August 4 - Day 51

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. - John 11:41 Jesus' thanksgiving preceded the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. Therefore, as followers of God we must walk as Jesus walked. But whosoever keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. -John 2:5-6

I have much to share with you each day but by the end of the night I am too exhausted to blog. You may read the previous few days I missed to see the daily journey. Each morning begins very early for us and my days are really running together. I don't want to miss any opportunities I have to speak with doctors and I never know when they will come in our room. Things have been overlooked by staff in the past 50 days and so I'm learning to be an aggressive advocate for my precious husband! Being on call 24/7 takes alot of energy and I'm extremely grateful for all the prayers. I can say with confidence that the Lord is sustaining both Dean and I and His grace is sufficient for us. I have met with many doctors from various departments and their level of communication has been excellent! Most of them have given me their business cards; I call them if I have concerns and they do their best to answers my questions. They really care and I believe God has brought us here for a purpose!

I was startled around 4 am when I heard the monitor beeping due to his oxygen level dipping to 84%. I raced to his side as he coughed a big mucus plug up and sucked it up as the nurse walked in. I noticed his humidifier was completely dry so the nurse filled it up with distilled water and suctioned him out. His oxygen level came quickly back up to 97% so I tried to go back to sleep. I keep a close eye on that filter now because it needs to be filled every 4 to 6 hours. It has been six days, since Dean has had his face shaven. So this morning I shaved him for the first time and he was so brave! It took me a long time; I was really nervous. I also helped bathe him for the first time in the hospital. He continues to move his toes and blink his eyes. It has been a few days since he opened his eyes but he kept them both open for awhile this evening. He hasn't been real active with his right hand and continues to posture his left. A new hand brace should arrive on Monday; he is now on a muscle relaxer for spasm and stiffness called baclofen. He is on vancomycin to address the possibility of an infection in his brain due to a large amount of air in his frontal lobe which was seen Tuesday evening on his CT scan.

The Infectious doctor and Pulmonary doctor are keeping a close watch over Dean's lungs. He continues to cough alot of secretions up from his lungs. Our Neurosurgeon or one of his partners visits daily and checks on Dean. The Maxillofacial Surgeon has met with me and corresponds by email, text and has even called me! He is putting together a team of skillful doctors for Dean's reconstructive surgery on August 8th at noon as long as he is medically cleared to undergo the operation. The ophthalmologist came by in the afternoon to examine Dean's eye condition before the operation so they can monitor any changes that may occur. Dean was born with nystagmus which is an involuntary, rapid and repetitive movement of the eyes. She was very knowledgeable about nystagmus and expressed concerns so we are requesting his eye exam records prior to the accident to compare with his current status of his optic nerve. The left eye's optic nerve is completely white and the right eye has some cloudiness. We are also waiting to meet the Plastic Surgeon who will be a part of this 12 hour surgery. In the evening Duane and I went quickly to Kessler to gather our belongings while his brother, David, stayed with Dean. If the surgery goes as planned we will probably be at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey for another two weeks or longer before we could return to Kessler. 

Let us continually give thanks unto the Lord! The sower sings the song of harvest while he plants the seeds.

 



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