Musings from Graceland

And then scary news

What a roller coaster. I had thought that my step-dad Roy was doing so good. Last I talked to my mom was Thursday and surgery had gone well.

Tonight she called and they've almost lost him twice. Two times yesterday his heart stopped and they had to shock it back into working. The first time it took one shock, or hit, or whatever you call it. A few hours later it happened again and it took two shocks. Apparently, whenever they'd do anything to him like adjust his IV or an alarm would go off or whatever, his heartbeat would get erratic, his blood pressure would go crazy, and twice, it resulted in him flat lining.

The doctor has made the decision to totally sedate him. He thinks if they can just get his heart to completely rest for another day, it'll strengthen up enough to make it. The doctor says that if his heart stops again it will be fatal.

The surgeon said that he was only able to do the double bypass as opposed to a quadruple or a triple bypass because the bottom of his heart is just so diseased.

He's also on a ventilator. Yesterday he was only breathing 2 out of the 10 times he should have breathing. Today its 4 out of 10. So that is progress.

Unfortunately his creatinin level is rising and they are fearing kidney damage. As a kidney transplant recipient with only one functioning kidney, this is not good news.

I guess its a half-empty or half-full cup issue. One way to look at it is that he almost died twice yesterday and he's in "critical but stable" condition...that he's on death door and we might lose him. That's the half-empty perspective. The half-full is that we DIDN'T lose him twice yesterday and due to the wonders of modern medicine and the excellent health care system we have, that he is alive and in stable condition despite it being critical.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE be praying for him. So many people really love Roy and he has so much still to give to the world. We're not ready to let go of him yet. Please pray that he will be healed and that he'll have supernatural amounts of peace and rest during this time. And please pray for those who have been staying up at B'ham with him, especially my mom, that they'll be able to rest and God will strengthen THEM and give THEM peace that passes all understanding.


Up until now, I've not tried to travel to see him. With all that's been going on with us, its just not been a possibility. But I feel like the time has come that I need to go and my mom agrees. She said not to go tomorrow (Sunday) as he'll be so heavily sedated that he won't even know I'm there. So instead, I'll leave here early Monday morning and drive over to Birmingham with a friend from our homeschool group and church. I'll see him when he's allowed visitors at 1:00 and after visiting with my mom and other family members for a bit, we'll turn around and come on home.

Please pray for us as we travel....safety, etc. Pray for my family back home. My husband is exhausted emotionally, spiritually, and physically. And things have been hard for the kids as they're dealing in their own way with all of this. God is sufficient to provide all our needs. I know that with my head. He's proven that over and over again, its just that we're tired and I'm scared. I'm really scared that we'll lose him and I won't see him first. And its so hard to know that my mom is going thru this and I can't BE there for her. BUT GOD!!! He's there with her. I know it. And He is providing SO many people to love on her. He is a good God and He has already answered so many prayers and shown His love tangibly in numerous ways. And I need to focus in on THOSE things and not on the negative.

Thank you all for your love and support,
Elysa