the words.

He's Always Been Faithful To Me ( by Sara Groves)

Morning by morning I wake up to find, the power and comfort of God's hand in mine. Season by season I watch Him amazed, in awe of the mystery of His perfect ways.

Chorus: All I have need of His hand will provide. He's always been faithful to me!

I can't remember a trial or a pain, He did not recycle to bring me gain. I can't remember one single regret in serving God fully and trusting His hand. (back to chorus)

This is my athem this is my song. The theme of the stories I've heard for so long. God has been faithful, He will be again. His loving compassion it knows no end! (back to chorus)

Lord, I thank you for your faithfulness to us. Thank you for all your blessings you have given to us. Thank you for watching over mom and caring for her and being her strength! Continue to watch over Dad tonight and keep him in your care. I pray his nurse would be caring and attentive to his needs. Give the doctors and nurses wisdom in caring for Dad. Watch over our family as we travel to different places, and bring us back safely together in the morning. I love you Lord, with all my heart and I praise you in the storm! You are faithful!!! ~Amen

It's been one week . . . .

Well I can't believe it has been one week from today that Dad had his accident. We have been camping out at the hospital and so many friends and family have came along side and comforted us. We are so thankful for your care for us. Thank you to everyone who is continueing to pray for Dad and our family.

Well yesterday we had a rough day. Dad had a major seizure that lasted 30 minutes. A typical seizure would last 30 seconds to 3 minutes. It was a horrible thing to see him go through. They got the seizure stopped but had to more than double the seizure medicine he was on. He is in a deep coma now. He is not responsive at all even when they do their "vacation" from the medicine to evaluate him. He has spiked a temp today of 101.8 so they are trying to get that down. We are not suppose to touch him or talk to him because they do not want any stimulation to his brain at all for awhile. The doctor said that if Dad doesn't have anymore seizures they may try to wake him up come the first of the week. The swelling on his brain is still a concern as well. Dad is very swollen today from all the fluids.

We thank God for his care for Dad and for us. We know that God is using this for His Glory! We may not understand it all but we trust Christ! Continue to pray with us and we love everyone of you!

Prayer for my Dad

Well the kids and I made it safe and sound to Indiana. Now we know we were here for more than painting but in God's kindness he brought us to Indiana so we could be here for our family. You see, Saturday Feb. 10th, my father was unloading some furniture into their new home off of a flat bed trailor that was backed up to the front porch, when he lost his footing and took a hard fall onto his back, hitting the back of his head on the house on his way down. He went unconsious and my brother in law called 911. I got down on the ground and began praying for him. After the ambulance got there dad came to. He answered all the questions correctly they asked him and so they thought he would be okay. Dad declined the ambulance and my brother in law took him in his truck to the ER. We all followed behind and called family on the way. We were in our ER for 3 1/2 hours before they even did a CT. Right after the CT the doctor came in and said dad had a bleed and it was pretty bad and had to rushed to Fort Wayne, IN to Luthran Hospital to have immediate brain surgery. We all took off for the hospital and on the way mom and I were in my van and caught up with the ambulance because it was sitting along side of the road. They pulled over to work on Dad. He had stopped breathing. We sat there for 15 minutes praying for God to heal him! They intabated him and got him back and then went onto the hospital. When we arrive to the hospital the surgeon took us back and told us that Dad would probably not make it through surgery that the bleed was on both sides of his brain and since Dad was on Plavix, a blood thinner for his heart, that he wasn't sure if he could even stop the bleeding. He said if he did stop the bleeding that dad would most likely start bleeding again. And he said if he made it through surgery he could be brain dead, or paralyzed. Well, Dad made it through the surgery and he is NOT brain dead and he is NOT paralyzed! God has answered our prayers! Dad had been responding to us by moving his toes and squeezing our hands but he has not opened his eyes at all. Yesterday we got report from the doctor that Dad isn't doing as well has he had hoped and that the swelling on Dad's brain wasn't getting smaller. There is a cluster of blood that shows up on the CT from his surgery. He had so much bleeding that they couldn't help but leave it in there. He said it isn't putting pressure right now on his brain but if the swelling didn't start to go down they may have to go back into surgery and take out that cluster of blood. The medicine they are giving him to take the swelling down is making his blood thicker so they also said if his blood gets too thick, they will have to go back into surgery. The lung doctor came in and said Dad's lungs are doing great and there is no sign of infection there. So that was good news. Also his kidney's are doing good and his urine output is good.
Today we sit and wait for each visitation time to go back and pray for him. We know God is able to heal him and he can walk out of this place. We trust God and we know this accident didn't take him by surprise and that it was planned since the begininng of time. We don't always understand God's plan but we trust him! We know all things happen to bring glory to our Savior so we know God's will, will be done and He will be glorified through this!
If you are reading this and you do not serve Christ, I ask you to search your heart. God loves you so much. He wants you to turn from your sin and cling to Him. We have so much comfort knowing that Dad not only believes in Christ but he has a relationship with him. You see it isn't just about saying you belief in God but it is living for him, every day with your whole heart. I thank God that my Dad knows Jesus and if it is God's will that Dad loses his life here on earth, I kow that he gains an eternity in Heaven with Christ. Do you know where you would spend eternity if you were to die today? It isn't by chance that you are reading this blog, God is calling out to you. What will your response be?
I will try to post updates as we recieve them. I love you all and thank God for you. We never know what each day will hold. We cannot take our lives for granted. Tell the people in your life how much you love them daily! I am so thankful I told my dad I loved him that morning. I thank God for that!

Heading North!

The kids and I are heading to Indiana until the 18th. John is going to Maryland all next week so I am going home to help my parents in their home they just bought last week. We are stripping wallpaper and painting the interior of the home. Please pray we have safe travels. And that we don't freeze to death!!! It is bitter cold up there! Our bodies are use to Florida sunshine! I won't be posting any new posts until I return. My parent do not have internet. So until then, stay warm and much love to you all!

Super Bowl

The Indianapolis Colts WIN!!! Whoo Hoo!

Cheesy Enchiladas

1 (8 ounce) package fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 (8 ounce) package fat-free shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sliced green onions (I used a full cup)
6 (6-inch) flour tortillas
1 cup thick n' chunky salsa

Beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
Add 1 cup of Cheddar cheese and onions, mixing until blended.
Spread 1/4 cup cream cheese mixture down center,
roll and place seam side down in 11 x 7-inch baking dish.
Make sure to spray the pan with Pam. Pour salsa over tortillas.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Serves 6
4 WW points each serving

Dreamy Chocolate Pudding

2 envelopes Dream Whip topping
2 3/4 cups skim milk, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 packages sugar-free Instant chocolate pudding

Beat Dream Whip topping mix, 1 cup milk and vanilla extract in a large bowl with electric mixer on high speed 6 minutes or until topping thickens and forms peaks. Add remaining milk and pudding mixes; beat on low speed until blended. Beat on high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
Spoon into serving dishes and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

This can also be made with different flavor pudding mix, vanilla, butterscotch, etc.
Each serving approximately 1/2 to 3/4 cup and it makes 8 servings - 2 WW points per serving
Per serving: 115 calories, 0 fat grams, 0 fiber